I don't know how to explain it, those of you who have experienced this know what I'm talking about, if I had heard somebody talking about this say five years ago I would have thought they were full of bunk.
But the Zone is real. And I think that always being in it is what seperates the great ones from the rest of us.
Ever reach that point where you can't lose? Shoot that stage where everything is absolutely perfect? You don't think. You only react. Time slows down. Ten seconds feel like thirty. You can't miss. Steel plates are as big as your car. IDPA paper targets are the size of a bus. All movement is absolute smoothness. Everything is perfectly calm.
Normally I would consider myself a techically proficient shooter. But every now and then (not nearly often enough) I will go into that perfectly calm mode. Then I can't hardly lose. It is the weirdest thing.
I honestly believe that the best of the best are always at this mental level. Every single stage.
I know that if I could harness the ability to get into that perfectly clear mental state on every single stage I would be a much better shooter. I think that the mental game is way more important than we often give it credit.
The first time I ever achieved that state was at a 3 gun match. I was having a horrible day. Misses, killing hostages, fumbling reloads, you name it I did it. I was frustrated, and then became even more angry when I discovered that somebody had kicked sand into the open action of my rifle as it sat on its case, right before the long range rifle stage.
So I said screw it, I forgot about shooting, shook the sand out of my rifle and shot. I didn't think about aiming, I didn't think about sights, trigger, anything like that. I just shot. Next thing I knew I had cleared the stage in 20 seconds, 0 points down. The 2nd place shooter did it in 35, average was in the mid 40s.
I was stunned. It was the first time in my life that I had actually won a stage in an honest to goodness match with really good shooters.
It was a revelation.
Now I try to cultivate that state of mind. Thing is I can't actually cultivate it. Either I'm in that state or I'm not. If I think about getting into it, I can't.
My first national level match, I totally tanked it. I was so nervous. I put myself under too much mental pressure and blew it. I couldn't reach that zone, so I just shot like a technically competant shooter, nothing more. Came in 180th out of 220.
I had it happen to me a couple times at a 3 gun match last Saturday. 23 shots from my Vepr in 10.68 seconds. No problem. Dumped 15 shots into a mover that was visable for 5 seconds at twelve yards from the holster. No problem.
One stage later, not in the zone, shoot like a buffoon, drop a ton of points on a simple and easy rifle stage. Go figure.
How do you guys deal with the mental game? How do you get in the zone?
But the Zone is real. And I think that always being in it is what seperates the great ones from the rest of us.
Ever reach that point where you can't lose? Shoot that stage where everything is absolutely perfect? You don't think. You only react. Time slows down. Ten seconds feel like thirty. You can't miss. Steel plates are as big as your car. IDPA paper targets are the size of a bus. All movement is absolute smoothness. Everything is perfectly calm.
Normally I would consider myself a techically proficient shooter. But every now and then (not nearly often enough) I will go into that perfectly calm mode. Then I can't hardly lose. It is the weirdest thing.
I honestly believe that the best of the best are always at this mental level. Every single stage.
I know that if I could harness the ability to get into that perfectly clear mental state on every single stage I would be a much better shooter. I think that the mental game is way more important than we often give it credit.
The first time I ever achieved that state was at a 3 gun match. I was having a horrible day. Misses, killing hostages, fumbling reloads, you name it I did it. I was frustrated, and then became even more angry when I discovered that somebody had kicked sand into the open action of my rifle as it sat on its case, right before the long range rifle stage.
So I said screw it, I forgot about shooting, shook the sand out of my rifle and shot. I didn't think about aiming, I didn't think about sights, trigger, anything like that. I just shot. Next thing I knew I had cleared the stage in 20 seconds, 0 points down. The 2nd place shooter did it in 35, average was in the mid 40s.
I was stunned. It was the first time in my life that I had actually won a stage in an honest to goodness match with really good shooters.
It was a revelation. Now I try to cultivate that state of mind. Thing is I can't actually cultivate it. Either I'm in that state or I'm not. If I think about getting into it, I can't.
My first national level match, I totally tanked it. I was so nervous. I put myself under too much mental pressure and blew it. I couldn't reach that zone, so I just shot like a technically competant shooter, nothing more. Came in 180th out of 220.
I had it happen to me a couple times at a 3 gun match last Saturday. 23 shots from my Vepr in 10.68 seconds. No problem. Dumped 15 shots into a mover that was visable for 5 seconds at twelve yards from the holster. No problem.
One stage later, not in the zone, shoot like a buffoon, drop a ton of points on a simple and easy rifle stage.
Go figure. How do you guys deal with the mental game? How do you get in the zone?
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