What's your biggest problem at a match? Picking where to shoot? Waiting in line? Staying calm before and as you shoot? Keeping your concentration?
Adrenaline. The front sight gets jittery to the point that it covers more than an 8-inch circle at 20 and 25 yards. At 15 I'm OK, most of the time. I still can yank one from time to time, but I can control THAT. Adrenaline, I can't control . . . Yet.
Biggest Problem? Me! ;e Really, I think it is the adrenaline. I can shoot but my timing is off & I shoot too fast, trading my accuracy for speed. Not wise for GSSF matches. If I would slow down by 10% & be as accurate as at home, I would come out much better. ;a MLM
My biggest problem is trying to balance speed with accuracy. I want to shoot faster, and the speed is coming, but it's not coming the way I want it to come. When I'm shooting right, everything is kind of in slow motion for me, I see what I need to see and it all feels right to me, but after I shoot all three strings, I see my times and I can't believe how slow my times are. I'll feel like I shot a string on the Five to Glock in the five second range and it actually turns out to be in the eight or nine, and sometimes ten second range. For some reason I just can't seem to open up and shoot as fast as I know can. One thing I have down pat is the match jitters, I've learned how to conquer them. But I was always kind of good at that sort of thing as a kid. When I'm getting ready to shoot I'l stand off to the side away from everybody else and just look at the stage and shoot it in my mind. I'll do that over and over until I know I'm up. Once I'm at the table and my equipment is unpacked, I'll set my stance, muff up and wait for the beep. Once I hear the beep, everything just shuts off for me and I don't have any distractions. Now sometimes it doesn't always happen that way, and I can tell when it doesn't, but I'm getting pretty good at controlling it.
I think that I still try to shoot to fast, and wind up with added time. And it's not match nerves, but a loss of concentration. Or maybe it is a case of the jitters. Then there is the issue of the front sight that I can no longer see. ;f
;i Really! I haven't shot a match yet, so first would like to thank everyone for being so generous in their postings and sharing their experience. I'm doing practice x 3 as often as possible and retirement will bring some more travel opportunities. Besides that, the optical warranty is off & I'm smack in the middle of (severely right handed) coping with a migration to left-eye dominance. Don't mind really but something to be dealt with. Has anyone gone thru a period when their first shot (from ready finger along the slide) went a bit askew because they hadn't quite achieved their optimum finger position yet? Just more practice, or take that tiny fraction extra on the first to make sure things are set where you want them? ^8
Your first shot is something you can easily practice, at home, by dry firing. Setup, and run through your first shot. Dry firing is an excellent way to improve your trigger control and first shot timing. You can work on your finger/trigger placement for hours on end. Taking enough time to set your sights and then use good trigger control will improve your accuracy throughout your match. Speed is secondary, misses and 5 second penalties can really ruin your day. I believe I saw in another thread where DP177(?) offered you practice with he and Butch. Take them up on it, Butch is an excellent stock gun shooter. I can't say I really know DP177, he may be just as good.
and FG's response is why; thanks! I don't mind excuses to keep on w/dry fire practice. Lets the wife know I haven't fallen asleep in the basement to a golf match.... Got it!
Biggest problem. Easy. It's all those SOBs that shoot better than I shoot. They didn't show up, I might win something.
Waiting to shoot. Lasd match I was first in line to get my forms, 1st to distribute them, but when I went to shoot, there was a stack of other people's forms ahead of me. Very frustrating.
Hearing people ***** and moan after the match. Basically, some regulars at the matches get shown up in big ways, then as an afterthought try to get the winners DQ'd. One time the winner was levaing and in his truck, someone complained that his gun was not legal size. Match RO comes over and wants to check it after he was in his truck and ready to leave. He did not have to produce the gun, but did out of anger. The gun was legal and he still one the match. Reality check RO, after leaving the range the results are offical. Same cheap shot from a poor loser. I know they would have not reacted the same way if they were asked to do the same. I swear this is like frivolous lawsuits, because the person making a false accusationhas no accountability. I say if they challenge and are incorrect they get a 2 match suspension. On the opther hand, they could just check all of the guns for leagal size prior to match - i.e. the standing around waiting comment someone else made.
Shooting the distance targets >20yds from cover with one eye shaded by the cover. Man I just don't like half a sight picture. For that reason I'm starting to think that I should shoot 1 eyed. Wait a minute you asked about GSSF??? Oh that was an IDPA problem. For GSSF I'd say keeping concentration so that I avoid the occasional flyer when shooting that really humps up the score.
I try to be like Tie Web(Chevy Chase)^b from Caddy Shack and be the Bullet NANANANANANANANANANANANA-----NANANANANANANANANANANANA and when the start buzzer goes off I'm out of breath ~1 ^1
Wow, the only person I know that's had the their gun inspected was TJC. A few folks used to complain about him, trouble is it's not against the rules to be talented and practice a lot. I know some folks trying to shoot with lights and such have had to either remove them or move to Unlimited. Was this at Richmond by chance?
OK GTA.........You lead off at Richmond;z Then we will have a "Problem at a Match";Q I love you anyway son;f Dan & Dad
Just curiosity, I have no ulterior motive other than to maybe help someone. Who knows, maybe somebody will learn something to make their match go better. Actually I thought your comment was aimed at GSSF, shooting from under the canopies can be annoying, especially with iron sights. Edit: Actually hapuna there is another reason. I'm still grounded from my surgery and I spend a lot of time at the gun bench and computer. I'm bored and can't shoot much yet either. I'm going to Richmond and I hope everything is pretty much back to normal by then. I hope I don't have to wear my Miami collar all the way to Richmond, 14 hours in that puppy would be ugly!