On the mental game...

I saw this post on the bullseye-l list and thought it was pretty interesting:

Several years ago, our mutual friend Brian once told me, "If you can't shoot a 10 on your first shot, how in the heck are you going to clean the target?" ... At the time I thought it was an arrogant statement. I didn't fully realized what he was trying to tell me until after some time had passed. Basically he was instructing me to mentally get my head out of my backside. And expect of myself to pull off the first round as though I was at my peak performance level; something that I never expected from myself, you know--going to the first target COLD.

His intimated advice was for me to go figure my own way, to perform at a peak level, right out of the gate.

So I devised a training method for when I first arrive at the practice range. I would start the first target by getting ready to perform the best possible shot I was capable of. I took all the time in the world, worked my shot plan with slavish devotion--and hopefully after about three or four minutes, would eventually release my most favorable round. Then I'd immediately break the cycle and force myself to put the gun down, make it safe, and sit down to read the front page of the daily newspaper. After ten minutes or so elapsed, I'd start all over again without time limits, to perform the best shot that I was cable able of releasing. Then I'd put the gun down and start the process all over again by returning to the newspaper. In the beginning, it might have taken me about an hour to shoot one slow fire target, sometimes longer.

I'll be the first to admit, it's a difficult drill to mentally master. I've seen others attempt this drill and they're generally under the impression they're not actually accomplishing anything. It takes lots and lots of time, not to mention commitment. But you do learn a few of things about yourself. I came face-to-face with my own shortcomings and took inventory of my level of anxiety, confidence (or lack there of), devotion to one's shot plan, the quality of knowing when to abort, and most of all, my typical and ultimate level of patience.

And when things go real well, it's easier to mentally ingrain a good release and its related process.

The same drill can be applied and somewhat modified to your dilemma of switching guns during the center-fire match.

-Tony Brong

range report 4/17/12

Got out on Monday after work to shoot. Didn't do too bad and zero malfunctions with the izzy and the Spartan. Still having some trouble shooting misses in sustained-fire with the 45. Those misses really killed my rapid fire scores as the rest of my shots were pretty good. One of my rapid fires with the 45 totally fell apart and I had shots all across my piece of paper. Next match is this Sunday, so we'll see how I manage to shoot.

range report 4/12/12

Went out after work to the range today. I got the Spartan back from Greg Derr who I must say did a GREAT job turning around the Spartan's slide with a rail. I mounted the Ultradot to it and it was good to go. The zero was only off by about 5 clicks at 50 feet. The gun shot good, no failures to feed, eject, or slide-lock-back issues.

I shot remarkably well with the izzy, and had good moments with the Spartan. I learned that I need to think about *curling* my trigger finger when I clinch the gun and start my press. That seems to help me avoid jerking shots with the big gun.

Overall I was pretty happy with the session. The dot on the izzy just seemed to be magnetic to the black during rapid fire. I wasn't quite in 'the zone' as my mentor George would say, but it was close. I was using CCI Pistol Match ammo in the izzy and only had one high-feed during slow-fire, no light strikes or stove-pipes.

My mentor George reminded me that shooting an 828 with the izzy is a new WORLD RECORD for me! Gotta celebrate the moments.

range report 4/9/12

Got out after work to shoot. Still waiting on the Spartan, so it was just the izzy that I shot. Out of 200 rounds of Eley Sport, I had no light strikes and 1 stove-pipe. I've got some CCI pistol match on the way so we'll see how that stacks up. So far, CCI standard velocity has been the most reliable after the new firing pin was put in.

My shooting was not bad, both matches I would have scored over the magic 800 mark, although just barely. My average was just under 800, so I'm shooting about right where I would expect to be. Now I just need to improve those slow-fire scores and keep my sustained-fire consistent and maybe I can be a consistent 810 or so.

range report 4/7/12

Got out to the range in the morning for some practice with just the izzy; the Spartan's slide is off being drilled and tapped for a scope mount and the Les Baer is still in the shop with a broken scope mount.

Didn't shoot my highest and didn't break 800 like is my goal, but I shot ok and feel like I'm slowly pulling out of the slump I've been in recently. Other problem was that I was shooting Wolf MT and had three light-strikes and 1 stove-pipe. Going to try Eley Sport next and see how it performs with the new firing pin.

Benchrest is HARD

Got out to shoot some benchrest this weekend. Shot two targets and scored 206-1x and 203-2x. Definitely not my best. Got my wind flags out for the first time and started trying to read the wind. Still learning, changing conditions had me chasing zero most of the session.

Anyway, hopefully the picture gives you some idea of how hard the target we are shooting at 50 yards is to score well on.