Are you having any fun?

I've been at this for a few years.. told myself that if I didn't make Sharpshooter last year that I would hang it up.

Didn't do either, but it's occasionally occurred to me that the weekly matches feel more like an obligation than something I can't wait to do.

Two weeks ago my dot was loose, so I took the mount apart, reassembled with Loctite, went to the range, set up a target at 25 yds and shot a group you could have covered with a Quarter.

Then at last week's match I could barely keep it on the paper.

Don't know if it's anxiety or what the heck is going on. 

I guess my question is, what do you do to keep your interest up in this sport, and are you actually having any fun?

Thanks

I had the same issue with Fun.
Shooting a standard 2700 just seemed like a struggle, shooting two legs with a 45.
Went to shooting 22 only and having a better time.

Maybe you should sit out a few matches and help run them. Getting to see how the other half lives and interacting with the competitors from another viewpoint might rekindle your interest. I always thought that the actual fun part was interacting with others and making new friends and acquaintances. Of course shooting a good target once in a while was pleasurable. If your goals are unrealistically high, you will be consistently disappointed. You do have a shot plan, keep an accurate tally of match/ practice scores and have set, written, specific goals right? Unless you write down these things, you may have unrealistic expectations.

Shooting is a discipline and a sport. I don’t have fun when I’m at most matches or training for matches. Match shooting is supposed to be stressful. That kind of stress is good for developing us as people.

I also don’t have the discipline or desire to make shooting completely unfun for myself all the time, so I periodically shoot something intentionally fun. I’ll shoot a local match with revolvers, Glocks, vintage guns, or .22 Only. Something that gives me a way to shoot a match (and still confirm my fundamentals) without putting any pressure on me to perform a certain way. A “cheat” match, like a cheat meal on a diet—a match where some or all of the stress is dialed way back.

Sometimes I just don’t shoot for a few weeks. I’ll really dive into my non-shooting interests (spending time with my wife, baking, gaming). I barely handle guns at all until I miss them. Breaks are good.

Goals help immensely and you should take a little time to write them down.
Start with "Have fun." 
Write down separately or in outline form what it will take to accomplish those goals.
Revisit after every shooting session. Did I have fun? ( did I shoot good groups?did I show good trigger control?) 
What went well, what didn't, and what was missing? By doing this you will find a way forward or make the ddecision that it appears too point elsewhere.



-Ron

Let me ask her.

Try golf, it's worse lol.

Sometimes I need to pause in slow fire and remember how I've been looking forward to this all week, that I'm in the company of rare like minded people, that i have the agency to do this kind of stuff, and I have more fun and shoot better. It's easy (for me) to forget, but easy to get back to appreciating the time and experience with a quick reset. My 2c, 5 years into the sport

I'm not a competitive person, I must lack that gene. I never wanted to or needed to beat anyone or to win. I just wanted to learn, to do a good job, to enjoy, to  have something to look forward to and to have great friends.

I know it might sound strange or perhaps even ill. I sometimes wish i had that competitive gene because we tend to value it's importance, but for myself i am motivated to learn and to experience. It is that pursuit which affords me great joy and has allowed me often enough to succeed in ways that I might not have imagined or expected. 

Please don't misunderstand, I'm no super star at anything.

Introspectively i've found that one of the greatest motivators for me has been to share and enjoy the activity or task with good friends, people i love to be with and people i genuinely want to learn from, to teach or just be around. I find i rise to the level of those who i surround myself with....and that's a nice feeling.

I must also admit that sharing your information, knowledge and experience with others who are "genuinely interested in learning" can be a very pleasant and rewarding experience and motivator.

To answer your question, I do have fun and very much look forward to our outings together. Some days are better than others but a day shooting with the friends sure beats gardening.

The only one I compete with is myself. That being said I always have fun trying to better myself. However I'm getting older with some physical problems and don't shoot much anymore. I've found a new niche for myself and call the matches here in Florida. I've had a lot of compliments on the way I do it. I also built a digital target turner to replace the analog one that was used for years. All the people that compete here are good and personable and there are a few that go to lunch together after the matches and talk shooting and solve the worlds problems. A pleasant way to spend the day.

Like others, I also only compete with myself. My competition mindset is the absence of one. It doesn't matter to me if it's just a practice session, or a friendly local match or state championship or Nationals or anything else. It doesn't matter to me if I shoot by myself or along with hundreds of other shooters. What does matter to me is my ability to control the gun, the trigger, have a good sight picture, follow my shot process and get an X or 10, and improve my skills. And that's where the whole lotta fun is for me. That, and tinkering with other people's guns and make them shoot well  Guns, that is, not people ))
That's why I will keep doing this as long as I'm alive.

During a state match a fellow shooter who had been an Air Traffic Controller said shooting in competition and matches was very relaxing. I agree compared to some day jobs.

I too shoot poorly when I get to the line in competition (both pistol and rifle), practice I am better and it is all nerves.  That I can handle, its the comments from the prima donna shooters that are hard to take and make you want to stop, in the ever shrinking sandbox if they want to play alone so be it.

Set your goal to just have fun, screw the score or the next level because if it is not fun why do it?

Best of luck to you

Randy_D wrote:I too shoot poorly when I get to the line in competition (both pistol and rifle), practice I am better and it is all nerves.  That I can handle, its the comments from the prima donna shooters that are hard to take and make you want to stop, in the ever shrinking sandbox if they want to play alone so be it.

Set your goal to just have fun, screw the score or the next level because if it is not fun why do it?

Best of luck to you

I found out that the really top shooters were very gracious, helpful and a pleasure to be around. Some of the "big fish in a small pond" shooters who never go to big matches can be real jerks. One thing that I liked was when I surpassed some of the local jerks and would steadily beat them. I never rubbed it in their faces, but took pleasure in quietly knowing.  Another attraction of the sport was going to big matches and getting to shoot "shoulder to shoulder" with some of the greats that I had read and heard about. I could play golf all my life and never get to play with some of the greats like Tiger Woods.

Sometimes it is helpful to step away for a bit, or make a change like 22 only, metallic sights instead of a dot, revolver instead of semi auto. 

I find great enjoyment in watching my friends find success, seeing them shoot a great slowfire or short line cleans, especially their first clean, very cool thing to witness.

As far as the competing thing, I do always aim for some sort of win. Some examples of a "win" would be a match win, all shots on the repair center, all shots in the black, all shots scoring, no skidder shots in rapid, all shots on my own target, as well as lots of other potential things that are different for everyone. Managing expectations is a bit of a trick and important, you need to approach them realistically. In my case, approaching a match with the expectation that I am going to win it, is not realistic. I have won quite a few matches, but at the same time I have shot more matches than I have won. Start with small goals, then progressively add more difficult ones as you achieve them.

As far as goals are concerned, I am not an advocate of numerically based goals such as shooting a certain score or classification. It has been my observation in watching friends as well as myself that having numerically based goals create an artificial ceiling that is just out of reach.

We shot at the club every Tuesday Night and had a BLAST. I always tried to out shot my high match by two points. Plus I was proud when I outshot one of the 32long imports with my $300.00 Smith & Wesson 32Long Revolver,(that I Built) gave me a rush!!! Coffee, soda and tobacco will hurt you score. HAVE FUN< FUN< FUN

There’s love of the game and then there’s the love of the gear. Gamers are looking to win and only that. Trouble is, they tend to burn out. There’s a point where it isn’t fun anymore. Not that it’s always fun. It’s work to prepare equipment and ammo, get up early, travel, do the admin and then compete. Many times unsuccessfully. There aren’t many winners, of class or overall. 

The love of the gear has a different focus. It’s on doing your best against yourself while using various home made ammo, bullets, equipment mods etc. Playing different sports with different equipment to see what works or doesn’t and go figure out why. I do enjoy that aspect even though I know it’s costing me points. I didn’t use the same gun for a 22 only 2700, l switched it up. And I learned a lot. 

Then, most importantly, it’s the people you meet, the ones who helped you, the ones you helped, and the general camaraderie. Eating together, socializing. That alone makes Perry and big Regionals like the Lobster match in Maine special. Most of us aren’t winners anymore but players. Without us the winners have nothing to win. I really enjoy hearing from people for whom my book has helped. I could go on, but you get it

If you haven't worn a sweatshirt in the summer so you don't wreck your rifle jacket with sweat,  you just don't know what fun is.

Pistol isn't physically that bad, but psychologically worse maybe.  It's fun like running or mowing the lawn is fun. You feel better for having done it, sometimes.

I'll vouch for Bruce's book. Very good suggestions, and has helped me (especially) improve confidence in my shot process. As an engineer, I also like the equipment aspect of shooting handguns. As some of you may recall, I had a Sig P210A and experimented with spring changes (both trigger return and sear) allowing one to increase the trigger pull weight for service pistol; I then wrote summary instructions on the process of making those changes. Even sold off my extra springs so I didn't lose money in the process. That was a fun project, but not as fun as fitting a new barrel, bushing, and trigger parts in a 1911. Coming from the AR-15 service rifle crowd (master, shooting an occasional HM score), equipment wasn't an issue (not at all) once I had a quality barrel and drop-in trigger (a whopping 20 minute installation). Ammo was the standard 77 gr SMK mag-length load, or an 80 gr for single loading. Boring.

Back when I was roadracing motorcycles. Riders meeting ... 'Racing is supposed to be fun. If you're not having fun, something's wrong. And its not with us'.

It's a hobby, a sport at best. For the 99+% of us, it isn't ever going to be a profession. Ya know, cuz, basically,  most of us suck.

;-)

I'm maybe at the point where it's at best a social thing. Unless I find some sort of 'botanical' that will quell the tremors ... alcohol isn't working... although I haven't tried drinking in the morning ... yet ...

Maybe for 'science' ...

I did not enjoy Skeet shooting with a shotgun until my father took me to a fitter, and got me a little coaching, and I could shoot a decent score.  

I enjoy pistol shooting after I found pistols that I shot decently, and got some coaching, so I started shooting decent scores.  

I think you are likely to shoot better scores with lighter calibers, such as .22 rimfire, .32 and maybe .38, so shoot more of them.  

This advice is worth precisely what you paid for it.

Merick wrote:If you haven't worn a sweatshirt in the summer so you don't wreck your rifle jacket with sweat,  you just don't know what fun is.

Pistol isn't physically that bad, but psychologically worse maybe.  It's fun like running or mowing the lawn is fun. You feel better for having done it, sometimes.

I was 17 when I went to my first Bullseye match, shot it for two years. Then I went tp PPC for three years, then it played out. Moved to Round Town Ohio and started BULLSEYE Again. Then I added High Power for 3-4 years and worn a sweatshirt under my Jacket in 100+ weather and loved it till my hip started popping out of joint and I had to give it up after I made "EXPERT". I love Bullseye as my First love. I also love benchrest 22lr also, the 22lr and 32 Long, along with the 38 Short Colt are the revolvers I love, I love to build, Tune. Smith & Wesson, along with Ruger are my choice of guns.

"It's like fun but different." Richie Mead R.I.P.

If I perform well for my current ability I'm happy. Last match for the year didn't go well and I had some very negative thoughts. That said, I'm going to put the guns down for a couple weeks, then shoot some service pistol for fun. After that, back to the plan. Confident that I will shoot more personal bests next year. 

All the best,
Arthur

Ball busting with your friends is about 70% of the fun in our sport.

"Bullseye is like golf, except for men"

After a dozen or so years in this sport, slowly but surely the mental challenge is beginning to make sense, somehow. There is a psychological rubicon that must be crossed to get good at it though, and it is a totally unnatural horizon for most of us.
That keeps it fun. And variety helps- go back to iron sights sometimes, or revolvers, or hard ball if you've only shot wadguns.
The drive to get more in control of bullet placement is exciting, and eliminating the errors is sometimes upsetting.
Should make Master in another dozen years or so!
"Endeavor to persevere"