Just finished lesson 2 in marine handbook. WHY THEN????

Ok. I just completed number 2 ( 10-10 in the black two times in a row from 25yds). How come when I get in a match I can't do it. I'm shooting maybe 7-10. I don't understand why. I am kind of new. About a year shooting and obviously learning all the time.  I feel like I'm doing the same process but just can't get it to work

Help

Shooting is a process. It was 8 months from when I started seriously shooting the pistol until I shot my first clean. 3 months after that and 1 month after scoring a friend shoot a 10x, I shot my first 10x. My first clean and both 10x cleans were in practice. 

Keep at it. Is the third exercise shot process or 10 in 10? I don't remember right now. 


Mike

Ah grasshopper. You have stumbled on one of the greatest challenges of pistol shooting (or any kind of competition). Did you step to the line and shoot the first 2 targets 10 in 10? or did you have some targets to warm up? In practice you shoot when you are ready. In a match you shoot when others say so.

It is human nature that we treat shooting in matches different than shooting in practice. You will hear people say shoot practice as if it is a match and shoot a match as if it is practice to try and get past match nerves.

The Marine handbook takes away the rings so you don't get hung up on score. It is very hard to not think about score when you have to go down range and add up the score after each targets. I think scores will go up when we get electronic targets.

The Bullseye Mind book has some good processes to combat match nerves
I even use them occasionally

The drill as i recall was 10 10s at 25 in 10 mins. The next set of drills will be in the sustained fires. As you develop skill in those the 10s and xs will sore, i don't think you're far off with 7 out of 10 in the 10ring.    

As for match pressure i think we all initially feel it and as you shoot more you become more familiar with the discipline and your process to deliver great shots.

Match pressure is always a factor even for the best of the best when a win is on the line. Just look at records in the Olympics and world stage. Notice the olympic records are lower than world records?

I believe there is kind of a relaxation or proper concentration problem there. Some matches the thought process goes like this... Check firing point ,stance, grip, breath control, alignment, look a ferret!, trigger release and follow through. With practice the ferret part could be eliminated. The ferret could appear between any of the fundamental stages so beware. The point is that Bullseye takes total concentration and that is what we are all striving for. Calling the shots is imperative to knowing what is being done right or wrong, when the shots are in the black concentrate on how it happened. Remembering misses won't help.

Mightyheb wrote:Ok. I just completed number 2 ( 10-10 in the black two times in a row from 25yds). How come when I get in a match I can't do it. I'm shooting maybe 7-10. I don't understand why. I am kind of new. About a year shooting and obviously learning all the time.  I feel like I'm doing the same process but just can't get it to work

Help

I'm trying to figure out where in the guide you are, in order to attempt to answer.  Is the next section the part for writing a mental shot plan?

I was participating in a match with buddies, many years ago. We paid a dollar for each match. We fired three guns, one being a rifle. A competitor could fire as many warm-up shots as he wanted and the smallest group won. My buddy was shooting exceptionally well at 100 yards. When it came time to shoot for record, his group opened up significantly. I asked him, "Ken, what happened? You were shooting so well!" He replied, "I paid my dollar!"

BE Mike wrote:I was participating in a match with buddies, many years ago. We paid a dollar for each match. We fired three guns, one being a rifle. A competitor could fire as many warm-up shots as he wanted and the smallest group won. My buddy was shooting exceptionally well at 100 yards. When it came time to shoot for record, his group opened up significantly. I asked him, "Ken, what happened? You were shooting so well!" He replied, "I paid my dollar!"

Yep,  the way to get use to match pressure is to shoot more matches. But even then big matches can be a problem. There just aren't that many really big matches. For some reason, I've shot many of my personal bests at Perry. It does not happen every time, but it has happened with rifle, pistol and air gun (rifle and pistol). 

When the mind is calm, it is easy to shoot well.

Just curious, as you go through the workbook, are you shooting both .22 and center fire, or working on one to a specific point in the process and then going to the other?

I did 22 all the way through. Now I am redoing 22 and 45 at the same time. 

Zins recommended, having other exercises to focus on as well. So when I was doing the 22, I also worked in one and two shot drills.

I think if any of us had the answer, we'd all be 2650 shooters. What you're experiencing is what we all struggle with, to one extent or another.

I, too, am a new shooter, and just starting with the Marine Corp workbook last week. Still on
the first goal. I am spending about 45 minutes to an hour with the .22, following the
worksheet goals, then another 30 mins or so with the .45.
This is a great forum, and I have picked up a lot of great information. Thank you everyone for sharing.

tomsp8 wrote:I, too, am a new shooter, and just starting with the Marine Corp workbook last week. Still on
the first goal. I am spending about 45 minutes to an hour with the .22, following the
worksheet goals, then another 30 mins or so with the .45.
This is a great forum, and I have picked up a lot of great information. Thank you everyone for sharing.

you should start on page 1 of 22 and you don't get to graduate to the centerfire till all of 22 is done.

Chris Miceli wrote:
you should start on page 1 of 22 and you don't get to graduate to the centerfire till all of 22 is done.

hrrrrmmmphh...

I read the books overleaf, and the last chapter and thought I knew it all......

How's that working out for me you ask.

I'm back to page 1...

I'm definately going thru the workbook with just the 22 first but trying out my clubs 2 gun 600 fun league so praticing a bit with the 45 also.

From the Army Marksmanship Unit manual, "Align the sights on the target and cause the hammer to fall without disturbing sight alignment." 

When you master this, the rest is easy.