I had the same experience but it was my second time that was worse then my first shoot. (BTW, I have only been to those two shoots.) When I discovered my score
was TWICE the score of the next novice or unclassified in my division (SSP) I figured I should just give it up.
I tend to shoot fast after the buzzer then I have a pause in my brain. Like someone else said, I shoot double in the first target almost all the time. I KNOW it is a single shot (like T1 1 T2 1 T3 2 then T2 1 and T3 1... something called "road house" I think.) I think I am pausing because I am noticing my error. I want to stop letting that effect me. In a real self defense situation I will not have the luxury of pausing because I shot too many times.
I believe that under pressure what we practice is what we do and it over rides what our brains know to be the course of fire. I have the luxury of being able to practice where I can do rapid shooting at least part of the time (when I am the only one there which is common.) I have also been training with someone on a private shooting range and there I can draw and fire and move and fire. He has me practicing three to the center of mass and then sometimes two or three to center of mass and one to the brain. Never, one to center of mass. So, when that buzzer goes off, I go with that training.
I started to quit because my second match was so much worse. But, I was encouraged by the person who has been training me to keep with it. He said what others said here. The best thing is to get the shots safely. He also told me not get upset about my scores at all. I should focus on being safe of course, but next important thing is neutralizing all targets. Shooting slowly but getting all the targets and following the training on how to best move and shoot and use cover and get my sights is far more important then speed.
I decided to shoot the rest of the summer at one IDPA a month but not look at my scores at all. When I finish shooting I will look to see how many targets were not neutralized and keep that as my own personal score. Getting faster can be a goal for next year or the year after.
Senta (yes, that is my real first name.)
I tend to shoot fast after the buzzer then I have a pause in my brain. Like someone else said, I shoot double in the first target almost all the time. I KNOW it is a single shot (like T1 1 T2 1 T3 2 then T2 1 and T3 1... something called "road house" I think.) I think I am pausing because I am noticing my error. I want to stop letting that effect me. In a real self defense situation I will not have the luxury of pausing because I shot too many times.
I believe that under pressure what we practice is what we do and it over rides what our brains know to be the course of fire. I have the luxury of being able to practice where I can do rapid shooting at least part of the time (when I am the only one there which is common.) I have also been training with someone on a private shooting range and there I can draw and fire and move and fire. He has me practicing three to the center of mass and then sometimes two or three to center of mass and one to the brain. Never, one to center of mass. So, when that buzzer goes off, I go with that training.
I started to quit because my second match was so much worse. But, I was encouraged by the person who has been training me to keep with it. He said what others said here. The best thing is to get the shots safely. He also told me not get upset about my scores at all. I should focus on being safe of course, but next important thing is neutralizing all targets. Shooting slowly but getting all the targets and following the training on how to best move and shoot and use cover and get my sights is far more important then speed.
I decided to shoot the rest of the summer at one IDPA a month but not look at my scores at all. When I finish shooting I will look to see how many targets were not neutralized and keep that as my own personal score. Getting faster can be a goal for next year or the year after.
Senta (yes, that is my real first name.)
