Posted: 7/12/2004 3:17:16 PM EDT
| Who was really nervous the first time they shot IDPA? |
. But if you want to talk about my very first IPSC match a few years before that....or my first IPSC match after a 3 year lay-off|
Ask any of the guys from Friday Night Rifle League who actually remember my first match night with them. They will all tell you that I am a flaming asshole too....  As I like to tell the story on occasion, I showed up at WSI in Bellvue WA, for my first night, never having competed before in my life and smoked averybody. For some reason I wasn't nervous and I didn't fumble or bobble anything. Since then I have only been nervouse once, and that was at my first USPSA three gun match, but I kicked their butts too. I was nervous for all of about half an hour before the match started. Then I saw how the other people shot, and what they considered good and I stopped being nervous. My own personal standards were much higher then was expected from the USPSA members, so I had absolutly no problem sailing through their competition. When the WSI gunshop/range closed down, they had a final shoot that took up all three shooting bays. It had somthing like 52 or 54 bad guy targets, plus an assload of steel popper pistol targets. Needless to say, I went in a winner, and left a winner. Even beat the guy who used the Beta C mag.(Just ask Dark Helmet.....  )Now that I have patted myself on the back and been a braggart asshole yet again, I must say that all the shooters I shot with were excelent, salt of the earth people, and are some of the nicest, coolest people I have ever known. Dark Helmet, SCollins, are two that I know of who are on here. They are great guys. Even when I am being a loudmouth prick. I guess I never really got nervous because I am highly(very highly) competitive, and part of me likes doing the trash talking thing just to throw the other guys concentration off. Its not really that I am that much better, its just that I make fewer mistakes. Most of the people I have shot against are great shooters, but I tend to be very overbearing and oftentimes that, along with my good scores, screws with peoples timing as they feel the need to go just that much faster. I directly attribute this to my USPSA three gun match win. I went up against guys who had the ultimate trick AR15 raceguns, and all I had was a stock M4gery. I ran the course so well that the other guys were falling all overthemselves trying to meet or beat my times. In doing so, they rushed and screwed up. I took first place in the entire match because of that. I ran production pistol, limited rifle and shotgun, and beat all the guys with the unlimited pistols, rifles, shotguns, etc. Its all about mindset, not your toys. Don't get me wrong, toys are fun, but when in competition, its 75% mental, 24% physical, and 1% gear. Oh yea, thats another thing. I am a pretty big guy(getting smaller though) and many people didn't expect much from a fatass, but I tend to be a rather fit under the fat kind of fatass and generally run the courses very quickly and with allot of control. That really throws some people off. Mindset, Mindset, Mindset. Thats what its all about folks. If you let yourself get nervous, then you are defeating yourself. Approach any competition with the mindset that you will win and that everybody else has to be nervous of you. Also remember this. There is always a bigger fish. No matter how good I think I am, there is always sombody better. Instead of letting this affect me, I use it to my advantage. I always look up to these people as a benchmark for me to reach for. I don't let them make me nervous, I try to learn from them. At FNRL(Friday Night Rifle League) the Range Officer Ian was top dog. When I first showed up, he ran the range because he was so good that he always won. Over time while shooting with that great group of people, I shot against him a few times and realized that he was better then me as well. Over time I used him as a benchmark until I could match him as well. I never got to find out if I could ever shoot better then him, but I know that we were eventually at the point where sometimes I would beat him, and other times he would beat me. Great guy too. Chris |
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