Now don't trip on your spurs!
A gunfighter needs to have a little swagger. When you come to an event you need to believe that you are the toughest gunfighter there. You may not be the quickest or you may not be the most accurate, but you are the toughest. But you need to be careful. There are little things you can do to booster your confidence. Have confidence in the system, it will carry you through day, even a bad day.
At a titled event, Gentleman George asks me if I was Lil James' grandpa because he loads like me. Lil James only loads three and if the hand judges asks him why, he says "That is all I need." It is a statement of confidence. It can be unsettling to your opponent, if fact Dirty Dan used it against me Saturday in the shoot-offs, sending me to boot hill in 3 shots. Little statements of confidence can be helpful. They remind you that you are the toughest gunfighter there. I only load three because it is generally three winning shots. If I miss or lose a shot I only reload the number of shells I need to win the contest assuming I am hitting and winning all remaining shots. Little statements of confidence to yourself help.
When you get to the Magnificent shoot offs hopefully you are in that zone where they can not bring the next shooter quick enough. The statement of confidence is "I ain't missing, bring me another shooter!" When you get to that zone, you will know it and it don't matter who they bring. For us slower shooters a 3rd to 7th seed is not bad. It is unsettling to higher seeds to watch a shooter come from the 7th seed, such as Quick Cal did last year at the Southern or Johnny Three Toes did at the 2017 National. Johnny went through 7 combined black badges. Just remember you are the toughest gunslinger there, but!
A little swagger is good, but with too much you may trip on your spurs. It is easy to lose your focus and forget to shoot the system. At the 2017 Nationals, I was cruising along the second day winning 3 matches with 9 shots. In the fourth matches I was up 2-0 on my opponent, a shooter I had previously beaten. On the line I think to myself I am going to win 4 matches with 12 shots and I begin to compose an e-mail to Shady. Tripped on my spurs. Never hit another another shot. Finished 10th. This year at Tombstone, down to the last two shooters, both much slower than me. First shot one inch left of the light, second shot one inch right of the light. The AZ Gunslingers are cheering me on, I turn around and say "Wait till you see this." Tripped on my spurs, never hit another shot. Last Saturday, seeded third with Shady second and Holli first. I loose my focus upon Dirty Dan's statement "I only need three," never hit a shot. It is easy to lose your focus.
The system is designed to carry the day and it will unless you abandon it. Remember once you start your routine, stick with it. 1. Evaluate the shot. 2. make your adjustments. 3. Waggle THEN no thoughts, you are a loaded spring waiting to explode on the light. Does not matter who you are shooting, does not matter what the shot count is, does not matter who is next! 1,2,3 hit.
"I ain't missing, bring my another shooter!" Alleluia Ruah
At a titled event, Gentleman George asks me if I was Lil James' grandpa because he loads like me. Lil James only loads three and if the hand judges asks him why, he says "That is all I need." It is a statement of confidence. It can be unsettling to your opponent, if fact Dirty Dan used it against me Saturday in the shoot-offs, sending me to boot hill in 3 shots. Little statements of confidence can be helpful. They remind you that you are the toughest gunfighter there. I only load three because it is generally three winning shots. If I miss or lose a shot I only reload the number of shells I need to win the contest assuming I am hitting and winning all remaining shots. Little statements of confidence to yourself help.
When you get to the Magnificent shoot offs hopefully you are in that zone where they can not bring the next shooter quick enough. The statement of confidence is "I ain't missing, bring me another shooter!" When you get to that zone, you will know it and it don't matter who they bring. For us slower shooters a 3rd to 7th seed is not bad. It is unsettling to higher seeds to watch a shooter come from the 7th seed, such as Quick Cal did last year at the Southern or Johnny Three Toes did at the 2017 National. Johnny went through 7 combined black badges. Just remember you are the toughest gunslinger there, but!
A little swagger is good, but with too much you may trip on your spurs. It is easy to lose your focus and forget to shoot the system. At the 2017 Nationals, I was cruising along the second day winning 3 matches with 9 shots. In the fourth matches I was up 2-0 on my opponent, a shooter I had previously beaten. On the line I think to myself I am going to win 4 matches with 12 shots and I begin to compose an e-mail to Shady. Tripped on my spurs. Never hit another another shot. Finished 10th. This year at Tombstone, down to the last two shooters, both much slower than me. First shot one inch left of the light, second shot one inch right of the light. The AZ Gunslingers are cheering me on, I turn around and say "Wait till you see this." Tripped on my spurs, never hit another shot. Last Saturday, seeded third with Shady second and Holli first. I loose my focus upon Dirty Dan's statement "I only need three," never hit a shot. It is easy to lose your focus.
The system is designed to carry the day and it will unless you abandon it. Remember once you start your routine, stick with it. 1. Evaluate the shot. 2. make your adjustments. 3. Waggle THEN no thoughts, you are a loaded spring waiting to explode on the light. Does not matter who you are shooting, does not matter what the shot count is, does not matter who is next! 1,2,3 hit.
"I ain't missing, bring my another shooter!" Alleluia Ruah
I deserved to trip this weekend. I had some family issues, and have not been practicing. I went into the President’s Day shoot in Mitchel SD too confident. There is even more pressure when your EXPECTED to win. I miss the underdog days!!!I had accuracy issues (lost my finalized draw position) a bit. I had one X left and proceeded to burn through the last 6 rounds or so making a big comeback (one of my goals) against the days best shooters to win the 21 foot contest.
ReplyDeleteI got my head and gun barrel straight and was able to win the Sunday 15 foot contest without getting any X’s. (one of my goals). Luckily I have 6 straight Jackpot match wins and 7 out of last 8…..BUT I NEED TO PRACTICE.