Focus

Match Reflection #1

A few days ago I shot a match at my team's home club after an 18-day "break" from competing and dryfiring. The outcome of the match was decent: 9 out of 26 overall (5 out of 18 in my division). I say decent because while it was better than my recent matches, it wasn't my best performance. Regardless of the outcome, I left the match satisfied. Without knowing my rank, I knew that I had shot a good (but not great) match, especially compared to my previous 3 to 4 matches, where I did terribly. As I got into my car and prepared to drive home, I wondered what I had done differently this time.

Then it hit me: I never saw anyone else shoot their stage. While others were shooting, I was mentally playing my stage plan in my head. Even after my run, I would again mentally play it out, identify my errors and "fix" them. My focus was on the match and my stage runs. I did help paste, but even then I would pick the closest target and tune out the RO's as they called the score. Because I didn't see how others ran their stages, I never had any doubts of my own stage plan. I also didn't know my standing. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that I got 4th overall (2nd division) on the last stage.

Part of focusing is keeping your mind off the things that don't help (or concern) you, and fixing it on the things that do. By not seeing the other shooters' stage runs, I was able to keep insecurity, second-guessing, and worries out of my mind.

You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.

-Isaiah 26:3 (ESV)

Moving on, if I want to have a good match, I need focus. So, I plan to prioritize it at tonight's all-classifier match. Before the match, focus on tuning out the unnecessaries. During the match, focus on my stage runs. After the match, focus on "fixing" the runs. And at all times, focus on God and the peace that He brings. I'm curious to see how it will play out. Perhaps I'll write another reflection on the outcome.