I admit it, I love steel. Steel plates, a plate rack, mini-poppers, classic poppers, even a Texas Star, I love shooting steel. I know steel is an anathema for some people, they see it and groan and feel they are going to struggle, I see it, and my eyes light up, and I feel my confidence take off. Steel is my b***h!
The unfortunate side is that most people see cardboard targets, and look forward to them, and I have an unfortunate habit of throwing some mikes, and getting myself into trouble with paper targets. I've been thinking about this issue I have for quite awhile, and I've come to the conclusion that it's a mental issue as much as anything, and right now, today, the biggest thing that is stopping me from earning my card is my spotty accuracy. My draw is good enough, my reload is good enough, my transitions and my movement is passable. I'm not saying I'm an All-Star, I'm not, what I am saying is those skills can get the job done, but the most basic thing of all is doing me in, and that's my accuracy.
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| My Dream Stage? |
Mentally, I have to slow down, and get a good sight picture to hit steel, it's a smaller area, and you have to be precise to get your hit. Paper provides a much bigger area, and I have a tendency of looking past my sight at the paper, and just pulling the trigger once I start seeing cardboard. This is why I end up with delta's and mikes. Keeping focused on your front sight is a lot easier said that done, and that simple lesson is something I'm still struggling with. I've said before I need to treat paper like steel; focus on the front sight, and nothing else, and get a sight picture. If I do that I'll start getting an awful lot more alpha hits. Think about it, an 8" steel plate is, well, 8". A paper target is about 6" wide by 11" tall. If I can hit an 8" plate, I'm certainly accurate enough to hit paper much more effectively that I have been. Part of what it tells me is that I can shoot accurately, I just need to focus.
Wednesday night is a man versus man steel match, and I admit, I'm looking forward to it. There are definitely some better, and faster shooters, and other than a few people, Les and Kozy, I think I stand a reasonable chance of advancing pretty far in the tourney. This is my game, this is what I do. The reason I mention it, is not because I'm bragging, but because I want to bottle that confidence and attitude, and find it again on Saturday at The WIIT. In my dry fire, I've been trying to focus on just my front sight, nothing else, not pulling the trigger until that front sight is right where I want it to be, and not when I first see cardboard. I'm going to work paper targets Tuesday and Friday, I'm going to drive the gun to each target, commit to each shot, and not lose that front sight and start looking past it.
This is a fundamental thing that I still have not picked up, but I pick that seemingly simple skill up, then my goals are going to be reachable. You'd think that would be the easiest thing for a person to lean, and it's been my biggest struggle.
Les gave me a challenge a week ago, don't beat myself up, don't get mad, accept mistakes and move on. Mission accomplished last week, I have up days, and down days, and I never let myself get too excited about the good, or down about the bad. I know what that feels like now, and the last part of that challenge, will be for me to accept it during a match.
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