Brian Windon shooting a timed drill transitioning from seated to standing

Competitive shooting is the absolute best way to advance your shooting abilities. It adds pressure and forces you to perform dynamic shooting tactics while racing the clock. You are penalized for inaccuracy and slow movements. There are however, strategies you can apply that are specific to competitive shooting that can drastically help improve how you perform at the match. Some of these things do not apply to defensive shooting skills and are more focused on the "game" aspect of performing at your best on match day.

The mind can only focus on one thing at a time. This is critical to remember when considering the following strategies for your best stage plan. In order to shoot to the maximum level of your abilities, you must know what things to actively be thinking about while shooting and what things have to remain in the sub-conscious, automatic realm of your mind. Most of these things can be mastered before you even show up to shoot a competitive shooting match.

BEFORE MATCH DAY

It should be understood that the things you do prior to match day will determine your success or failures during the match. There is no cramming or amounts of positive self-talk that can replace good old fashion hard work. In order to see improvements, you have to embrace the fact that it will take commitment on your part to do the things you need to do to improve.

GEAR SHAKEDOWN

I believe gear is the least important factor that gets the most attention. It is far too easy to sink tons of money into the gear aspect of competitive shooting in an attempt to compensate for talent or lack of training. With that said, there are some proven ways to set yourself up for success that you must consider when deciding on what gear you will use at the match.

Everything you need to train from home with your competitive or defensive shooting gear.

Reliability and consistency are your friends if you want to be competitive. Having an unreliable gun will not only frustrate you, it will absolutely kill your score in a match and might cost you your life in a self-defense gun fight situation. I won’t go into specific gear as there are tons of quality stuff on the market that will get the job done. Make sure you train with your exact set up prior to shooting a match and make sure it works flawlessly.

DRY FIRE

The importance of dry fire cannot be emphasized enough. If you want to see major improvements on all aspects of your competitive shooting or defensive shooting game, intelligent dry fire is the ticket. Not only do you save tons of money on ammo, range fees, travel expenses, etc.… You also save time which is extremely valuable to us all. You can dedicate 15-30 minutes of dry fire training every day and become a master level shooter in less than a year. There is no way this will happen by making the once a week trip to the gun range where you cannot actually practice the things you do at the match.

REHEARSE EVERYTHING

Rehearsal is the only way to guarantee maximum performance when the pressure is high and the timer sounds. You do not want to encounter a scenario on a match for the first time at the actual match. You should try to rehearse all the common things you come across when shooting matches so they are second nature to you when you encounter them. This includes things like shooting with one hand, moving and shooting, shooting moving targets, moving while drawing your gun, etc.… All top-level performers from elite military and law enforcement units down to the local cover band rehearse to perfect their execution. The more realistic your rehearsals are to what you will encounter, the better you will perform when under pressure.

LIVE FIRE

Live fire is absolutely critical to your training routine but should really only account for about 10 percent of your overall training. Dry fire should make up about 90 percent of your competitive shooting training with your gun if you want to see drastic improvements. Live fire is needed to verify the effectiveness of your dry fire training. Live fire is also needed to reduce the inherent flinch response and to sort out any recoil management and grip issues you may be experiencing.

AUTOMATE EVERYTHING WEAPON MANIPULATION

You want to build muscle memory and automation for everything you can. This will allow you to perform tasks at a sub-conscious level while you execute your stage plan. Your mind can only focus on one thing at time. If you are having to think about your draw or reloads, your focus from executing your stage plan will have to be diverted and will slow you down.

FIND WHAT YOU CAN DO FASTER

Finding the things you are wasting time on can be tricky but it is the only way to speed up your performance while competitive shooting at a match. These things can be discovered in training by following a structured training program and tracking your progress with measurable recorded results. I highly suggest anyone that wants to improve their times invests in a shot timer. This tool is the best way I’ve found to measure speed.

MATCH DAY

HIGH LEVEL STAGE REVIEW

The first thing all shooters should do at any stage of any match is read the stage description. So many important details are on the stage briefing which makes it a mandatory read prior to any stage walk-throughs or stage planning.

After reading and understanding the stage brief, the next thing to do is to count the targets and shooting positions while physically walking the stage. Different shooting disciplines (IDPA, USPSA, etc.…) have different rules when it comes to walking the stage but for the most part, they all allow it.

The main thing you want to be doing while walking the stage is to look for the following things:

What is my start position?
How many rounds will the stage require?
How can I get moving the soonest to and from each position?
What is the most efficient way for me to move through the stage?
Where are the best places to perform reloads?
Can my reloads be performed while moving from shooting position to shooting position?
Are there any hidden targets?
What are my target priorities based on the layout of the stage?

PLAN AND COMMIT

Once you have sufficiently walked the stage and collected all the data you can, it is time to come up with a stage plan and commit to executing it. Unless you are very new to the sport of competitive shooting, I do not think it is wise to constantly change your stage plan based off of how you see other people shooting it. If you are experienced with shooting matches and know your strengths and weaknesses, you should be able to come up with your stage plan on your own and begin the next important step which is committing it to memory. The exception to this rule for me is if I see a glaring oversight in my original stage plan and have enough time to re-commit the change to memory. I do not make changes to my stage plan when I am on deck or if I am about to shoot.

MEMORIZE

Once you have developed your stage plan, it is critical that you memorize it. On complicated stages, I have found it very helpful to actually draw out the stage and label each target by the shot order they will be engaged. This forces me to draw my movements, shooting priority, where I will perform reloads, and know the location of all targets. This might not be needed on shorter stages but is very helpful on the more complicated, larger ones.

VISUALIZE YOUR RUN

I learned the importance of this one from the great Steve Anderson. He stresses the importance of this throughout his podcasts, books, and training. I highly recommend his content. http://www.andersonshooting.com It has had the greatest impact on my performance while shooting stages. To truly visualize your run from the start of the timer to the last shot without looking at the stage or your stage drawing takes practice. You have to run through it over and over and over again until you see every single target and shooting position in your mind. You have to actually see yourself seeing your sights on targets, pressing the trigger with proper form, and moving at the limit of your abilities between targets. The further down on the shooting order you are, the more time you have to visualize your run. When you are in the hole (2 shooters from your turn to shoot) you should really be spending your time visualizing over and over in your mind. Try to stay in this mental rehearsal mode right up until it’s your turn to shoot. This is why it’s good etiquette to avoid talking to or distracting a shooter who is on deck or getting ready to shoot.

ON THE START COMMAND

TRUST YOUR TRAINING

The match is not the place to push the pedal to the metal and go as fast as you can. At least not with your shooting. You are not going to magically shoot better than your actual abilities at the match simply because you are all juiced up on adrenaline and anxiety. In fact, you are going to shoot worse than you would in the stress-free environment of training. This is why it is crucial that you actually put in the work prior to match day. You have to trust your training at this point and put your mental focus on making sure you actually hit the targets. It sounds like a no-brainer but this simple task of making sure you are seeing what you need to see with your sights and hitting the targets where they need to be hit should be the only thing you actively think about while shooting the stage. All of your tasks including drawing the gun, transitioning between targets and shooting positions, and reloads should be happening on a sub-conscious level. Your stage plan and how you proceed through the stage will also be automatic because you did the proper amount of visualization to burn it into your memory.

Brian Windon performing a slide lock reload during an IDPA match.

MOVE FAST SO YOU CAN SHOOT SLOW!

One thing you can do that will absolutely help your time and score on the match is to haul ass like your life depends on it while performing any non-shooting task during your run. When the timer beeps, every single thing you do should be at maximum speed right up until you press the trigger. This sight confirmation should be the only time you slow down to acquire your acceptable sight picture needed to hit the target. On closer targets, this time will be reduced. On harder longer shots, this time might feel like an eternity. This is ok. You are going to make up for this by not missing the target and by moving like your being chased by a pack of wolves while doing everything else. As you progress and continue to dry fire, the time needed to fix your sights before pressing the trigger will be reduced and you will be left with doing everything faster. If you are looking for ways to improve your accuracy, check out this article: https://www.acrtactical.com/articles/accuracy

STAY POSITIVE

We all screw up when pushing ourselves to our maximum abilities. Competitive shooting is perfect at this. We make mistakes, fumble things we never screw up in practice, and mentally freeze at the worst times. Knowing these things are bound to happen and how you will deal with them before they happen will set you up for success. When you are up against the timer and underway shooting your stage, any mistakes you make should be corrected as quickly as possible without wasting time getting upset about it. If you missed your grip on the draw and got a slow start, fix it and move on. Dropped a magazine trying to do a reload? Pick it up if you have to and get moving! Shot a penalty target in the face? Save the “F” bombs and defeated attitude and keep shooting the intended targets. No matter what happens or how bad you screw up, stay with it and finish the stage strong. After a crucial mistake, the last thing you want to do is get pissed off and put the hammer down on the speed. You will surely make the situation worse doing this. Stick to your plan, shoot at your abilities, and trust your training.

Learning how to overcome mistakes and failures starts in training. Avoid any negative emotions or internal dialog when you do not meet your expectations in training. Simply dust yourself off, correct the problem, learn from it, and move on!

AFTER ACTION REVIEW

I like to review my scores and take notes after each match or training session. I usually ask someone to video my runs so I can watch them over and over after the match to pick up where I can improve and what I did good. I have found this to be very helpful even when it is somewhat painful to watch. I do not use this as an opportunity to bash myself or to feed negative thoughts. After action reviews should be performed often to track what is working and what is not.

CONCLUSION

I do not claim to have it all figured out when it comes to shooting matches. My goal is to make Master in IDPA while shooting matches in my everyday concealed carry set up. I have made huge progress over the last couple years. I do know that if I were to commit more time to dry fire than I currently do, I would make my goal of reaching Master sooner. You will get results directly related to what you put into this sport. When I do not train for months at a time, my skills diminish. When I actively dry fire and train for weeks on end, I exceed my own expectations at the match. It’s funny how that works. I have to give credit to Steve Anderson, Mike Seeklander, Wade Rorich, and all the great instructors I have had the privilege to train with for sharing the knowledge and wisdom I am regurgitating here.

TOP PROVEN STRATEGIES FOR COMPETITIVE SHOOTING