Someone (Todd G.) put together some interesting thoughts on shooting. Some of these are specific to the match he ran recently, and many are specific to shooting in general. Having competed in many different sports since I was five years old (yes that makes many decades of competitive experience on this old body) I can TOTALLY agree with some of his observations.
People willing to put their egos on the line and shoot competitively in front of peers and strangers tend to be pretty good folks. A lot of shooters made mistakes Tuesday night but with just one exception, all of them took it light heartedly.
Bottom line here, we compete to win but the only way that we win is by learning along the way, and having fun doing it. If it isn’t fun, and if the people that you are competing with aren’t having fun… it’s time to find either a new sport, or a new group to hang with.
The last couple of months I have been hanging with the guys from WIILSHOOT (a little more on them later) while I get introduced to shooting as a sport. I have to tell you, it has been one of the best (and luckiest) choices I have made. A lot of good folks to learn from, and a lot of fun in the process. Even if all I do is watch and watch and break down each shooters stage, I learn and learn, and there is a lot to learn. As Les told me one night, “It’s hard isn’t it”. Yes, it is hard. It is easier than learning to skate, handle a puck, and learn how to compete at a high level (I did pretty well with that). But it isn’t that much easier, a lot of fundamentals to master.