Every gunslingers has lists. Generally, there is the "I can handle him" list, the "I don't know if I can handle him" list, and the "I can't handle him" list. To be competitive, you have to move all the other shooters in the field to the first list. It is just a matter of attitude. You need to truly believe that you are the toughest gunfighter there. It does not matter whether you are shooting the World Champion or the most accurate shooter in the field, you are the toughest and will prevail.
There are some great lines in the movie Unforgiven:
Little Bill: "That is about as fast as I can draw and hit anything."
Biographer: "But what if the other shooter is quicker than you."
Little Bill: "Then he will miss. It is not easy to shoot a man."
Little Bill ruled Big Whiskey not because he was the quickest but because he was the toughest gunfighter there.
I took Dismal to his football training camp at the Wylie Pirates' facility. Every where was the slogan "AHMO" so I ask what it meant. I was told it was from a fiery talk the head coach gave in the 1970s which came from the comedy show "Laugh In." The full quote is "AHMO kick your butt." I may be nice to you before the match and I sure will be nice to you after the match, but at the set command AHMO and I don't care who you are, you are on my first list.
The photos from the Southern and National are great for evaluating form. Here are a couple Shady Mtn shooters:
Although John does not acknowledge the locked elbow draw he shoots it since he has gotten down into the threes. Powder Keg shoots it. Note the locked elbow, the stable anchor point and the level forearm and gun. Old West and Powder Keg will drill the center of the target. Powder Keg is shooting the fasting gun at the event, who shoots the flail. Note in the last photo, the flail is complete, wax long gone, high/low who knows when the locked elbow shooter fires. He will drill the center of the target with a level shot. Dismal is here just to show a good two handed locked elbow draw.
See you on the line. AHMO!
I write because it is fresh in my mind and maybe there is a nugget or two rambling around in there. At Pioneer I shot fairly well. I was the 6th quickest shooter there out of 48 shooters. The draw was favorable, but I did shoot against 3 of the quicker shooters. For 7 of my 9 matches, I stayed focused and shot the Alleluia Competition and Training system. For those seven matches it was mostly three up and three down, averaging just a little over three shots a match.
But in two matches, I lost my focus and got flustered. Why? With all of my training and competition, it should not happen. Why?
In the Bracket A shoot off, Dirty Dan was mowing them down. I think he won 5 matches in a row. Then, for some reason he lost his focus. I do not know for sure, but as he was moving up the bracket in his sixth match, he lost a shot on quickness. I would guess that caused him to worry about speed. That is my guess, that worry disrupted his focus. He was no longer the toughest gunfighter on the line.
In the 5th seeding round I drew Shady. We shoot together so much and I wanted to out quick him so much, I strayed from the system. Loss of focus, loss of match. But it was a fun match, all four of the winning hits were decided on quickness. (Shady Mtn shooters don't practice missing.)
In the Bracket A shoot-offs the only shooters that worried me were Dirty Dan and Rodeo Romeo. Dirty Dan did not reach me. Under normal circumstances, I should have no chance against Rodeo. He is 70 mls quicker than me and normally better than 60%. But in this event I had the opportunity to shoot the 4th seeded shooter and the 2nd seeded shooter (The Rustler, another Shady Mtn Shooter) before shooting against Rodeo. Those shooters were dispatched in 6 shots, all within 3 inches of the center of the light. My guess is that caused Rodeo to worry about hitting. If I would have stayed focus it should have been resolved in 4 but was resolved in 8 shots. I credit my hand judge, Doc, for walking me back onto the target, A good hand judge is priceless in a tough gunfight.
The point of this post is that worry about anything will cause you to lose your focus. Worrying about your opponent will do you in, worrying about quickness will do you in, worrying about hitting will do you in! Trying to hit will not help you hit. Trying to go quick will not help you be quick. You need to stay focused. For Alleluia shooters, shoot the system. It is designed to keep you focused. Now, if only I could heed my own advice.
Shady/Ruah Speed Run: For those of you that practice with a training buddy you might try the Shady/Ruah run. You start at 5 five feet from the target on the light. You are so close that it takes away all of the stress of trying to hit the target. You shoot your normal finalized draw. You are not changing your draw or thinking about the draw for any reason. You are just going as quick as you can from your subconscious. If you are thinking of your draw for any reason, you will not get the benefit of this drill. The only thing you are trying to do is catch the light. Hopefully you will be shooting without the stress of trying the hit the target and the stress of trying to go fast. Your true potential should come forth because you are without the two stressors that hold us back.
If your muzzle height is 43 inches or less your target area is the lower right quarter for right handed and lower left quarter for left handed shooters. That is because the bullet needs to rise to the center of the target at 15 feet. For shooter with muzzle height of 44 inches and higher, target area is just below the light.
After five shots, you move back to 10 feet. Again don't worry about hitting. Don't worry about your draw. Just practice catching the light. By now your draw should be really in the groove. For some reason, I am quicker at 10 feet than I am at 5 feet.
After five shots at ten feet move back to 15 feet. If you can keep the same mind set, you will find that you are just as accurate at 15 feet as at 5 feet. That is if you can just shoot from the subconscious. Worrying about hitting is what causes us to be less accurate and for that matter slower. Worrying is what cause the 2 up fluster and those missing streaks we have all had.
On Shady Mtn we never practice accuracy but average for us is 80%. We are all more accurate than we shoot because let our mind get in the way. It is not unusual for the competitors in a Shady/Ruah run to hit 30 for 30. Once you are in the groove you should stay in the groove.
The Levi One Step: For those who don't have a training partner you might try Rodeo Romeo's 3,6,9... drill. He starts at 3 feet and continues to shoot at 3 feet until he hits the target five shots in a row. Then he moves back to 6 feet and again shoots until he hits 5 in a row. As to speed he tries to duplicate the 3 feet times. When he hits a 5 shot set he moves back to 9 feet and so on back to 15 feet. It is a great training routine, except I do not like the emphasis on hitting. I would suggest you move back no matter what you hit. Accuracy does not matter! I would say "Don't worry about hitting, hitting will take care of itself, just shoot from the subconscious getting on the light." You want to find that subconscious groove and walk in back to championship distance.
"Never Ever Slow Down!" Alleluia Ruah
