Factory Gun Nationals: The Fight to the Podium

Preparation: Building Confidence Before the Match

Going into Factory Gun Nationals, I knew I needed to put in the work before I ever stepped onto the range.

My preparation involved getting out and shooting a few thousand rounds, but it wasn’t just about putting rounds downrange. I had some very specific goals for those training sessions.

One of the biggest things I wanted to develop was confidence in my ability to engage closer targets faster. When the targets are close, there’s a temptation to slow down and make sure everything is perfect. At the level I wanted to compete at, I knew I needed to trust my shooting and be willing to push the pace.

The other major focus was my grip pressure.

I spent a lot of time working on how I was gripping the gun and, more importantly, making sure that grip allowed the gun to return naturally to the target after the first shot. The goal was to get the gun to come back where it needed to be for the second shot without having to consciously “re-aim” it.

That distinction is huge.

I didn’t want to shoot the first shot, watch the gun move, and then try to find the target again. I wanted the gun to return to the target as a result of my grip and technique. The more I could make that happen consistently in practice, the more confidence I could take with me into the match.

By the time I got to Factory Gun Nationals, I felt like I had done the work. Now it was time to see if I could execute when it counted.

Day 1: Stay in the Fight

Day 1 was about getting started, shaking off the major-match jitters, and finding my groove.

My mindset going into this match was simple:

“I belong on the podium. Consistency is what is going to get me there.”

That’s what I wanted to remind myself throughout the match. I didn’t need to shoot the match of my life on every single stage. I needed to consistently perform and avoid giving away points.

Then, almost immediately, things didn’t go according to plan.

I started the match with a miss on the first two stages.

Not exactly the start you draw up when you’re trying to put yourself on the podium.

That definitely put me on the back foot a little bit. But one thing I have learned through competing is that a match is rarely won or lost in the first few stages. There were still a lot of points left on the ta

So I went back to the mindset I had coming into the match:

It’s only Day 1. It’s not over until it’s over.

From that point forward, the goal was to stay in the fight.

I wanted to stay aggressive, but I didn’t want to start chasing the match and needlessly giving away even more points. There is a difference between pushing yourself and forcing something that isn’t there.

My job was to keep shooting my game.

If someone wanted those points from me, they were going to have to take them by shooting better than me. I wasn’t going to hand them over.

Stage by stage, I worked my way through the day and tried to put the early mistakes behind me. There were still plenty of opportunities ahead, and I knew that tomorrow would be another chance to make up ground.

When Day 1 was finally over, I wasn’t in the position I wanted to be in.

But I was still in the fight.

And that was what mattered.

Tomorrow was a new day.