Compete to Get Better, Not to Compete Better

Hot take: I don’t care how I place when I compete with guns.

I primarily care about how well I shoot, and only marginally how those around me also shot.

When I used to shoot a local indoor USPSA match (they shut the match down😢), I had no chance of being top overall competitor. There were guys who had decent paying jobs and/or were retired, who practiced for this specific sport at least once a week. They built their own guns and reloaded for fun. I could not beat those guys. If I was in their position and had been doing it as long as they had, I might be able to give them a run for their money, but being a newly wed and supporting a wife who was finishing up her degree meant that I literally did not possess the kind of money that is required to build their level of skill. I’m not complaining. I hope one day to be able to do what they do, but it was completely unreasonable to expect me to be able to compete with them.

That being said, there were plenty of guys in and near my skill level. I had been shooting for a few years at that point, so there was also a handful of new guys each month that I would place ahead of. Nothing against them, I had just been doing it longer. If any of them stuck with it then they’ve probably surpassed me in skill by now, but at the time it was just unreasonable for them to beat me.

Now compare that to a nearby defensive rifle match I shoot when I can.

I’m much more competitive when I’m at this match. I’ve been there 3 or 4 times and the worst I’ve placed is 3rd or 4th. It’s not because I’m a lot better shooter now than I was at the indoor match, it’s because the other competitors who show up aren’t as hard to beat. That sounds worse than it really is, though. There’s a lot of movement and my friend & I are the youngest guys there by 10-15 years. We can just move into & out of position faster than other guys, even if we shoot just as well.

Now, look at those compared to my Run ‘N Guns (1st time and 2nd time). Ditto for how I did in Desert Brutality 2019.

I’d consider myself a very consistent shooter across all four of those competitions. The practical rifle comp (above), the second Run ‘N Gun, and DB ’19 all took place within a four month period. I didn’t get better or worse in that time, either, but the people I competed with/against did. -and that’s my point. I was basically the same shooter, but I placed had an overall win, placed in the 38th percentile, and 24th percentile, respectively.

My performance was basically the same, but in one case I should feel really happy and the other two I should feel bad? Should I feel differently about performing to the same level? I say no, I shouldn’t feel differently. If I go out and shoot to the height of my abilities then I should feel good about it, whether I placed 1st or 55th. If I go out and make stupid mistakes and drop points I should feel bad, even if I win.

The problem with putting emphasis on how you stack up compared to others is that you are giving control of your self worth to other people. If they go out and practice a ton, or make a game that doesn’t favor your talents, then you are allowing them to devalue you in your own mind. If the other people are more lazy than you and/or happen to make a game that emphasizes what you’re already naturally good at, then they can trick you into thinking you’re better than you are. As far as I’m concerned, the second one is the more insidious. Few things are as dangerous as an over-inflated self worth.

So, I Shouldn’t Compete?

That’s not to say that competition has no merit. Competition is something that I believe is worth doing, at least from time to time. It is a good way to see how you stack up against other people in your area. If you live in South Carolina, where there’s a lot of tactical trainers and nation-level competitive shooters, and you regularly place in the top 10% of entrants, you can be pretty sure that you’re doing alright. If your local action pistol match only has the same 4 or 5 regulars each month and you’re in the middle of the pack, you might want to visit another spot sometime to get something to compare them against.

A personal example from DB ’19: There was a guy in my squad who had never competed before. He said that he had just been ‘shooting in the mountains’ until then (he lives in the Pacific Northwest). He placed 3rd in our division, and like 5th of 171 overall. He beat a lot of people, on a national level, and he had no idea how good he was. Why? Because he had no baseline to compare himself to. The only person he could compare against was himself.

The reason he was so good is that he didn’t have some artificial circumstances to lull him into thinking he didn’t need to improve. He didn’t show up on the second Saturday of every month and beat the pants off of a bunch of hillbillies who can’t do a proper reload and feel good about it. He only had himself to compete against, and he used that to his advantage.

The other reason that you should compete is so that you know how bad you are. This is most people’s experience when competing for the first time, and Garand Thumb on YouTube is no different. (talking begins 42 seconds in)

As I mentioned earlier, an inflated ego is a real problem. A lot of people, myself included, will do something to an arbitrary level and quit trying to improve. They will call it ‘good enough’, when in reality they have a long way to go. Why? Because they have no idea how much they actually suck.

Think of Competition as a “Good Enough” Re-Calibration

If you think your reloads are good enough, but everyone around you is doing them faster, smoother, and better than you, then you aren’t good enough. If you think you need to shoot faster, but you have the fastest splits on your squad, then your speed shouldn’t be your main concern.

That’s what my mountain shooting friend and Garand Thumb had in common. They had no idea where they stacked up in comparison to other people, so they had no idea what was good enough and what wasn’t. The only baseline they had was themselves, and without the re-calibrating effect of competition they both allowed their opinions of their own skill to diverge from reality, though in opposite directions.

So, I Should Compete?

Yes. I believe that the main reason to compete is to remain grounded and get your skills evaluated objectively under stress. Competition is the best way to induce stress. Timers, scoring, and your innate drive to look good and not embarrass yourself in front of a crowd will probably get you stressed, which is how you should use competition. When you’re stressed, you’ll be less likely to perform a skill or technique well that you haven’t actually perfected. If you don’t have a skill down, it’ll show. It’s a pressure test of your skills.

Want to see if you’ve got this rifle-to-pistol transition down? Do it on a timer in front of a crowd. Want to see if your pistol work has improved? Watch 3 guys with stock Glocks completely clean a stage right before you step up with your aftermarket trigger and barrel. The threat of public shaming is a real stress inducer. If you ever use a gun for defense of yourself or another, that will be one of the most stressful times in your life. You don’t want to find out that you can’t hit the broad side of a barn under stress when it’s for your life. Competition won’t be the same as an actual gunfight, but it can help you win one.

Another benefit to competition is the variability of stages. If you’re setting up your own targets every time you go out, you’re never presented with something you don’t know inside & out. Every competition I’ve ever been to let’s you look at (aka “finger gun”) a stage before it gets run so that you’re not completely surprised by something, but that’s still a lot more variability than setting up your own targets all the time. Plus, the stages are set up by someone else, and that someone else is unlikely to always set up stages that compliment what you’re good at. If you hate shooting bulls at 25 yards, but the match director does, guess what you’re going to be shooting?

Competition is a good way to see where your skills rank in comparison to other shooters, but that’s also the biggest fault I find in competition: It only shows you where you rank compared to others. If you really want to improve, you need to see how you compare to yourself. There are a lot of guys who are so focused on competing and placing that they have lost the defensive aspect of shooting.

Using Competition Correctly

My main point is that competition shouldn’t become your goal. If you’re serious about defensive shooting, then competition can be an immensely useful tool, but you need to make sure you’re not developing tactically or defensively unsound habits along the way. If you’re running gear that you know would never last in real life, or using techniques that would literally get you killed in the street, you’ve lost touch. So be aware of what you’re doing, and reel it in when you need to.

Unfortunately, some people have seen this worst 10% of ‘gamers’ and have written off competition shooting as completely nonviable. They’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater! Even a cursory glance at the guns, optics, gear, and techniques the military has adopted over the last decade alone will show you that there is a lot to be learned from gun-gaming. Not everything they do stands up to real-world use, but shooting faster and more accurately will always translate into gun fighting.

You should strive for that middle ground. Use it as a way to pressure test your skills, your gear, and yourself. Use it as a motivator to get better and a way to measure your skill improvement, but know the difference between being a better shooter and placing higher in the rankings. I think that last bit is where a lot of people get lost. Use it to make yourself better, no matter how those around you are performing.

Now that you have an idea of what to look for, you’ll be better able to utilize competition shooting to further your defensive training. As I heard someone on P&S say, “Eat the meat, spit out the bones”.

Stay sharp, and I’ll see you next Friday. -S_S