I didn’t really mean to take the longest break I’ve had since I started shooting competitively, but it just happened. Four months have passes since my last match, and life happened in the mean time. Then, all of a sudden, the Surefire World Multigun Championship was a few days out, and I remembered that I forgot to practice.
I know this sounds like an excuse, but I’m mentioning it because I learned something important. Obviously, performance fell off. That’s no surprise. What was interesting was what fell off and how long it took to come back.
For the most part, all the skills were there. I could still draw and reload and line up the sights and press the trigger straight back. But, it all happened very deliberately. I was shooting with with my conscious mind instead of allowing it to go on autopilot like I can usually do. The result was that my shooting really lacked aggression.
However, I’ve learned enough to know when to push and when to just try and be consistent—even if it’s at a slightly slower pace than I’m used to. So, while I wasn’t winning any stages, I wasn’t bombing any either. This kept me from falling off too much and helped me take home a 7th place finish. Which, given the long break, I feel very good about.
I also learned long ago that your squad makes the match, and I made sure that I was there with a good crew. Thank you guys for making it a kickass weekend, and for cheering for me after my D60 explosion.
Big shout out to Pete Rensing and his entire crew for all the amazing work that went in to put this match on the ground. The stages were excellent—exactly the kind that tempt you into shooting too far outside your comfort zone and then punishing you badly when it’s time to switch gears and be precise. I would happily shoot any of them again.
And finally, thank you so much to the companies who have partnered with me these last few years and hopefully well into the future. It means a lot to know that Vortex, JP, Gallant, and the Armory believe in me enough to put their support behind me and trust me to represent them well.
See you all next season.
