Lessons from The Tactical Games National ChampionshipsI competed in The Tactical Games National Championships Nov 4-6 in Texas. As with all competitions, I had some fantastic successes and some brutal failures. I fervently believe that we learn more from our failures than from our successes and TTG National Championships provided me with many, many learning opportunities. I will explore some of these lessons over the next few weeks in this Mental Toughness Thursday blog. LESSON 1: ASSUME SOMETHING WILL BE OFF WITH EQUIPMENT AFTER AIR TRAVEL The first misstep in Texas happened when I took possession of my rifle case after our flights. It was nearly impossible to open the case because of the incredible vacuum seal created during travel. The top and bottom of the cases were completely concaved. The vacuum was so powerful that it took a LOT of force to break the seal and open the case. We inspected the rifle and nothing appeared damaged. I did not treat the vacuum issue seriously and just assumed the scope was not impacted. See Lesson 1. I had an opportunity to confirm zero at the event venue, the Texas Shooting Academy, on Thursday. I did put some rounds downrange, but I did not actually confirm zero. I was intimidated. Everyone else was prepared for this process and I was clearly not. Lacking targets, staple gun, shooting bags, etc. I just faked my way through this. ROOKIE MOVE!! I noticed all my shots were to the right, but I was shooting at 50 yards and I often pull right. So I just chalked it up to competition nerves. I did not make any adjustments to my scope and just moved on. If I had a do-over I would have asked someone for targets. I would have confirmed zero at 100 yards. I would have made adjustments to my scope. LESSON 2: ALWAYS CONFIRM ZERO WHEN SHOOTING IN A NEW PLACE The first indicator that something wasn’t right was after Stage 2, Silly Strongman. I was the last to finish the battle and ended up placing 6th. I didn’t pay attention to my miss penalties because I assumed my placing was because I finished last. I never saw my rifle target so I had no idea where any of my shots landed (at about 100 yards). I ended up with 300 penalty points. I just chalked it up to competition nerves and lack of physical ability. LESSON 3: TRUST YOUR TRAINING AND ABILITY AND VERIFY THAT EQUIPMENT IS WORKING PROPERLY The first day wasn't all failures however. I completed 4 stages that day and I placed 2nd and 4th in 2 of them. My 2nd place finish was in the Power Sprint at Rattler CrossFit. This was a fitness only stage and it played to my strengths. We had 2 mins to accumulate 24 calories on the ski erg, 2 mins to accumulate 34 calories on the bike erg, and 2 mins to accumulate 40 calories on the rowing erg. I got time-capped at 36 calories on the row erg, and it was good enough for second! Another success was the 2-gun van stage. I didn’t know it when I finished, but I placed fourth. I was hitting 12-inch steel targets at 200 yards. I heard the steel ring and that made me happy. Again, the only misses on that stage were the small steel targets. Easy to miss at 200? Yes, but not actually for me. Another bright spot was the long run. I knew I would place last in this stage. I just focused on what success looked like for me and tried to have as much fun as possible running through the beautiful oak and juniper woodland of the Texas Hill Country. Five miles of rolling hills in the rain really wasn't that bad. It was hard and I kinda liked it.
In fact, that motto helped me survive the first day and all the things that went wrong on day 2 and 3. I will share those stories and lessons learned with you in my next Mental Toughness Thursday blog.
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