Score at your first match?

[K_nagao]

First match I ever shot for ISSF 10m Air was a 560.

[Siddartha]

I started off with a score of 571. It was only the second time i ever had a pistol in my hand. Right after the competition i was invited to the national team but i preferred to retreat to the misty mountains where i live an train now as an eremite. My average these days is above 590.

[Axel]

I started off with a score of 571. It was only the second time i ever had a pistol in my hand. Right after the competition i was invited to the national team but i preferred to retreat to the misty mountains where i live an train now as an eremite. My average these days is above 590.

You are kidding, right?

[Guest]

I realy didn't know we had so many olympians and world cup attendees on this site, judging by first time scores.

You'd think a score in the 400's for your first competition match is a disgrace based on the posts in this thread. I fear this thread would do more harm than good. ie. newbies finding their way in here, shooting 440's and thinking, damn - I should be shooting 570+ I better give up the gig.

Trust me people, this is the exception rather than the norm.

[MSC]

Well, thurs night is my first night in the league. I'll be sure and post my score and maybe some others to give some "real world" perspective. In my recent 60 shot rounds in my basement, I've been around the 480 mark. Guess I'd be happy with that given the changed environment and stress of competition. (Though I'm really only competing with myself for now).

[Guest]

K_nagao,

I'd feel ashamed of myself if I were you, only doing the 560.
My Grandma did 585 with both hands tied behind her back (while looking thru a mirror)

Seriously though, how much pistol shooting had you done previously?
How much training/practice did you put in before this first match?

Forgive my first statement if its out of order, but your post with no detail invites this sort of scepticism.
Most shooters will never consistently achieve this level.

[Guest]

I started off with a score of 571. It was only the second time i ever had a pistol in my hand. Right after the competition i was invited to the national team but i preferred to retreat to the misty mountains where i live an train now as an eremite. My average these days is above 590.

You are kidding, right?

I am never kidding. I have reached a higher level of awareness which enables me to shoot 10's at will. I just add some 9's every now and then to not humiliate my opponents too badly since my mission on earth is to spread peace and harmony.

By the way Mr. Nagao is a lower level student of mine. Acually he still needs a pistol to shoot the tens while i do it with a certain 3-finger technique from china.

[Axel]

I started off with a score of 571. It was only the second time i ever had a pistol in my hand. Right after the competition i was invited to the national team but i preferred to retreat to the misty mountains where i live an train now as an eremite. My average these days is above 590.

You are kidding, right?

I am never kidding. I have reached a higher level of awareness which enables me to shoot 10's at will. I just add some 9's every now and then to not humiliate my opponents too badly since my mission on earth is to spread peace and harmony.

By the way Mr. Nagao is a lower level student of mine. Acually he still needs a pistol to shoot the tens while i do it with a certain 3-finger technique from china.

Good for you then... *yawn*

[MSC]

Well, back from my match and well... I guess the nerves hit me hard! :) Through my sighters and first 3 or 4 targets I had an uncontrollable wobble. Shots were all over the target. My good shots were those that happend to go off while I waved by the center! I was absolutely disgusted! Then suddenly around targets 5 and 6 the gun settled down. I finished off with my final 6 targets well into the 40's, and actually felt more "on" than normal. It couldn't offset the horrid beginning though, and I ended up with a 455. My practice scores have been 480-500 recently, and if you extrapolated my last 6 targets, heck I would've been over 500. I'm hoping it was a first match thing and look forward to the next one in two weeks. I can't help but improve on that abysmal score!

On a positive note, the people were very friendly! Got to handle/dryfire some high-end guns and tried firing an IZH.

The scores weren't posted, but from what I saw/heard, the average seemed to be in the low 500's. I think some touched into the 540's though.

[scout18]

Msc taht is not bad. jsut keep at it and whe youare practicing /training at home think about your match conditons and try to replicate them as best youcan. Jus tkeep in mind that younow have a baseline and improvement should be logged and documented. Before I start shooting ellets ina match I use my prep period to dry fire until I am in my groov eues my sighters to confirm zero and add tothe groove. WhenI start record fire it is liek I have worked upa good mental sweat and am ready to ignore all but the front sight and break of the trigger.

As far as high first match scores. It is fine to have some fun but please keep in mind that we have young impressionaable shooters on site and your results may vary. Myself, I have been shooting firearms and bows since I could hold them up to aim. My first ime pistol shooting was at six years old, I have a photo to prove it. I also had extensive rifle training in boy scouts and reached bar 1 in the NRA 50 ft. .22 rifle division by the time I was 13 and have only once ever in twenty years in the Oregon National Guard failed to quailfy expert with my M16. I was in fact a little dissapointed with a 540 and beleive that I am capable of a much higher scores. This belief is what keeps me training and practicing.

stick with it and be as self critical ofyour abilities as you can stand . Learn from your errors improve.

[RobStubbs]

MSC,
As with the previous poster - that is a respectable performance. Nerves is something everyone suffers to some degree and that one of the aspects of training we all try and overcome (or at least control). You will find that it does settle down and the nerves won't be as bad. After all you will never again shoot a first match. Keep at it and enjoy watching those scores come up.

Rob.

[Guest]

My first competition was 547. And after two seasons of AP my average score is 561,5. I intend to raise that average to at least 565 this season.

[James]

My first match score is 474. I found i was very nervous, and couldn't stop shaking.

I spent about 30 min and 50 shots to calm down, but i still had 2 min for each shot.

It was only 2 days before that I was able to shoot 10's, before i had no idea what do to, and I only managed to keep the black.

I missed the black several times during the match.

[rick lee]

i still remember it i shot a 386 out of 600. took me 8 years on and off but now i average 535.

[Ari]

I shot my first AP match yesterday. During the first half I was very nervous, several shots went on white. Then I started to calm down and it went better for a while. But in the end the nerves hit again, because I had to fire the last shots all alone - everyone else had finished. I could feel the gaze in my back! The score was 505.

[psween]

I had been training for about 6 months pretty hard, shooting at least a match plus sighters every day. My practice scores were in the 540 range, and I was really starting to feel the ability to call my shots. I was so nervous at the match that it took me several targets to settle down. Pulled a few 6s before I got things under control. I've since not shot nearly as much, as a new job and family situation have kept me out of it. If I get to shoot once a week that's great, and I don't even put up a target, just shoot at a black cutout to remember the mechanics. It still feels good to release a shot that you know was a center 10!

Patrick