Team Erhardt Project: Signs Of Hope

This is the latest installment in the Team Erhardt Project series which appears on The Shooting Wire.

First things first.

There’s a bit of housekeeping to take care of before I regale you with the highlights of last weekend’s competition performance.

As promised after my earlier, sorry finish at the Harvard Action Shooters’ 1/2 Steel Challenge, here are the names and times of the Production division shooters that ‘owned’ me last Saturday: Ed Stettmeier (60.83), Jerry Tetreau (71.44), Ken Lambert (73.75), Fred Wilson (76.15) and Nick Henry (76.76).

Now, on to the good news.

I’m not sure exactly how it happened but I actually shot well. And by ‘shot well’ I of course mean ‘didn’t suck as much’.

Going into Saturday’s match I wasn’t exactly optimistic considering the last time I shot at Harvard Sportsmen’s Club I developed a close personal relationship with missing targets.

That, and the fact that with two guys named Paul on the squad, to avoid confusion, one of us was designated ‘Fast Paul’…in a voice loud enough to make sure everybody on the squad heard it.

Thanks for that, Frank. I’m feeling the love.

Oh, and I also discovered that my pistol appears to shoot 2″ to the left. No doubt the result of the Apex parts install which required the removal of the rear sight. No big deal, it just needs adjusting.

Despite all that, I was able to shoot the four stages – Speed Option, Roundabout, 5 To Go and Smoke & Hope – in 80.01 seconds. That’s 14.4% faster than the last time I shot these stages during the collegiate Scholastic Steel Challenge event in May.

In another key indicator that I’m moving in the right direction, I shot a personal best on three of the four stages with only 5 To Go escaping improvement.

I even shot five clean runs on Roundabout – the first time I’ve ever done that on any Steel Challenge stage.

All of a sudden things were looking good.

So good in fact that not only was my close personal relationship with missing targets on the rocks and in need of couples counseling, but Frank Ching declared that my reign as Mayor of Suckville was now in doubt.

That kinda made up for the earlier ‘Fast Paul’ comment, but only kinda, Frank.

So…what went right?

Well, it was all in the fundamentals. I kept my head. Held a firmer grip on the gun. And I put more emphasis on reading the front sight.

I have a much better understanding of why Mike Seeklander has a whole chapter on mental toughness in his book Your Competition Handgun Training Program. It’s because without mental toughness your focus will slip away quickly.

Not to go all Bene Gesserit on you but, if ‘fear is the mind killer’ then ‘doubt is the game killer’ because last time out when I started doubting my ability to hit targets my times tanked.

Last Saturday, I was able to recover from misses with a clearer head and thus move up the performance scale, away from craptastic and – even if just marginally – toward fantastic.

Part of the reason I shot with more confidence is that I gripped the gun with more authority.

This helped me muscle through some bad positioning out of the holster because instead of trying to readjust my grip and burn more time, I bore down on the grip I had and kept my mental focus on putting the sights on the target.

And, in a shocking turn of events, I discovered that you get more hits, and fewer misses, with your sights on the target.

Who knew?

Now it’s off to the Ohio 4-H camp to cover the Scholastic Steel Challenge event. While there Tom Yost of Smith & Wesson has promised to give me a little one-on-one coaching, which should help me post faster times than the kids.

I know, beating a bunch of kids who have never shot the Steel Challenge isn’t saying much but I’m not too proud to say I’ll take my ego gratification wherever I can get it.

Besides, I’m tired of being ‘owned’ and want somebody to refer to me as ‘Fast Paul’ for once.

– Paul Erhardt

Follow the Team Erhardt Project on Twitter at @TheShootingWire, use hashtag #TeamErhardt.