If there is anything a guy wants to be known for it is being "cool under pressure." Take away the "cool under pressure" genre and you have very few movies left, hardly any fiction, the BS in bars drops to talk about the weather and folks quit fishing completely. Women take note: If you want to make a significant positive impact in ANY relationship with a man, just mention in front of a bunch of people at a party, sunday school, Thanksgiving dinner or crowded elevator that one of the biggest reasons you noticed your current squeeze is that he is "cool under pressure." Your relationship will ramp up noticeably. Don't get pregnant.
I know, I know. I hear women's eyes rolling as I click away. You want someone sensitive. Someone you can connect with. Some good reliable and predictable man. Guys fake every bit of that to get cute dates. All they REALLY want is to be known as being "cool under pressure."
I promise that this background software runs in the operating system of almost any man out there. Period.
Of course, people are NOT "cool under pressure." They crack, flake out, wilt, crumble, leave, make excuses, break their equipment, run out of gas, start "helping" instead of leading, or some other calamity. Folks end up being "cool under pressure" because they brain-locked and hurtled forward on random momentum.
LEG matches, both rifle and pistol are built to test the "cool under pressure" quotient of the shooters. There aren't any sighters. Every shot counts. You KNOW it counts. The stories are legendary about good shooters melting down at 600 yards, saving rounds in a pistol rapid fire, crossfiring onto the wrong target and so on in these matches. There's just no help. Humans spin up and stroke out under pressure. Rarely are they cool.
Justin Utley and I both finished our Distinguished Pistol Badges yesterday at Terrell. It's a 30 point match at 50 and 25 yards. Just takes a few minutes to shoot. I was second and he was third. We both have the Rifle badge from 2003 or so. The badges are numbered and I think we will be in the 1480s. They have been awarding this badge since 1891. Not many people have won it. Less folks have won both the rifle and pistol, so if it seems like I'm bragging....there you have it.
Folks, I gotta tell you, that Justin Utley kid is cool under pressure. And myself? I'll at least show up and fire all my rounds. Even under pressure.
My mental approach was just to pretend I was already Distinguished. It was inevitable. I could shoot plenty good enough to win. If I didn't win this match I would win the next or the next. It was certain to happen. Nothing to it. Forget about the drama and stress and just shoot the match like it was practice. I was already distinguished, they just hadn't given me the badge yet. Your mileage may vary.
Didn't win the Garand and the forearm jumped off my M1 Carbine twice during that match making for some radical zero changes. I shot Vintage with my little Swiss K31 and beat my National Match score by a point. 5th State Vintage Match win.
Distinguished pistol is shot with a .45 Service Pistol or the 9mm Service pistol. I shot my Les Baer and some handloads.
Having a very cool Monday morning, being double Distinguished and all.
6 comments:
Well Done.
Gerry
Cool under pressure story, I was awaken by a rocket attack in RVN, and because I hadn't been awake when they struck I was the only one that wasn't speaking at speeds beyond sense, so I grabbed the mike, asked some questions, listened to higher HQ and set the record straight and calmed the bunker down. It does help to be asleep when all Hell breaks Lose -- if you can focus.
But handling the extreme with calm and goals - that is what men like.
Congratulations. It ain't bragging if it is true.
Congratulations, remind me not to get in a gunfight with you.
Congrats, and no, it's NOT bragging :-)
Women do want sensitivity, in a man they're attracted to in the first place. What attracts them in the first place is coolness under pressure (including pressure they put on you).
Once you've got that, sensitivity is a real nice plus.
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