My top 20 finish at the 2023 World Speed Shooting Championship

Back in June of 2021 I decided to commit to the sport of Speed Shooting in a specific discipline called Steel Challenge.? There are 8 stages total, each stage consisting of 5 targets in a specific pattern, with one target known as the stop plate.? The goal is to shoot each target as fast as possible, engaging the stop plate last. The best 4 out of 5 times are added to yield the total score for the stage. ? There are 13 divisions or different firearms that one can become a Grandmaster - the highest ranking in the sport.?

I decided to prepare for my first major match in July 2021 to assess my skills.. I was disappointed with the results.? I ranked as a B in Rimfire Rifle & an A in Pistol Caliber Carbine Open divisions. The rankings go D,C,B,A, M, then GM, so I had some work to do to perfect my skills in this sport.

Over the past two years I competed in 78 matches, Grand Mastered 5 Divisions, and classified in two more.? Reaching the Grand Master rank didn’t mean I was done by far, the next goal was to start traveling to larger matches, pitting my skills against the best in the World.

This year I registered for the World Speed Shooting Championship in Talladega Alabama just a few miles from the Motor Speedway.? The match took place April 24-30th 2023, with 672 of the best shooters competing for the top spot.? I competed in three divisions across three days.

Day 1, I competed in the Pistol Division, it was a rough day, & I had all kinds of mental challenges. In splits of a second, I would have entire conversations with myself on my performance, why wasn’t I going faster, why did I miss, would I miss the upcoming target.? I ended the day with a time of 82.12 seconds for the match, which was good enough to be 30th out of 106 competitors.? I was disappointed with my finish as I was capable of better but mentally competing against the best in the World was getting to me.?

Day 2, I competed in the PCCO division, again the day started out with mental demons creeping into my thoughts.? When you shoot on stage in less than two seconds, those thoughts can add up.? Thankfully my son came up to me and said, hey I just watched the best shot in the world; they aren’t trying to go fast, then just shoot the stage one target at a time.? So I tried that too, and the stress melted away, the mental demons were there but all I had to do was shoot one target at a time. I finished day two with a total time of 73.28 and was 22nd place in the world (out of 120 competitors in this division) and ended with a Grand Master ranking for the match.? This felt so much better and it was so simple, just follow the process I learned over the years.

Day 3, I competed in the RFRO division, which is a .22 caliber rifle.? This is the fastest division overall. I again followed the process of simple shooting one target at a time.? It worked!? I shot a 69.53 total time, and placed 16th in the World out of 176 shooters in this division.? I didn’t stress, the demons were almost non-existent, even had a couple of malfunctions and nothing bothered me.??

With the world speed shooting championship over, I have been reflecting on my journey for the past two years, the work, the dedication to shooting every weekend even when I didn’t want to.?

The best part of the competition is not winning, though that feels good, It is being a part of the family. We are all one big family, we cheer for each other to do our best, we support each other when things don’t go our way, if a part breaks we loan each other equipment.? It is the comradery that keeps me coming back time after time to this sport. I met so many wonderful people from all over the World.

I also experienced mental challenges like nothing you can imagine and was able to overcome them with the support of my family.? So no matter what you are feeling, stick to the process you have honed over the years, shoot at one goal at the time, and don’t be afraid to seek help and listen to advice.?

Most of all, KBA - Keep Being Awesome.