. All those things turned out to be true. I made rapid improvements that first year with my mentor coaching me, and friendly advice from fellow shooters. At the local level, it's like that. No pressure, and more fun than worry about winning. One of the tips I picked up? Electronic hearing protection. You can hear the range commands and timers clearly, but the shots are properly suppressed to protect your hearing.
You can also carry on a conversation without yelling against one anothers hearing protection. A downside?
I had shot enough that I was winning, and coaching new shooters. I arrived early for each match, helped the Sergeant set up, and got my favorite target assignment... #1. No stray brass from a poorly tuned semi-auto bouncing off my head or down the back of my neck. Late in the match progression one morning, getting ready to shoot a twenty five yard line stage, thanks to the electronic muffs, I hear this conversation on the ready bench behind me.
"Let's go bro, I checked the scores, and we are out of the running in all classes, no need to hang around for the last few matches."
"In a few man, I wanna watch this guy shoot the last stage, he's good, they tell me you can learn things."
" Yeah, which guy? "
"That one in fatigues, the Fat Guy on target ONE."
Wait a minute....
