ORIGINAL: Matt / PA

I've said it before.......either you want to have fun, or you want to win. You can ALMOST do both.

I was talking to a few friends about this over the last few weeks, why do I shoot 3D? About all I could come up with is that I'm good at it, so I do it. I'm almost expected to shoot and win around here so there's a little peer pressure to keep shooting. It's definitely not what I would call pure FUN. It's an enjoyable activity but when you are trying to win everything and one 8 can ruin your day it really does start to feel like work.
I like to compete, I like to push myself but I definitely had more fun at the lower rungs because pure natural ability I guess allowed me to pretty much beat alot of people pretty easily.
As the competition grew I didn't lose any ground but the stakes get higher and it becomes more stress. At the national level or Worlds in MBR there are literally 20 or more"Me"s competing for the title for any given event.

Where I might only have to beat ahandful ofgood local shooters for a win, on the upper rung I have to beat 20 or 30 guys who could realistically win each event.
At this level, details, and practice and fine tuning and more practice and yardage, 3rd axis, who's your daddy, where's saturn in relation to pluto etc etc is what it takes to be at the top and man it's a grind, it seriously is.

That's where it is hard to figure out where to stop or how far to take it. I know in my heart in a year or 2 I could be shooting Pro, but the question is do I want to? I think it's easier for a guy who might never reach the middle upper caliber shooting because they'll figure out their top end ability and be able to have fun competing without the constant pressure to win. They can have fun shooting against their buddy for a beer or a steak dinner.
If I want to win an IBO World Championship or National Championship this year I know it's going to be WORK, serious grinding practice and work. That's not fun, no doubt about it, but for a competitive guy like myself it becomes a lot more fun when they hand you that plaque and you get to carry a title that nobody can ever take away from you.

I guess I don't want to be that guy who somewhere down the road keeps reciting "Yeah I COULD HAVE been a World Champion" or "I could have really been great". I want to find out, and then be able to look back with no regrets that I at least gave it a shot.

My buddy Matt Bressler (who is an IBO Open Pro shooter) told me recently, people would kill to have your ability and opportunity, don't waste it and don't live in the "I coulda".
So I guess I'll beat myself up for a couple more seasons and give it hell.

Remember what I said though.........if you want to compete, truly compete you're going to give up the pure enjoyment and fun of shooting.
When you make a bad shot it's no longera laugh between buddies, that arrow hitting the 8 ring makes a distinctive sound, and that's the sound of people passing you on the scoreboard.