A stage does not begin when the timer beeps.
By that point, most of the important work should already be complete. The stage plan has been selected, committed to, and rehearsed. The equipment is ready. The shooter should not still be solving the stage or consciously managing every technical detail.
The Stage Performance Routine is the complete process from walkthrough through execution, Mental Reload, and reset. The Pre Shot Routine is the narrower sequence immediately before the start signal.
A good Stage Performance Routine creates a repeatable path from planning to preparation, from preparation to focused execution, and finally to a clean mental reset after the stage.
Prepare deliberately. Focus on what matters. Then trust the plan.
The Stage Performance Routine Begins Before You Are the Shooter
The Stage Performance Routine begins during the walkthrough, when I determine the stage plan, commit to the decisions I made, and begin rehearsing the plan repeatedly.
My goal is to rehearse the stage at least 20 times so the sequence becomes familiar enough that I do not need to consciously think through every step once the shooting begins. If I make a meaningful change during the walkthrough, I start the rehearsal process again with the revised plan.
The earlier I can settle the plan, the better. If I happen to be the first shooter, I may have little or no useful rehearsal time after the walkthrough ends. I do not want to depend on additional time that may not exist.
The walkthrough is therefore not only where I solve the stage. It is also where I begin making the plan familiar enough to execute without conscious narration.
Preparation: Decide, Commit, Rehearse
The first part of the Stage Performance Routine is preparation.
I want the stage plan to be systematic rather than improvised. Once I have selected a sound plan, I commit to it. Constantly second guessing the decision creates competing instructions and takes time away from rehearsal.
The goal is not to discover a theoretically perfect stage plan. It is to develop a good plan that I can execute confidently.
There is also a practical reality to stage planning: when the choice between two reasonable plans becomes extremely difficult, the difference between them is often small. If one option were clearly superior, the decision would usually be easier.
At some point, analysis needs to stop and rehearsal needs to begin.
Make the decision. Rehearse it. Then trust it.
Preload: Get Ready Before Your Name Is Called
When I am on deck, I move to the side and begin preparing for the stage.
This part of the Stage Performance Routine includes practical equipment checks. I make sure the magazines I need are available, that I have the ammunition required for the plan, and that everything is positioned the way I expect it to be. Then I continue rehearsing the stage until my name is called.
This is not the time to start solving the stage again. The plan should already be known. I am reinforcing the sequence so that when my name is called, I am moving closer to execution rather than returning to analysis.
The details will vary by shooter and equipment, but the principle is the same: remove avoidable uncertainty before you reach the start position.
Initiation: Use Physical Cues to Change My Mental State
When my name is called, I begin another part of the Stage Performance Routine.
As I move toward the start position, I use several physical actions that I have repeated many times. I shrug my shoulders back, yawn, and place my hands on my belt while continuing to rehearse the stage plan.
Those actions are not important because other shooters should copy them. They are useful because performing the same actions consistently helps mark the transition from waiting to preparing to perform.
Instead of allowing my thoughts to wander toward the score, the other shooters, or what happened on the previous stage, I follow a familiar sequence. The Stage Performance Routine tells me what happens next.
Pre Shot Routine: Final Actions Before the Start Signal
The Pre Shot Routine begins at “Make Ready” and is limited to the final actions immediately before the start signal. The walkthrough, stage analysis, plan selection, Mental Reload, and reset belong to the broader Stage Performance Routine, not to the Pre Shot Routine.
Make Ready
The “Make Ready” command marks the end of my stage-plan rehearsal and the beginning of final equipment preparation.
By this point, the plan has already been finalized during the walkthrough and rehearsed repeatedly. I am not changing it or continuing to analyze it. My attention now shifts to preparing the pistol and confirming that the equipment is ready.
With my current setup, that includes confirming the optic brightness. I deliberately move the brightness up and down so I know I am looking at the setting rather than simply assuming it is correct. If I make a change, I check it again until I am satisfied.
For a loaded start, I complete the loading process, confirm the condition of the pistol, take one final look through the optic, and holster.
The exact procedure will vary with the firearm, division, and start condition. What matters is having a consistent process rather than inventing one at the start line.
Once final equipment preparation is complete, I assume the required start position as consistently as the stage allows. The plan is known, the equipment is ready, and the mental task becomes much narrower.
See My Spot
When I hear “Are You Ready,” I give myself one simple instruction:
See my spot.
This is the final conscious cue I use before execution.
I used to tell myself to “Center the Dot,” but I eventually realized that wording could pull my attention back toward the optic. “See my spot” works better for me because it keeps my vision on the exact place I want to shoot.
If the first target is visible, I look at the specific point I intend to shoot. If the stage begins with movement and I cannot yet see the first target, I look at the specific point I intend to move toward or the visual reference that initiates my first action.
I keep my attention on that spot and allow the gun to come into my line of sight. When I do that correctly, the dot appears in relation to the place I am already looking. I do not need to consciously steer the dot onto the target.
That distinction matters. The final cue directs my attention toward useful visual information rather than back toward consciously controlling the gun.
Let the Start Signal Begin the Plan
At “Stand By,” I physically acknowledge the command and continue looking at my spot. Then I wait for the start signal.
When the timer sounds, I do not want to begin thinking through the stage. I want the signal to release the plan I have already rehearsed.
Execution: Trust the Rehearsed Plan
The first action begins, the next visual cue appears, and the stage continues. I am not trying to verbally narrate every step in my head.
I do not need to tell myself how to draw, reload, transition, or move. Those skills belong in training. During the stage, I want to see what each shot requires and obtain an acceptable sight picture.
Go as fast as you can while still seeing what you need to see.
The Pre Shot Routine Should Reduce Mental Noise
One of the greatest values of a Pre Shot Routine is that it gives the conscious mind something useful to do in the final moments before the signal.
Without a Pre Shot Routine, those final moments can fill with thoughts that do not improve performance: What if I miss the partial? What hit factor do I need? What did the last shooter do? What happens if I make a mistake?
Those questions do not help execute the next shot.
Because the Stage Performance Routine has already settled and rehearsed the plan, the Pre Shot Routine can stay simple: prepare the equipment at Make Ready, assume the start position, narrow attention, see the spot, and let the signal release the plan.
The simplicity is part of the value.
Do Not Turn the Pre Shot Routine Into a Technical Checklist
There is a danger in making a Pre Shot Routine too complicated.
I do not want to stand at the start position reminding myself to grip harder, move the support hand faster, bend my knees, accelerate the gun, control recoil, or perform some other technical action.
Those are training thoughts.
If a technical skill needs work, address it in practice. The start position is too late to rebuild technique. By the time I am preparing to shoot, I want the technical work behind me.
The Pre Shot Routine should reduce conscious interference rather than create more of it.
Practice the Stage Performance Routine Like Any Other Skill
The first time you use a Stage Performance Routine should not be at an important match.
Practice it during dry fire. Use it during live fire. Use it when practicing classifiers and when running training stages. The complete routine needs repetitions just like the shooting skills it supports.
You may discover that one cue works better than another. You may decide that a particular equipment check is unnecessary or that another physical action helps you transition more consistently into performance.
That is how my own Pre Shot Routine changed from “Center the Dot” to “See my spot.”
The Stage Performance Routine should evolve when experience shows you a better way, but once you make the change, practice the new version until it becomes familiar.
Mental Reload: Finish the Stage Correctly
The Stage Performance Routine does not end when the shooting stops.
After the stage, I use what Lanny Bassham calls a Mental Reload in With Winning in Mind.
If the stage went well, I replay it as it happened. I want to reinforce the performance I just produced.
If something needs work, I identify what I should have done differently and then replay the stage in my mind with the correction made. I do not want my final mental repetition to be the mistake. I want to leave with the picture of the performance I want to repeat.
That does not mean ignoring problems. It means identifying the problem long enough to determine the solution and then directing attention toward the correct action.
This is the same principle discussed in Positive Imprints, a concept Lanny Bassham describes in With Winning in Mind.
Recognize what happened. Find the solution. Rehearse the performance you want. Then move on.
Reset for the Next Stage
Once the Mental Reload is complete, the stage is finished.
I move to the side, reload my magazines, organize the equipment, and begin preparing for the next stage. That physical reset also helps mark the mental transition away from the previous performance.
If the stage went well, I reinforced it. If something needed work, I identified the solution and mentally rehearsed the corrected performance.
Either way, the work is complete. The next stage deserves my attention.
Build a Stage Performance Routine That Works for You
My exact Stage Performance Routine is mine.
The shoulder shrug, yawn, belt position, equipment checks, hand placement, and the cue “See my spot” are things I have developed and refined for my own shooting. Another shooter may use different physical cues or a different final phrase.
That is fine.
The principle is not to copy every detail of someone else's routine. The principle is to create a repeatable sequence that reliably moves you from planning through performance and reset:
- Prepare: finalize the plan during the walkthrough, commit to it, and begin rehearsing.
- Preload: confirm magazines and equipment while continuing the rehearsal.
- Initiate: use familiar physical cues when called as the shooter.
- Pre Shot Routine: at Make Ready, stop rehearsing, prepare the pistol, assume the required start position, narrow attention, and use the cue “See my spot.”
- Execute: allow the start signal to release the rehearsed plan.
- Mental Reload: reinforce good execution or mentally rehearse the corrected performance.
- Reset: prepare for the next stage and move on.
Consistency allows the Stage Performance Routine itself to become familiar. Familiarity reduces unnecessary thought, and reducing unnecessary thought gives you more freedom to see what is happening and execute the skills you already possess.
From Walkthrough to Reset
A Stage Performance Routine does not make you faster, more accurate, or more skilled by itself. Practice does that.
The Stage Performance Routine helps you bring those skills to the stage without adding unnecessary interference.
Determine the plan early, commit to it, and rehearse it until it is familiar. At Make Ready, begin the focused Pre Shot Routine: prepare the equipment, assume the start position, narrow your attention, and see your spot.
Then trust what you have trained and let the start signal release the plan.
Afterward, reinforce what went well, identify the solution to anything that needs work, use the Mental Reload to rehearse the performance you want, and reset for the next stage.
Prepare deliberately. Focus on what matters. Trust the training. Then perform.