Learn › Track 05 · Body & mind
Competition day plan
Match day is not the day to find out how long it takes you to wake up, eat, travel and set up. Start with the first decision of the day.
Think first: Your match starts at 09:00. How many hours before that should your alarm go off, at the latest?
The day as a timeline
Work backwards from the start of the match. Everything before the call to the line is yours to plan; everything after it runs on the range clock.
- −3 h or more — Wake up, familiar breakfast — Nothing new on match day: same food, same drinks, same routine as in training.
- Arrive early — Equipment control — Pistols on your Equipment Control card, shoes, clothing. Leave time in case something needs fixing.
- −25 min — Called to the line · set-up (10 min) — Bring your kit to your firing point, unpack, set up. Dry firing only.
- −15 min — Preparation & sighting (15 min) — Dry fire first, then unlimited sighters. "30 SECONDS" is called 14 min 30 s in.
- 0 — Match: 60 shots in 75 min — About 75 s a shot on average. Breaks come out of this time.
The last three blocks are fixed by the rules, and they are covered in detail in match procedure. The first two are where most match-day mistakes happen: a late start, a rushed breakfast, a queue at equipment control.
Pacing the 75 minutes
Seventy-five minutes for 60 shots is an average of 75 seconds per shot. That sounds generous until you plan a break or two to sit down and rest your eyes. Qualification ranges have a chair at each firing point, so a break is easy to take — but the clock keeps running.
Think first: You plan two 5-minute breaks during the match. How many seconds per shot are left for the 60 shots?
Many coaches suggest planning breaks by shot count (for example after each 20 shots) rather than by feel, and checking the clock against your plan at the 10-minute warning.
The air in your cylinder
A pistol cylinder gives a fixed number of shots per fill — about 150 on some popular models — and a match uses more than 60 of them.
Think first: Your pistol gives about 150 shots per fill. Yesterday you fired 70 in training and didn't refill. Today: qualification, and a final if you make it. What is your plan?
- Shoot as it is — 80 shots left covers a 60-shot match
- Fill or swap to a full cylinder before the match, and top up again before a final
- Only refill when the gauge reads zero
- Use fewer sighters to save air
The checklist
Pack the night before, from a written list, so nothing depends on your memory at 06:00.
- Pistol and cylinders — filled, within their expiry date, plus a spare cylinder and the filling adapter.
- Pellets — from the lot you tested, in their original tin.
- Glasses and blinder — the ones you trained with.
- Shoes and clothing — shoes below the ankle bone, clothes that meet the dress code.
- Papers — Equipment Control card, and your ISSF ID for ISSF championships.
- Tools — your own 500 g test weight, the tools that fit your pistol, chalk.
- Food and water — familiar snacks and enough to drink. Dehydration raises heart rate and blurs vision.
- Logbook — to note sleep, sighters and anything that went wrong.
Phones and other communication devices are not allowed on the field of play. Leave yours outside it. The full rules for kit are in shoes, dress code and equipment control.
Food, caffeine and alcohol
Eat what you know. If you use caffeine, use only an amount you have tested in training: in one study, 5 mg per kg of body mass raised heart rate and lowered performance, while 3 mg per kg did not. Alcohol leaves tremor and poor concentration for up to 72 hours, so keep it to low social drinking at most in the 48 hours before you compete. Details in food, caffeine and sleep.
- Wake at least 3 hours before the start and eat a breakfast you know.
- Arrive early: equipment control is the part of the day you can’t rush.
- Called 25 min before; 10 min set-up; 15 min preparation & sighting; 75 min for 60 shots.
- Plan breaks in advance — two 5-minute breaks leave 65 s a shot.
- Start on a full cylinder and top up before a final.