Patrick,
We just came off of a 5 week in a row run. Here is the results.
Memphis 50 Teams 15th overall
Mayetta, KS 47 Teams 35th Overall
Chandler, OK 32 Teams 11th Overall
Okemah, OK 21 Teams 8th Overall
Girard, KS 28 Teams 7th Overall
All of these contests has had multi GC Teams and plenty of this years top 10 TOY Teams there competing .
I have a Checklist copied from Diva's Website and modified to fit what I Need to Have.
I prep and pack my sauces, injections, and rubs early in the week to have it done.
I buy and Trim my meet early in the week and VacNSeal to keep it fresh so I'm not rushed on Friday after I'm there.
I visit and shoot the Breeze until about 7-8 PM and then I go to my rig and concentrate.
I have a timeline for cooking and checking etc that I tweak every week in advance if I'm tweaking my cooks. and Adjust onsite if Weather dictates.
I get the cookers loaded and my rig serviced and ready on Thursday and plan on arriving as early Friday as I can to be setup and not rushed and stressed.
If you look at week 2 you will see I essentially bombed. I cooked the same quality and method as the first but I didn't feel good, (Disc in Back is Jacked) and I didn't pay attention to the lack of Humidity and everything cooked faster and dryer than It should have and I didn't pay attention and embarrassed myself in front of teams that I really admire and respect.
If you see me at a comp with my iPad its because I'm going over my notes and re-reading something on the web that I think Helps me.
After that you can see we started to climb because I planned, Rested, and Paid attention to the process in real time.
Of Course, don't forget that consistant quality of raw meats are also a must.
I'm going long but I've had some great mentors, Butcher, Cancer Sucks Chicago, Team Enoserve, Little Pig Town, JP Custom Smoke, Grauers Hog Wash, Quau, and Hogs on the Sauce, whom I have enjoyed some good visits with and they all have been upfront when I asked questions or advice. I read and search topics on this forum daily as well.
We're having a great time for this being our first year to do this with any seriousness. The most comps we did previously were two last year and one a year the previous two years before (Local Contest).
I called KCBS and after 10 Comps this year we are ranked 123rd in a field of 3,600
teams according to KCBS. What I just outlined is the only thing I can attribute to our meager success.
I know we are friends on Facebook so you know I'm being truthful about this because of my FB Posts.
Good Luck.