What criteria did you use when you chose your category? Why or how did you choose those factors?
I took a lot of different things in to consideration when trying to determine which of the three categories
I would rank myself in...
To compile all the bits of "evidence" to place yourself in "advanced", you are pretty much attempting to build some manner of a resume and to spew it all out in a post ends up looking like braggadocio. At the same time, you have to also try to pick as many examples as you can find that you either are not good at or cannot claim, to use as evidence to push yourself down from the top.
"I can't shoot like Jerry Miculek, thus, how could I choose the top choice of three choices?" This is a very difficult thing to do, as many have stated.
For myself, the easiest bit of evidence to rank myself in the top of only three choices is quite simply how I have witnessed myself and my abilities compared to the literally countless other folks I have shot with, nearby, in the same place/time, in the same event, etc etc etc. Over a quarter century, we're talking about many dozens of range days, range trips, competitions, practice sessions, get-togethers, and, well, you name it. Live fire shooting with guns. Friends, complete strangers, folks who are obviously quite new and enough times -- the "experienced" person "attempting" to "teach" them that truly needed more help than the poor student. But of course -- incredibly experienced and professional trainers who not only have physical abilities that easily surpass my own, but also have the ability to impart that wisdom in small, concise bits that most anyone can instantly gain from. **--see note
I have also had an interesting view of the rise of the abilities of a shooter, and that has been a lot of fun for me. I began shooting with a work acquaintance roughly six years ago and I had a couple decades of shooting under my belt when we shared our first range trip. He was not a brand new shooter and he handled firearms safely and properly but his ability was basic and unpolished and I have watched him over time get better and better and better. I can still edge him in small group shooting on paper. But he has absolutely eclipsed me in drawing and presentation, fast shooting, target transitions, double and triple taps and other handgun drills where speed and movement are a big part of it. We are still close enough in most of our abilities that it is a -LOT- of fun to shoot "against" each other, but I believe that he is still improving and I am starting to fight age and physical limitations -- and I can admit that I don't have the drive to practice "the little things" that improve many of my weaknesses the way that he will.
To put it another way and be completely honest, I much prefer to spend my range sessions
enjoying what I like to do most, and being very happy and confident with that decision, where he prefers to work on skills that improve his abilities with drawing, moving, transitioning, reloads, etc.