Unless you really plan on doing competitions week in and week out, you have to realistic expectations when it comes to how you will do in these competitions. I completely understand not being able to do competitions all the time because it is expensive. All the season bbq competitors will tell you the best way to make a small fortune in bbq competitions is to start with a large fortune.
The people in the top have their processes down to a science and know how to make adjustments when things are just right. You on the other hand don't have it down to a science. This makes a huge difference in how you place. The only way to really do better is to compete week in and week out till the process becomes second nature.
The team I'm on has done 1 competition. A field of 43 teams cooking all 4 kcbs meats (chicken, ribs, pork, brisket) Our team finished 16 out of 43. We placed 34th in chicken, 16th ribs, 16th pork, 10th brisket. Our goal was to finish middle of the pack with no DALS (we finished almost in the top 1/3). We also exceeded our goals with a call. We are going to be doing our second competition next month. I have expectations of finishing in the top 1/3 of the field and have all of our categories finish in the top 1/3. A call would be nice but not expected and winning any sort of money is unexpected as well.
Things to make yourself better for competitions and just cooking bbq in general-
Be completely 100% honest on how your cook went. If you overcooked/undercook something, realize your score will suffer greatly because of it. If your flavor profile is off this will effect your score greatly as well. Be your own worse critic when it comes to all of this.
Have more seasoned competitors taste your bbq and give you an honest/brutal critique. You might not like what they tell you, but the harder the critique the more guidance you have to tighten up your game.
If seasoned competitors allow you to taste their bbq. Make note on everything. Taste, Tenderness, Texture, etc. And if they placed higher than you, make note of the differences and strive to fix them in practice cooks.
Keep cooking and striving to be better. Thinking that you have "mastered" anything is lying to yourself. Unless you are 100% sure what everybody is looking for and able to nail it 100% of the time, you haven't mastered anything. In all of your cooks (even just backyard cooks) give it your 100% effort. Focus on things to make each and every cook perfect (nothing will ever be perfect, but you can come damn close)
P.S. We competed with a UDS, 18.5in WSM, and a Weber Performer. Rock on with competing with a UDS!