Controlling the adrenalin

[tambarika]

How do you control the sheer energy that competing seems to impose on a person?

after 5 years of slugging it out at our local matches, i found a simple solution to my inability to see my front sight, and all of the problems that are generated from that basic premise. about 5 weeks ago i took my prescription glasses off, (mildly nearsighted, 62 years old, wear tri-focals) and like magic, i could see my front sight and began to call my shots for the first time.

in the past 5 competitions i have managed 1 first place, 2 2nd, and 2 3rd.

the problem is this. i lost two competitions by a single poorly placed shot brought on by an adrenalin surge on either the next to last, or last stage. i was unable to control the energy and blew it both times -- what would have been two first place finishes were relegated to a 2nd and 3rd.

i seem to do my best when i forget about competing, and just focus on shooting cleanly. however, this competitive urge has replaced all sense of reason and control in me.

any ideas on how to wrestle this monster into submission, or at least into compliance?

[little_kahuna]

Let go.

just let go of everything. Be completely aware of what is happening with no thought, judgment or expectation. Brian talks a lot about this in his book, and it is what helped me break through a bunch of stops i ran into while power-training. It is a tough concept to try to abandon the whole experience, but it is a necessary step to understanding what is going on and what needs to be done. I shoot for that feeling of excitement, and i had a really hard time letting it go, but that is what helped me push through to that next level in my performance. Once you get over it, you gain a new sense of excitement from performing how you know you can perform.

/e very good post by the way. this is what a lot of shooting is to me.

Edited March 9, 2011 by little_kahuna

[redmanfixit]

You don't "control" Adrenaline. You practice for it. You manage it's effects. Breathe! Number 1 thing. If you hold your breath, as many do, things go bad in a hurry. Dry fire. Put your rig on in a safe place, with your gun cleared and practice your kinesthetics. It's like Kata in martial arts, you pattern your unconscious muscular patterns for "unsupervised" correctness. When your body "knows" what to do, your attention is on the COF.

You WILL fight the way you practice. By fight here, I mean respond to the physiological effects of the adrenaline response. Control is finally, an illusion. Control is inevitably lost, if there was ever any to begin with. You can almost always manage though, if you prepare.

Edited for a typo

Edited March 9, 2011 by redmanfixit

[tambarika]

You don't "control" Adrenaline. You practice for it. You manage it's effects. Breathe! Number 1 thing. If you hold your breath, as many do, things go bad in a hurry. Dry fire. Put your rig on in a safe place, with your gun cleared and practice your kinesthetics. It's like Kata in martial arts, you pattern your unconscious muscular patterns for "unsupervised" correctness. When your body "knows" what to do, your attention is on the COF.

You WILL fight the way you practice. By fight here, I mean respond to the physiological effects of the adrenaline response. Control is finally, an illusion. Control is inevitably lost, if there was ever any to begin with. You can almost always manage though, if you prepare.

Edited for a typo

good parallel : kata. i studied martial arts for nearly 15 years. breathe i do, no problem there. the adrenalin is a major disturbance though. it seems to come and go in waves. it's real intense for the first 2 stages, and then i settle into my rhthym for the next 2. it sneaks back up on me for the last 2.

[Jman]

Want it.

Adrenaline is your ally.

It's your bolstering a physical and mental defense against it that's disturbing you.

Use it.

Jim

[pjb45]

Mike Seeklander calls it Controlled Chaos. He actually has a pretty good program to work in a Controlled Chaos environment of our game. It has helped me immensely. Since then, in major matches, I am doing well for a couple of stages, within my % for most and have a melt down on one stage. This was a big improvement. I have increase the number of excellent stages while reducing the number of crashes. More importantly, I am able to understand exactly why I crashed and the events leading up to it.

Check out his website and call him. He is pretty easy to chat with...

[SethML3602]

Even though i am a first time poster here i have been shooting for 15years(low compared to most i am sure) and the only way i have been able to shoot with the adrenaline pumping is to practice with my adrenaline pumping. How you ask? there are a couple of ways i have been able to get my ADR pumping without being a in a actual Match.

#1 - Get a shooting buddy that you can compete with in practice. The Competition factor is what makes your ADR pick up in a match so make every practice feel like a match by competing with someone that can push you to your limits(i have a brother and a father for this). Everytime we go practice we take a timer, we score and we treat it like any other match by having "Places" in practice. The Reward is something like Last place buys lunch etc. But it makes your adrenaline pump by being in competition during practice. Which means ur muscle memory remembers the ADR and when it kicks in you are prepared for it.

#2 - If you don't have someone you can shoot with consistently then challenge yourself. This one is alittle harder to accomplish because you have to kinda "Trick" yourself into making your ADR kick in. Basically what i do is set a timer to a Par Time that i have seen a great shooter get on a stage and then i shoot that stage. The fact that your timer is pushing you makes your ADR kick in also.

Anyways i hope that this helps like i said it is the little things that i do that i think help.

[want2race]

Some people react differently to adrenalin. Good advice in here so far. The key is to practice shooting while amped up, like you are in a match. Elevated heart rate training. However you get it done, it is important. It's not controlling the adrenalin but using it to your advantage.

[Bsbllrooster]

I was a closer when I pitched back in HS and sometimes the adrenaline could really get pumping when coming in during a high pressure situation. I would always, always, squat down behind the mound, close my eyes, and visualize the perfect execution of each pitch in my arsenal. Take a deep breath, stand up, step on the rubber and deal. Establishing this routine really helped making it seem like just another outing and helped my really focus the adrenaline to work in my favor. I'm sure establishing a pre stage routine may yield similar results. I know it does for me.

Cheers

[carlosa]

what's helped me control my adrenaline is to shoot as many major matches as i can as often as i can..

for some reason the stakes at a major match always seem much higher, and so my stress level is also much higher at a major match. but more important than shooting a major match is the following set of local matches.. which after the stress of a major match seem strangely unimportant and trivial. it is in this matches that i can shoot in the most controlled state of mind, and my performances are better, this then generates better self image, and confidence, which makes adrenaline and nerves more and more controllable the more a repeat the cycle.

anyway, works for me

cheers,

Los.

[flack jacket]

what's helped me control my adrenaline is to shoot as many major matches as i can as often as i can..

for some reason the stakes at a major match always seem much higher, and so my stress level is also much higher at a major match. but more important than shooting a major match is the following set of local matches.. which after the stress of a major match seem strangely unimportant and trivial. it is in this matches that i can shoot in the most controlled state of mind, and my performances are better, this then generates better self image, and confidence, which makes adrenaline and nerves more and more controllable the more a repeat the cycle.

anyway, works for me

cheers,

Los.

Seems like Lanny Bassham has been working for you!

[carlosa]

what's helped me control my adrenaline is to shoot as many major matches as i can as often as i can..

for some reason the stakes at a major match always seem much higher, and so my stress level is also much higher at a major match. but more important than shooting a major match is the following set of local matches.. which after the stress of a major match seem strangely unimportant and trivial. it is in this matches that i can shoot in the most controlled state of mind, and my performances are better, this then generates better self image, and confidence, which makes adrenaline and nerves more and more controllable the more a repeat the cycle.

anyway, works for me

cheers,

Los.

Seems like Lanny Bassham has been working for you!

lol i had no idea who that was i had to google him.

he sounds like a smart dood, do you know if he has any books? wouldn't mind picking a copy up if he does...

[carlosa]

lol he wrote with winning in mind!! lol i'm such an ass hat

[dravz]

#2 - If you don't have someone you can shoot with consistently then challenge yourself. This one is alittle harder to accomplish because you have to kinda "Trick" yourself into making your ADR kick in. Basically what i do is set a timer to a Par Time that i have seen a great shooter get on a stage and then i shoot that stage. The fact that your timer is pushing you makes your ADR kick in also.

This is how I do it because in order to get better at shooting with adrenaline you need to practice shooting with adrenaline. You probably have already realized this, but sometimes it takes the internet repeating it back to you for it to sink in.

[EurAzn12]

I'm a noob on this forum.. but experienced shooter (Palma, IDPA, High-Power, Trap, Skeet, 3-gun... ya) my .02

1)Front sight, front sight, front sight, breathe and squeeze

2)Like in gambling, your last bet (or shot) doesn't matter anymore, forget it and see #1

[benos]

i seem to do my best when i forget about competing, and just focus on shooting cleanly.

For every stage of every match, put all of your attention there.

For every stage of every match, adopt and "I don't care where I finish" attitude.

be

[GunslingerDK]

i seem to do my best when i forget about competing, and just focus on shooting cleanly.

For every stage of every match, put all of your attention there.

For every stage of every match, adopt and "I don't care where I finish" attitude.

be

I think this is what pulls me down. After the monthly match I always conclude that I'm better in practice than at the matches, I'm way better at calling my shots when I practice and at matches it does not happen as much as I would like it to. I can feel adrenalin has something to do with it and I forget all about breathing...

Although at the last match I experienced what I think you call "Just letting go". After the bip everything just went exactly as I had planned and executed it in my head... and I have no idea how I did it... it was like it just happened. When I think back I don't know exactly what I was thinking about, nothing maybe?! I got stage win with all 45 available points in 8.54sec. Number 2 did it in 10.54. I blew my mind that I had been that much faster. I keep thinking if I can shoot like that in the other stages I would be really good.... I just need to harness that feeling/state of mind I was in before and during COF. But that is obviously easier said than done...

[benos]

That is awesome then "it happens" Gunslinger.

Like with many things desirable, a trap lies in wanting or trying to recreate the experience. I can say from experience that any attempt, no matter how clever or subtle, to recreate the experiment will fail. Which often leaves the actor frustrated.

After some years of being this frustrated actor, I finally realized the best approach was to, what I call - "create the conditions favorable." Which serves to allow the merging to occur. It's characterized by a complete lack of trying - of anything whatsoever. Especially trying not to try. And prefaced by a sense of certainty - pervading everything you plan to do.

be

[mikeg1005]

I started to realize it this weekend(realized it before, actually analyzed it)

When I get up to the line... or when I'm on deck... and not doing anything (standing/looking around) I feel it kicking in, heart really pumping in my chest and that "oh man, what now" feeling.

I noticed that it goes away if I "do" something... when I'm on deck/up I always attempt to have my mind on something other than starring at the stage... I do my stage walk through two or three times while people past for my run, I focus on every aspect except the actual "idea" of running the stage(focus on reload location, how you will enter an array, how I will line up at a port, etc.)

Then when I get to the line, instead of noticing my heart, I focus on the range commands, I get a sight picture, I get squared up, load up, etc. etc.... then on "stand by" I think about nothing... its short enough period where that "oh man" feeling doesn't kick in... and at the buzzer... I shoot and don't notice the adrenalin... and if I do it right I'm kinda shaking after I show clear/holster.

If I just sit there, I can feel my heart pounding/get nervious... if I don't think about it/do something I can shut off that feeling.

MIke.

Edited June 14, 2011 by mikeg1005

[carlosa]

this month after reading with winning in mind (and listening to the audio tape too ) i started calling that feeling in my stomach as i approach the line "my super power charging up"

might sound silly but if you change your outlook on nerves to be a positive one, it will no longer distract you, instead it will fill you with confidence..

so now instead of being negatively distracted every time i get nervous, when that feeling starts creeping in, i embrace it, for now i know that feeling helps me reach and maintain a level of focus i could not reach with out it.

i think of it as the perfect performance building up in my stomach waiting to burst out of my guts as soon as the buzzer goes off, bigger the feeling the better the performance is going to be..

i think now i would feel more doubt if that feeling was not there.

I think most of us that have struggled with adrenaline, have struggle with it because we wish to get read of the feeling all together.

the question is more often "What can i do to not get so nervous?".. i think this question needs to be turned into a statement, like "I'm so exited! this is going to be my best performance ever!", or a simple "Hell Yeah!" right before the buzzer goes off

cheers,

Los.

Edited June 14, 2011 by carlosa

[benos]

Excellent stuff Carlosa!

[DoubleA]

Something that has been working for me along those lines is getting excited about shooting a different/challenging stage instead of the repetitive dry fire and drills. I like to imagine the feeling is like that of christmas morning as a kid and say to myself with a grin "it's time to play!" before the buzzer goes off. It is one hell of a fun game when you aren't trying so hard.

[BoyGlock]

After some years of being this frustrated actor, I finally realized the best approach was to, what I call - "create the conditions favorable." Which serves to allow the merging to occur. It's characterized by a complete lack of trying - of anything whatsoever. Especially trying not to try. And prefaced by a sense of certainty - pervading everything you plan to do.

be

I had this experienc in a match. I experimented to remember how I felt when I was just starting to compete 7yrs ago, how it felt to be so pressed like a spring ready to sprung. The only difference was that I was a newbie then and had no fundamentals to work w/ unlike now. I just recreated that feeling of aggressiveness and careless abandon. In all the stages, I had a glimpse of what in the other thread call parallel execution of seeing/shooting w/o waiting for the sights to align. Without purposely shooting to win, I won that match against better shooters

[Tom and Nathan]

Reading (and thinking about) the contents of this short letter from a football coach has helped me immensley over the last few weeks:

Pressure is an illusion!

Pressure is a feeling that is created by ourselves, when we react to particular events or situations.

The most important concept in dealing with pressure is to start with the realization that there is no such thing as competition pressure, except what you make of it in your mind. Pressure isn’t something that happens to us – it is something that is manufactured by our own thinking. Pressure is simply how we perceive the situation we are in. Athletes need to learn this, because once they understand that pressure is something they create, then they also understand that pressure is therefore something they can control.

Pressure only exists if you are concerned about the outcome. Playing a scratch match and playing in the national finals are exactly the same thing! It’s still the same ball, the same strategies, the same rules – nothing has changed in terms of how you play the game. So approach pressure situations as though they are practice matches. Train your mind to stay in the present and let the outcome take care of itself.

Learn to focus on the right thing at the right time, regardless of what is going on around you.

Focus on technique or strategy. Pay attention to the things you have practiced – they are familiar so they won’t feel pressured.

Remember, it’s not about your feelings, it’s about your actions. Take the focus off how you feel, by putting your focus onto what you will do. Your actions affect your emotions so go through the right actions (visualization) and you will feel better. Identify the actions/skills that suffer most when you are in a pressure situation. Put extra time into practicing those skills so that you feel confident in them in any circumstance.

[benos]

That's super good stuff from your football coach!

be