any tips to relax before and while shooting

[mioduz]

just started shooting USPSA this summer. shot 3 matches thus far in open class. One of the big problems i am having is not releasing the trigger for it to reset. After shooting some targets ill line up on the next target and flinch as i try to pull the trigger but it goes nowhere. I would assume this is because my strong hand grip is to tense and i am not relaxing enough. Any tips to help me relax a bit while i shoot.

[ninemmbill]

Make sure you have done a good walk through and have a plan to attack the stage. This way there shouldn't be any surprises, as you have already "seen" everything in your mind. Visualize yourself going through the stage, hitting all your spots, shooting all the targets, making your reloads, etc.. Then take a deep breath and shoot them as you see them.

[Flexmoney]

Your mind has a speed focus. Replace that with something better. One thing.

[Chris iliff]

Yes, don't grip the gun with your SH so tight! Transfer that grip pressure to your WH. Boy that was easy to type!!

I suffered this my first couple years, fortunately at a match one time i squadded with a GM. After a stage he told me my problem. Up to that point I had no clue. Then he put his hand out and said "shake". I was more than happy to shake his hand for the advice he gave me, but it got better. During the handshake he asked if I felt how hard he was squeezing my hand. Now that's how hard I grip my gun SH he said I was kinda blown back by just how different it was from my grip. Very firm, very solid, like a good, "I ain't got nothing to prove" handshake.

Then I burned it in during practice and dryfire. So in short, think about it and practice and dryfire until you don't think about it anymore. Nothing is easy.

Oh yeah, like Flex said, change your focus/expectations also.

[EurAzn12]

When you get to the stage, walk through it, see what the experienced shooters are doing. Open shooters I've noticed have different approaches than most. Memorize your course of fire and plan and get ready. When you walk up to the box or line, take a nice deep breath, close your eyes and visualize your stage again. Then shoot.

Cradle with your SH, squeeze with your WH. Good luck

[Matt Griffin]

Provided you have a solid stage plan burned into memory, I always like to ask the RO how his/her day is going. It derails my worry brain and lets my muscles release.

Matt

[OpenDot]

Now, after make ready...I take 1 deep breath and say light on the trigger during exhale. It's a reminder not to hammer it the first shot, after that it's all about the reset and squeeze.

This alone... changed my shooting in the last 2 matches.

[M1911]

Before the buzzer, focus on your plan. Visualize it. Don't think about anything else. Don't think about how well (or poorly) you did on the last stage.

During the stage, just focus on your front sight. Just shoot. Don't think about anything else. Don't beat yourself up because you missed a shot. Shots that have already been fired are spilt milk -- don't cry over them. Focus on the current shot.

[Torogi]

OP, you drink coffee? smoke? sometimes it has its own effect.

[sqrlnts]

Cradle with your SH, squeeze with your WH.

Is this good fundamental grip advice? I thought we were looking for a balanced, relaxed grip.......

[fiddler]

I have found that the trick to relaxing while doing something that demands all your attention is to practice relaxing. If you develop a short routine that brings you to that "relaxed and centered place from which things flow" it will be much easier to get there when you want to.

There are many ways to do this. Some are lifetime practices, like meditation. Even if we don't plan on being a regular meditator there are things we can learn from those who are.

An interesting and, for me, useful take on this subject can be found in the book Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner. It's written for musicians but the concepts are easily transferred to shooting. It might seem a little goofy when you read it but who cares if it's goofy if it works.

Plus nobody can tell if something goofy is happening in your head.

[rjennings10]

Try chewing gum during the match.

[GForceLizard]

Try chewing gum during the match.

Unfortunately I've not practiced chewing gum enough that I can do it w/o conscience thought. I'm not able to chew gum and shoot at the same time.

Edited August 1, 2011 by GForceLizard

[59Bassman]

One of the things I used to think about in shooting clay targets was to focus on breathing from my belly. When I was nervous, I could often pin it down to having my breath feel like it was coming from between my shoulder blades. Before I started calling for a target, taking a moment to breathe from my navel and feel like I was sinking down slightly would always help me to relax.

For me, the key to shooting relaxed was to breathe and keep my eyes open as wide as possible. Of course, I didn't always remember to do this...

[rupie]

The last thing I do before I assume the start position is close my eyes, exhale and relax all of my muscles, check every muscle in your body for tension, I usually find either my legs or butt is clenched. Once you find it and make it relax, open your eyes and do what ever the start position is. When you are used to doing this it takes 2 seconds. When i shoot my shooting hand is relaxed and my support hand is gripping the gun at 75%? grip strength. if i don't relax my shooting hand my trigger finger dosent respond to my brain.

[benos]

just started shooting USPSA this summer. shot 3 matches thus far in open class. One of the big problems i am having is not releasing the trigger for it to reset. After shooting some targets ill line up on the next target and flinch as i try to pull the trigger but it goes nowhere. I would assume this is because my strong hand grip is to tense and i am not relaxing enough. Any tips to help me relax a bit while i shoot.

Before you shoot every stage of fire, for the rest of your life, just before you shoot, tell yourself, several times - If I just shoot at the speed I comfortably practice at, I will be fast enough.

There's nothing to hurry about.

be

[MTSCMike]

One thing I've noticed in my competitive shooting career is the best shooters never seem to be in a hurry...they just look smoooth and they are accurate. I soon learned I would never impress anybody with my blazing speed, especially myself. So I came up with a game plan to concentrate on.

Number one...be SAFE

Number two...be ACCURATE

Number three...never go so fast that I can no longer do number one and number two

It helps to remember that it is a game and no one will be drawn and quartered when it's over. If you are new to shooting in general or just new to this venue you will likely not win at first so just relax, have fun and learn your lessons. The timer will take care of itsself...to you it is just a start signal, not an adversary. Your only real competitor is yourself. If you finish a stage and you know did as well as you could for your current skill level then you have won. Push yourself a little, not a lot. You should be smiling when it's over...if you're not then why do it?

[Steve Anderson]

I've been trying to stay out of this one, but I can't help it.

I think relax might be wrong word, or the wrong goal, at least as I interpret the word "relax."

Would you want to "relax" before a bar fight?

How cool would it be if we could channel that nervous energy and harness those inevitable butterlies?

Calm. Cool. Collected.

Ready to explode.

Focused.

Relaxed?

[benos]

Although confusing to most, the word relax always worked for me. Because at the buzzer I would tend to always be, to:

Ready to explode.

So "relaxing" was just a mental trickery sort of command that got me back to my normal state of being:

Calm. Cool. Collected.

I have some more on this I posted somewhere, sometime. Let me look for it...

Found it:

Although I'm often associated with a "relaxed" state of shooting (because of using word "relax" in my book), I actually shot with a very firm grip and arm position. When shooting my best I felt very solidly "behind the gun."

To me, the word "relax" meant backing off from the typically overly tense state that seemed to always come over me upon hearing the start buzzer. So in a sense I was "relaxing" from being too tense.

And then on top of that, for me, a specific feeling and level of firmness that I felt in practice had no relationship whatsoever to what that same level of firmness felt like in a match. In a match, if I felt "relaxed," my tension level was actually fairly close to what it felt like to be just firm, in practice.

I said "for me," because I feel it is a temperament related issue. I think there are a lot of people who can say to themselves, "I'm going to shoot at Tension Level #8 (TL 8) on this stage in practice," and then say that same thing in a match and have the actual TL's be very similar if not the same.

But for me it was not like that. I always defaulted to coming out of the holster much tenser in a match than I ever did in practice.

So (again) for me, it really helped when I figured out how to create, remember, and manage an optimum tension level for match shooting only. Since "the juice" wasn't there in practice, managing the TL in practice was much easier: shoot firm but not tense.

be

[Sean Gaines]

just started shooting USPSA this summer. shot 3 matches thus far in open class. One of the big problems i am having is not releasing the trigger for it to reset. After shooting some targets ill line up on the next target and flinch as i try to pull the trigger but it goes nowhere. I would assume this is because my strong hand grip is to tense and i am not relaxing enough. Any tips to help me relax a bit while i shoot.

Without reading everyone's posts.

Stess is derived from not knowing or not being in control of the situation. Since you are new to competitive shooting, it is expected to be a little nervous, everyone wants to do good. your fellow shooters know that you are a new shooter, and don't expect you to shoot at a grandmaster level. So don't worry about impressing them. The best thing to do is go and have fun. If I have some butterflies, I will tighten all the muscles in my body, and then relax them, with my eyes closed. When you get in the shooting area, after you load and make ready. Take a deep breath and let it out, that will usually help.

But when you shoot this game for a while those butterflies will leave, and you look back at this point in your shooting a couple of years later and laugh at it. The more club matches you shoot the faster those butterflies will leave, and you will reach your comfort zone.

[ozdogg5]

For me, breathing always helps. I usually try and literally 'shake' off the tension or lightly stretch right before stepping to the line and then take a few deep breaths before the buzzer.