Positive Thinking/Pre-Stage Routine

[PaulW]

I was reading some of Brian's Book the other night and he referred to a book on golf a few times, this got me thinking.  I played a ton of golf before I ever shot competitively, and the cross over tools that you can use can be of great assistance.

In golf they teach you to have a pre-shot routine.  Something you so the same way evertime time to get yourself ready and aligned to hit the shot.  Well in shooting I find that I have a pre-stage routine.  I'll get the stage figured out how I want to shoot it.  Then two shooters ahead of me I'll start loading my EMPTY mags until I have the mags I want for that stage.  Once up I'll run through the stage real quick in my head one last time.  I'll load and make ready, feel where my gun is twice, clear my head, focus on the first target or first position, and then give the RO the nod.  From there I am just aware of what is going on and shoot the stage.

Now also in golf they talk about visualizing the shot and where you want the ball to go.  The cross over here is to visualize your hits on the target and to visualize the steel falling on the first shot.  And if faced with a very difficult satge or shot, go back in your mind when you have made that shot before, this will give you the confidence in yourself to allow you to stay relaxed and make the shot.  Positive past experince should be placed in your memory so you can use it again.  

Try it, it works.