mental conditioning

[dave pasos]

Brian, over the years Iam sure you must have seen your share of shooters who get nervous on the line.  Barnhart is one that I saw at the Steel Challenge, behind a trailer talking to himself and fighting off the nerves.  You dont seem to let that affect you.  Your fortunate in that way.  What advice could you share with the reader of this forum for new shooters starting out in the game?

[38supPat]

How shooters deal with stress or match nerves varies alot depending on personality. Brian is better equiped to answer this but I'll throw in my $.02. Some shooters need to stay focused and need to be left alone to settle themselves down. Focus on what the stage requires and the plan. Avoid distractions and just deal with what you want to see on the stage.

For me I have trouble trying to stay hard for long periods (no jokes please) so I like to look at the stage, get my plan, then relax. I don't think about the stage, I'll watch other shooters shoot it in case I want to vary my plan, but I'll try not to get to wrapped up in whats happening. A big cause of stress for some is when you watch you'll see what looks like a smoking run. But how do you really know how good the pass was. Maybe the shooting was fast but the draw or movement was slow. Did they have all their hits? Was it mostly A's or not? Watch passively, look for new ideas but ignore the actual performance. You will do only what you can do when you shoot the stage. Nothing more and nothing less. Others performance cannot affect yours, YOU are in control of your own performance. What happens before cannot change or affect what is happening now. When I'm on deck I'll do a quick visualization of what I'd like to see when I'm shooting the stage and check my equipment. Mags loaded, dot on (sights black), holster unlocked etc. Other visualizations can help too. Focus on something relaxing. Clear your mind. Two I use are.

A) a clear visualization of a perfect sight picture with no thought of actually shooting, just picture the sight hovering on a target. Picture it with a clear focus on the crisp outline of the front sight on a target or on a target with the dot centered.

this one came to me in the final round of a shootoff I was feeling the pressure and my hands were starting to shake. I blew the first two runs on a best 3 of 5 and knew I was in trouble. I needed to relax and a visualization came to me. I pictured my self standing waiting to shoot. I saw the tension in my arms and in my visualization my arms were red, as focused and relaxed, I saw the tension bleed out from my shoulders to my finger tips replaced with a cool blue. When my arms were blue from shoulder to finger tip. I raised my hands to the ready position and listened for the start signal. I blistered the next three runs and won, leaving behind a dazed and confused opponent who thought he was on the way to collect his winnings...lol. So now when I feel tight I'll try to visualize that same thing. The tension (red) bleeding out replaced by a relaxed (blue) ready.  

What you use doesn't matter as much as finding away to distract your mind from winding you up before you shoot. As the Nike ad says 'Just do it', don't think about it, don't worry about it, just know that you'll do what you capable of. You'll stress out less.

Pat

(Edited by Pat Harrison at 6:07 am on May 6, 2001)

[benos]

Pat's right, you have to study your personality, experiment, and use your experience as your guide. As you progress, everything should continue to change...

All the top shooters I've studied approach competition in they're own way. The Burner is to be especially commended because I dont' think I've ever seen anyone get so nervous and still perform so well. His strength is his toughness. He never gives up, and he is massively determined to do what he knows he has to do, no matter how nervous he is.

Robbie's style is a bit different. He is very serious, but often you won't notice it at the match because he is clowning and joking around. But when he gets up to shoot, check out the look on his face - he is totally focused, like an animal (a cat just before pouncing), and massively determined to follow his plan.

When at the match, looking over stages, and waiting to shoot, I  think my approach is a lot like Pat's. I have to be very careful to always be "gearing down," not getting too tricky or too excited. My natural tendency is to be like this, so you are right, I'm lucky in this aspect. Nevertheless, us Intorverts often have a lot of crap going on in our heads which we hide from view.

One thing I learned in later years - when at a bigger competition where they publish the course of fire in a match booklet - I don't even care to look at it. I wait until I'm at the range to actually see the courses, then I don't generate a bunch of crap to carry in my head based on partial information.

Brian

[38supPat]

Yeah I argee about looking at the courses of fire before hand, besides they are never quite the same when laid out on the ground. Also don't go to the board where they post the scores til the match is done. It can have no effect on how you do, those stages are done, move on. If there is a problem, there is lots of time after you finish to talk to the stats and have them deal with it.

Pat

[Phil Dunlop]

Pat, I find in a match, I get so focused on my own performance and generally very self critical, that a trip to the wailing wall is always rewarding.

[38supPat]

As long as you don't let it affect the way you shoot the rest of the match. Only do what you can do. Previous scores cannot affect that.

Pat

[benos]

I fluctuate on the score board viewing thing. Remind (or allow) me to recount a brief story about the postive effect of a trip to the wailing wall - but later, I'm just too tired at the moment.

be

[John Thompson]

Here's what I use to relax a little and focus for a stage(or anything else).  I have a high strung temperment.  What I did was program a "cue" word and a "cue tactile" movement during my visualizations sesions. I'll start from the beginning.  When I first started visualizing I would take two long breaths in through my nose and let them out of my mouth. On a third breath I'll hold for a few seconds while saying my cue word(focus), visiualizing my sights lined up on the A zone a trget with hard cover, and squeezing my right fist as the tactile cue.  The breath is then blown out while relaxing my fist and all my other body tension. These are called cues because when I do them at a match they help my subconcious mind remember and return to how I felt and thought while visualizing.  I did this for about a year and now I'm to the point where I just have squeeze my fist and think focus.  I'll also run my hand down the back of my holster prior to telling the R.O. I'm ready to shoot.  This all works on the same principle of the rituals that we see many pro athelets do. Example: Cleveland Indians first baseman Jim Tome grabs his crotch after every swing at the plate.  He mave have originaly started to do that to re-arrange his furniture but now he has to do as a focusing ritual.  My focusing technique was not an instant cure for me as my high strung tension refuses to quite, but over the past year it has helped my enough to always improve in my shooting.  Now when I tank a match or a classifier it's not because I choked but because of other variables that are easier to control.

[benos]

OK, here's a story about a good trip to the wailing wall.

It was at the '83 Bianchi Cup. We had shot all the stages except the falling plates. (About the plates - they are worth ten points each, so one plate is worth five "8's" on the paper targets. So if you are ahead going in to the plates, and you don't miss one, you can't be beaten.) I knew what my score was, and through word of mouth, I knew there was only one other competitor that might be ahead of me at this point. It was driving me crazy. I felt like I really needed to know if I had a CHANCE to win the match or not. I knew the guy who was potentially close enough to beat me would probably clean the plates. So I decided to go check the scoreboard to see his score on the one stage in doubt. It turned out that he'd dropped 2 more points than I heard he did, so if I cleaned the plates I could win.

Turned out he did clean the plates, and he shot before me. (And he shot 303 extra plates, which was a new record by a massive margin.) Nevertheless, it did not affect me - I knew I could clean the plates, if anything, seeing him shoot all those extras inspired me to shoot even more. I did clean the plates and I shot 505 extras.

I guess for me, the moral of the story is—It would have been worse not knowing if I was just shooting for second place while watching him shoot. I KNEW I could clean the plates in the match. I probably wouldn't have felt as tuned, or as inspired to shoot as well as I did if I was in doubt. I did miss plates in the match in later years; every time I did, I felt uninspired when I shot.

This was an interesting event because normally I'm not the kind of person who checks the scores. I'd rather motivate myself to perform as perfectly as possible, and then let the scorekeepers decide who wins. This time, however, it definitely helped to know where I stood.

I'll nutshell a similar story, this one from the Steel Challenge (Stock Gun Division) about 3 years ago.

It was a dry, dusty day; the sun bore down like Rob Leatham when he knows he's behind....

We were down to the last stage of the match and we all pretty much knew where we stood. I "knew" that I was out of the picture, mainly because I had blown out on a stage earlier in the match. I was waiting around to shoot, ready to just get it over with, when I heard some faint whispering around the squadding area that I wasn't as far out as I thought. Maybe, if I shot well on this last stage, I could actually win the match. This idle chatter really perked me up. I did a little investigation on my own and found out that I was only about one second behind the leader, who, fortunately for me, was scheduled to shoot before me. I watched him shoot—I felt I had it in me to shave that second if I did just what I knew I could consistently do. When I stepped up to shoot, I was massively determined to really stick with it and grind out a score. I did, and ended up winning the match by .01 of a second!

Now, I know myself, and I know if I shot the last stage just turn in a score, I wouldn’t have finished as strong as I did.

be

[dave pasos]

Brian, after reading your post again it got me thinking about not laying back and letting faith takes it course but activily stepping up to the challenge and making it happen.  Think abaout what I need to do.  See it in my mind.  Be strong mentally.  I read this again only because I just got back from a match and on the way home I was thinking of how I failed in somethings and was strong in others.  

[benos]

I'm with you Dave. It's not different than a post I made awhile ago on shooting technique - Don't make the trap of trying to do the same thing ALL the time.

be

[dave pasos]

Brian, I saw something this weekend that got me thinking.   I remember shooting a pepper popper at a match not too long ago. Right as I opened a door and I missed.  15 yds or less.   Why I thought as I drove home.   This weekend at my range they had poppers setup.   I would focus on the pp.  then bring my focus to the front sight.  Then I placed a shot on the pp focusing on the pp then focued on the front sight.  The shot with the focus on the sight was more precise.  But to shoot five or six pp's in a row you cant look for the pp and   focus on the front sight and shoot them fast.   But I would look at the pp and be very aware of the sight aliment.  I could mow them down.    I came away thinging that what held me back was the light between the front sight and the rear blade.  Thats what held me back in my subconscience.   The pp at the match I didnt keep aware of the sight aliment I was just looking at the plate.   On target of 15 yds or less you can get away with sort of focus but any tight shots or longer shots you have to look at the front sight.  I knows there no wrong or right but what do you think?   thanks

aware

[dave pasos]

Brian what would you see when shooting the pepper poppers at the shoot offs when at the B. Cup?  thanks

[benos]

Dave,

You can see the front site in fairly good focus, even when shooting 5 poppers in 2 secs at 10 yds. (Like at the cup.) What’s needed is to  "keep your eyes moving." I know this might sound weird, but think of it as "not TRYING to see any one particular thing at any one particular time," but instead, keep your eyes rapidly moving, shifting focus from an awareness of the target to an awareness of the site. When doing this properly, it's almost like you see, or remember seeing, everything in focus on the same focal plane - like you are watching a movie of what is happening.

Another important concept, depending on your body's natural movement tendency's, is the concept of "stopping the gun." The more of a hard "stopper" you are, the more you can stay focused on the target, while the site remains somewhat blurry or out of focus. If you tend to shoot "while the gun is moving," you might find it more effective to keep your eyes moving and try to have the front site in fairly good focus by the time the sites get to the target.

And last - the concept of "recognition." To KNOW (that the bullet will hit the target when you fire the shot), you must depend on some form of visual recognition to fire the shot. It's different than the concept of "visual patience." Depending on who you are, how you see, and the difficulty of the shot, this may be the visual act of seeing a paused or stopped "blurry alignment" on the target, or seeing the sites come onto and lift off the target.

A "way of seeing" that fits (nicely) into the concept of recognition is what you referred to as seeing "the light between the front site and the rear blade." I use this on many types of shots, typically, targets that require an extra degree of lateral alignment, especially poppers, and pins. Recognizing the target in the light bars is an excellent confirmation.

be

[Duane Thomas]

"Another important concept, depending on your body's natural movement tendency's, is the concept of "stopping the gun." The more of a hard "stopper" you are, the more you can stay focused on the target, while the site remains somewhat blurry or out of focus. If you tend to shoot "while the gun is moving," you might find it more effective to keep your eyes moving and try to have the front site in fairly good focus by the time the sites get to the target."

So, which are you, and why?

[Singlestack]

"So, which are you, and why? "

I never thought about it until this thread. I think I'm a Shooter "while the gun is moving". I tend to string shots horizontally on a multiple target array like my gun never stops moving. Now as to the why.......... I'll have to think about that one a little while.

"When doing this properly, it's almost like you see, or remember seeing, everything in focus on the same focal plane - like you are watching a movie of what is happening. "

Thats some good stuff BE. I think I can "feel" that.

[benos]

Duane,

I'm a "try to see it all" kinda guy. Robbie is a "stopper." How I "try" to shoot, (and do everything), is - "I don't want to miss anything." Or, "I want it all." One of my bigger limitations, competition-wise, - (the hardest thing in the world for me) is to just allow my current "capacity" to manifest; believing/accepting that THAT is (will be) good enough. You could say I'm very potential oriented.

I read an insightful commentary on "potential oriented" in George Digweed's book, "It's got to be Perfect." (He's a world class British shotgunner - sporting clays.) He said the reason he often beats this other world class fella (who's name is escaping me at the moment) is because he (George) never varies the "technique" he uses on targets in a particular stand once he breaks the first target(s), (and now knows how to break the rest of the targets on that station). The weakness of the other fella is - "he gets bored once he breaks a couple targets and starts experimenting." When I read that I had no doubt as to my natural tendencies. Now The Great One, and I think this is one reason why he is a truly great COMPETITOR, never experiments in the match. He knows exactly what he can do and all his efforts go into doing just that. I'm always going for that perfect run, or that ultimate experience. When I truly compete at my best, all my efforts go into not allowing myself to exceed my "capacity," at that moment.

I'll have more on Capacity in the new book...

be

[Bill Schwab]

How's the book coming Brian?  

Bill

[benos]

Bill,

Slowly, but I'm spoolin' up real hard.

be