Flowing

[Rustin]

I think this all gets back to the slow is smooth and smooth is fast facet of the game. However this post shows how much of this sport or any sport is mental.

[Flexmoney]

I think this all gets back to the slow is smooth and smooth is fast facet of the game.

I'm really not very hyped on that old saying. I used to be, though.

I think it is a good intermediate way of thinking. While it tries to bring the thinking around to being 'smooth", it still has that speed focus.

It a dichotomy.

However this post shows how much of this sport or any sport is mental.

Yeah. I wonder how we could do if we got out of our own way ??

[Matt Griffin]

I'm trying to sell "attention" as the next big thing. When I'm shooting at my peak, "flowing" "smoothing" or whatever, there is a common characteristic; I have attention to spend thinking about the next shot. My plan is working, so I don't have to think about that, and my physical attention is watching the sights and feeling the trigger. If I have enough brain left over, I can be thinking about "next target is 45 degrees right, hard transition . . . now!" and then start thinking about the next step while my other attention takes care of the shooting.

This also applies to handling mistakes/crashes. The better my plan and execution, the more attention I can spend on thinking my way out of a reload situation or a movement error. Shooting revolver, there's often a time when you have two rounds in the gun but need to reload, but they are fairly rare. Altering your plan while running to utilize those rounds to make up a mistake is a good example of being in the "zone."

The reverse can be seen often in newer shooters, going pow-pow, look over sights, look for next target, transition to target, lower eyes to sights, pow-pow! The little hesitations that they show are built in because they had no attention left to think about what would be happening next, so they have to move in a serial fashion.

H.

[benos]

I hadn't seen this thread before today - Wow!

Last week I had one of those moments of clarity and just before shooting a stage I told myself to "relax, there is nothing you haven't seen or shot dozens of times before" and, on the spot, I came up a new pre-stage statement to tell myself as I step into the box. "Just let go and let it flow" meaning don't think about it, just let your subconsious take over and do what you already know how to do. I had a nice clean run and ended up winning that stage on the night which I have only done a couple times before.

Nice. Yes, that becomes the never ending task in competition - allow yourself to do what you already know how to do.

be

[benos]

Flow is stability in balance.

Maybe... Flow is continuous stability within activity. ?

To me balance is stability.

That reminded me of a recent favorite Maku mozo!:

Instead of getting caught up in whatever you want in that moment, try to be more stable in yourself.

-Tsoknyi

Applied to shooting a stage, that's killer.

In Shooting Sports USA magazine

from gold medalist Launi Meili

“When we have a ‘flow’ experience, the mind and body are working on ‘automatic pilot’ and the shooter is in a state where trust, intuition, belief and perfection all come together. It’s as if the shooter is acting as the CEO of a corporation. A CEO doesn’t perform each individual task in the company. Rather, they ensure that all the components are working together to achieve a single purpose—in our case, a perfect shot.

“For me to get into and maintain ‘flow,’ I used a practiced routine and a controlled start that became very automatic. I initiated it with the words ‘just let it go’ before I even picked up my gun. This meant a lot in my routine. It shut out past shots from my current task; released any tension in my body; and got me ready to focus on the next hold/sight picture. When I was ready to actually take the shot, my training had placed somewhere in the back of my mind the image of the sight picture that I wanted to react to.

“Flow is a fun and satisfying state in which to shoot. Some days it may come easily and some days not at all. If you have to really work to physically manage your hold and performance, then there’s a good chance you won’t get into flow that day. When ‘non-flow’ days occur, you should be prepared to not beat yourself up about it, and have a backup, mechanical routine and shot plan that you trust. This is a sport, so some days your body is going to act like it doesn’t want any part of settling down and holding the way you want it to, and other days when it comes naturally.

Great stuff!

I can especially relate to his "just let it go" mantra.

be

[TWHaz]

I think this all gets back to the slow is smooth and smooth is fast facet of the game.

I'm really not very hyped on that old saying. I used to be, though.

I think it is a good intermediate way of thinking. While it tries to bring the thinking around to being 'smooth", it still has that speed focus.

It a dichotomy.

However this post shows how much of this sport or any sport is mental.

Yeah. I wonder how we could do if we got out of our own way ??

How about (Fast is smooth,smooth is fast)

[FN fan]

All of the best shooters have flow, no motion without reason - that is flow to me.

[redbird1976]

I finally got a copy of Brian's book the other day. I've read it a couple of times of the last two weeks. The idea of flowing is central to the thesis of being focused and aware. Today at our local club match I decided to just shoot. I didn't worry about times or points. I found my targets and shot them nothing more; nothing less. I decided what I need to do, and that's what I did. I was flowing, shot to shot, target to target, and position to position. One of the RO's asked me one time how many rounds my gun held. The reload from my first position to the second was so smooth he missed it. I noticed lots of little things today. Among them were:

1. I'd lose the sights when I didn't let myself see what I needed to see

2. Cast bullets generate massive amounts of smoke on a still day when facing the sun

3. There was no tension in my body once I decided that I was just going to shoot

4. The one time my brain did kick into gear it slow me down

The result of flowing was that today I shot High overall and was the match winner. I even beat out the open shooters today. It was cool to just be; no pressure, no tension.

[Flexmoney]

NIce post. Great awareness.

[38supPat]

I can't help but think that "flowing" is what my breakfast burrito will be doing later...

Seriuously though, flowing to me isn't really something that can be described, you'll know it when it happens because there seems to be an effortlessness to what you are doing. Everything happens at the moment it needs to happen then you are on to the next thing.

[benos]

I finally got a copy of Brian's book the other day. I've read it a couple of times of the last two weeks. The idea of flowing is central to the thesis of being focused and aware. Today at our local club match I decided to just shoot. I didn't worry about times or points. I found my targets and shot them nothing more; nothing less. I decided what I need to do, and that's what I did. I was flowing, shot to shot, target to target, and position to position. One of the RO's asked me one time how many rounds my gun held. The reload from my first position to the second was so smooth he missed it. I noticed lots of little things today. Among them were:

1. I'd lose the sights when I didn't let myself see what I needed to see

2. Cast bullets generate massive amounts of smoke on a still day when facing the sun

3. There was no tension in my body once I decided that I was just going to shoot

4. The one time my brain did kick into gear it slow me down

The result of flowing was that today I shot High overall and was the match winner. I even beat out the open shooters today. It was cool to just be; no pressure, no tension.

Awesome post - nice work!

Once your skill sets are mastered, it comes down to, deciding beforehand, exactly what you are going to see and do.

be