So You Want To Get In To The Zone In 60 Seconds?

[elenius]

For me I tend to get in the zone when I'm physically exhausted, especially from shooting for a while, say a few hundred rounds in practice. It seems like the conscious mind is just too tired to chime in and try to control things, and I just go on autopilot and just observe what happens. I start out my practice being *concentrated* and end up being *focussed*.

At least, this is what happens on a good day

[Sam]

If you want to know what "Getting in the Zone" feels like, it is easy. Do something that scares the hell out of you. If you are afraid of heights, climb way up on a tall radio tower while it sways in the wind. Jump off a 40 ft cliff into a lake. Lauch a motorcycle off a ramp at 70 mph. Why else would we climb mountains or jump off of things? When we feel life threatened, we go into the zone automatically. We finally are forced to realize at that moment, that nothing else matters but that moment. Because that is where life is.

As humans, we are always seeking something to make us happy, or complete. In truth, we were created with all we need to be happy and complete. To relate this to shooting, caring about winning means that we decide to be happy if/when we win. Caring about shooting means that we feel happy and blessed just because we are shooting. We don't seek an outcome, the shooting is the end. Trying to get into the zone so that we can shoot better in order to win will simply never work. Because the motivation is not the love of shooting, but rather a desire for winning. Shooting is an activity and takes us easily into the zone. Winning is not an activity, but a subjective judgement about an activity. How fast is fast enough?

[shooterbenedetto]

In Our sport, CONTROL is the key and I think if you can shoot under control meaning to control your ADRENALIN,

you will come out on top of your game!!

[G-ManBart]

Golfers, better than anyone, know that a pounding heart can get in the way of success. Now perhaps, they’ll learn how to control it.

Golfers know better than ANYONE?

With the exception of action shooters of course.

I would not expect the avreage "golfer" to know this about action shooting, they do NOT run while swinging that driver, 7 Iron or sand wedge. When was the last time you saw Tiger run flat out on the putting green and enter a putting position and just nail the put?

I used to play a lot of golf and had my handicap down into the middle single digits....good, but not great. In many ways, golf is harder mentally than shooting. Why?

In golf the ball just lies there and you have to act to make something happen. You have all the time in the world to think about all kinds of stuff and get your brain all in a knot.

In shooting, you can get that way before you shoot, but there's a big difference. You LAMR and then you REACT to the buzzer....you no longer have time to think about what you're going to do, you're already doing it!

It's like when someone throws a ball to you unexpectedly...you stick your hand out and grab it without thinking. In golf you get to think "okay, take the club back slow and inside, but not too far...don't shift your weight too much etc, etc....each one of those things can really mess you up.

The one huge similarity is the pre-shot/pre-shoot routine concept that seems to help with both sports.

[Slowhand]

If you want to know what "Getting in the Zone" feels like, it is easy. Do something that scares the hell out of you. If you are afraid of heights, climb way up on a tall radio tower while it sways in the wind. Jump off a 40 ft cliff into a lake. Lauch a motorcycle off a ramp at 70 mph. Why else would we climb mountains or jump off of things? When we feel life threatened, we go into the zone automatically. We finally are forced to realize at that moment, that nothing else matters but that moment. Because that is where life is.

As humans, we are always seeking something to make us happy, or complete. In truth, we were created with all we need to be happy and complete. To relate this to shooting, caring about winning means that we decide to be happy if/when we win. Caring about shooting means that we feel happy and blessed just because we are shooting. We don't seek an outcome, the shooting is the end. Trying to get into the zone so that we can shoot better in order to win will simply never work. Because the motivation is not the love of shooting, but rather a desire for winning. Shooting is an activity and takes us easily into the zone. Winning is not an activity, but a subjective judgement about an activity. How fast is fast enough?

Dead on. Now I better understand what I had thought was performance anxiety.

Somehow I new my extremely competitive nature was getting in the way of just

shooting well.