bierman Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 I know it has been said here many times (and in Brian's book and many other places) but it still amazes me when it happens for me. Shot a small, local steel match today. On the arrays where I was tense and trying to force it. I would run 2.5-2.7 on the plates. After one stage I overheard a fellow shooter make a comment about relaxing and I said to myself "Duh!". Next couple of arrays I relaxed my shoulders, neck and upper arms and just told myself "Relax". My best string of the day was 1.97 and the rest were in the 2.0-2.2 range and it was only after telling myself to relax. Now if I could just remember to do that all of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 I know it has been said here many times (and in Brian's book and many other places) but it still amazes me when it happens for me. Shot a small, local steel match today. On the arrays where I was tense and trying to force it. I would run 2.5-2.7 on the plates. After one stage I overheard a fellow shooter make a comment about relaxing and I said to myself "Duh!". Next couple of arrays I relaxed my shoulders, neck and upper arms and just told myself "Relax". My best string of the day was 1.97 and the rest were in the 2.0-2.2 range and it was only after telling myself to relax. Now if I could just remember to do that all of the time. I can relate! For me I had to train myself to remind myself to relax before every single string of fire. Forever. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted August 29, 2007 Share Posted August 29, 2007 "Just relax" is a great title for the topic, bierman! How many times have you told your self to "try to relax"? Hehe, it's like try to go to sleep... now. Staying relaxed with awareness turned up is the most incredibly joyful feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bierman Posted August 29, 2007 Author Share Posted August 29, 2007 Trying to relax seems to me to be the crux of the problem. The harder I "try" to relax, the more tense I become. The only way I can really describe it is that instead of focusing on being relaxed, I just let myself become relaxed, without really thinking about it too much. I don't know, maybe this makes no sense at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooting for M Posted August 29, 2007 Share Posted August 29, 2007 A friend of mine gave me a great peice of advice on that. On the stand-by command, exhale, every time. Seems to help a bit. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All-Gator Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 (edited) A great deal of my 25 years of practice was teaching chronic pain patients to relax. The various techniques included: Diaphramatic breathing, progressive relaxation, alternate tension/relaxation, associative word response, biofeedback, and others. The single best/effective technique proved to be diaphramatic breathing combined with an associative word. This is really well reviewed in a book entitled The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson, M.D. While the book has to do with therapy it transferes directly (and clearly) to shooting...particulary at the line. I recommend reading the book. A-G Edited August 30, 2007 by All-Gator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevepitt Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Relaxing is something I have to constantly be aware of too. My stage results directly reflect my relaxation level. One interesting thing I have noticed, but can't explain: When I'm tense (and usually speed focused), everything is tense, except my grip. My support hand in particular is like a wet noodle. When I'm relaxed, I'm able to put the proper tension (set) into my wrists and grip. Anyone else experience this? Steve Pitt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 When I'm tense (and usually speed focused), everything is tense, except my grip. My support hand in particular is like a wet noodle.When I'm relaxed, I'm able to put the proper tension (set) into my wrists and grip. Anyone else experience this? Steve Pitt Absolutely. I can't explain it but it's a real thing. When I'm overly tense I feel like the recoil is battering me to death. The pistol is kicking and flipping all over the place. But when I back off into a "just right" tension, I have a nice firm grip and it feels like the rest of my body is absorbing the recoil. And the sights track nice and predictable. From those experiences I came up with this - grip only with your hands - which helped a lot. I also say - feel and remember your grip as from your wrists forward. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bierman Posted August 31, 2007 Author Share Posted August 31, 2007 (edited) A-G, Is this one of those "written by an MD for MD's" kind of books? Some of us barely made it out of high school. Edited August 31, 2007 by bierman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomadera Posted September 1, 2007 Share Posted September 1, 2007 Every once in a while, I am able to do as Brian says and relax. It's a great feeling, you feel almost like a spectator. But I noticed something last weekend, I was shooting steel and I actually relaxed too much and started watching the steel fall instead of concentrating on what I was trying to do. Consequently, I missed a couple targets, which jolted me back to reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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