Mental approach.

[Steve Brew]

Hi guys,

Right ok, no over the last few months I have really stepped up the practise in my clay shooting and starting to see really good result.  Ive even treated myself to a new Perazzi and had it fitted.

As it is well known, the better you get, the harder it gets and the more or a mental game it becomes as oppose a physical approach.

The question I have is what methods do you guys use to development your mental approach to your shooting etc. How do you develop your mental approach and ability, what and how do you do it, what do you think about and mentally train on? (Hope this makes sense?)  As an example do you use say visualization techniques?

I know some the shooting coach's I've spoken too say that pre shot routine is very important, how do you guys go about setting yourself a pre shot routine etc. Any advise would be greatly appreciated thanks fellas.

Its very limited on the Isle of Man for resources and knowledge etc especially if you are as keen as I am, there is next to no one to ask so would be very grateful for any help or advise thanks guys that you might have.

Cheers guys and thanks.

Steve

 

[ips]

I am no expert on the mental game, I am old school shoot first thing that comes out but I will give my two peneth.

Imo if you go down the mental route you walk a very thin line and are in danger of over thinking.

I try to not get too bogged down with "getting in the zone" as it seems from my experience that the more you try to get in it the faster you get out. Don't think of an egg analogy springs to mind. It is Imo more important to have a solid, reliable and replicable routine one that you can do without thought then all of your mental state can be used to "see" the target correctly.

you see young folk with there ear things in listening to whale music or whatever it is. I think that if you over complicate by adding in to your routine something you need to do then that is one extra unnecessary thing that can go wrong and or one extra thing to think about.

I allow my mind to wander because I know I cant stop it then when its my turn to shoot I have a mental "trigger" to turn every switch in my brain off apart from my eyes then I shoot the first orange thing I see, well that's the plan.

so to conclude my "mental" bit only gets turned on or off as the case maybe about five seconds before I pull the trigger.

 

[Steve Brew]

Thanks very much for you advise mate, I understand totally what you are saying.

Can you give me any advise on routine, as an example, talk me through yours.

Cheers and thanks for your help.

Steve

 

[ips]

well to be honest my trap routine is kept as simple as possible I try not to have any unnecessary actions.

walk slowly to peg

load gun

set stance

soft focus out to the side so not seing targets

close gun

mental trigger as gun is mounted

shoot first orange thing that comes out

simples

 

[chippy]

well to be honest my trap routine is kept as simple as possible I try not to have any unnecessary actions.

walk slowly to peg

load gun

set stance

soft focus out to the side so not seing targets

close gun

mental trigger as gun is mounted

shoot first orange thing that comes out

simples

i hope they dont change to black clays.

 

[ips]

:smile:  haven't shot black for trap in 25yrs but I see your point

 

[BTC3]

Sorry to jump in on this, IPS, when you say soft focus out to the side, whereabouts do you mean? And is it the same place for each peg? I was encouraged to keep eyes focused about a foot above where the clays appear. Not sure how much stock I put in that, so always on the look out for better ideas.

Thanks!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ips]

I look to the right into the distance so I avoid seeing missed targets which can give negative thoughts especially if its the shooter before you (thoughts like I hope I don't miss as well) also soft focus at a specific distance relaxes the eyes to the distance you expect to shoot the target.

 

[ips]

ps

the problem with focusing on were the target appears means that the eyes have to re focus to the distance you shoot the target and apparently the eyes focus quicker from far to near not near to far at least that's what I have read something to do with self preservation of something coming towards you.

 

[BTC3]

So peripheral vision picks up the clay in the first place and then hard focus for the shot? I guess that also helps prevent anticipating the clay's direction...

Thank you very much!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ips]

exactly.

Imo if gun fit is correct and gun mount is correct the primary reason for a miss is not seeing the target correctly. Concentrate only on seing the target and the subconscious takes care of the rest. Soft focus at the approximate distance the shot is taken relaxes the eyes so the brain can do its thing.

 

[Les53]

exactly.

Imo if gun fit is correct and gun mount is correct the primary reason for a miss is not seeing the target correctly. Concentrate only on seing the target and the subconscious takes care of the rest. Soft focus at the approximate distance the shot is taken relaxes the eyes so the brain can do its thing.

Mmmm......seems we've been here before Ian. Auto pilot!!  :lol:

 

[EdSolomons]

I'd point out that for sporting, which I believe Steve is shooting more of, there is rather more to it than that- target reading hold points transitions etc

 

[Will Hewland]

Ed is so right, with sporting and its varied pairs, there is so much setting up and mental rehearsal that you can (should) do. I tend to do a little dry run when i get in the stand. Hold point, imagine the target, move, imagine kill, move to the next imaginary target and repeat. Then a calm moment before calling for the real pair.

 

[ips]

i did state that I was talking trap. Also worth noting that the OP was talking mental approach and did not stipulate a specific discipline.

I do not disagree with what will or ed are saying however I find the reply of "rather more to it than that" somewhat offensive and a tad derogatory. Personally I would have replied on the lines of "ips has given good advice however from a sporting perspective may I add the following"

matters not to me of course but I always try to word my posts with respect. Just saying

 

[Steve Brew]

Yep spot on Ed, while I do shoot Skeet etc my main dicipline as you know is sporting.

I'm just trying get into a routein etc so i can build that into my mental approach to shooting.

I'm traveling to see Ed this year for some coaching, but just trying to get some ideas and good pointers in before I see him so I can practise  etc.

Thanks everyone for you help so far, keep the advice coming .

Steve

 

[paul b]

The amount of things to be considered in sporting is vast as said above ,but the majority of sporting shooters i believe have not got the focus of good trap and skeet shooters.These days in sporting we are seeing 10 or more in the 90s at most reg comps,now if your getting 90 plus percent then the only reason for missing must be mental. Brett winstanly winning the british open in2014 was a masterclass in concentration as you can see in the film footage from there,i wonder if it has something to do with his time spent trap shooting?Then richard faulds during his olympic years was doing amazing things in sporting when he had time to shoot it,and think digweed did a bit of skeet quite well at one time.

 

[maddmatt]

This is a good read on what zones mean to other sports people, in this case Charlie Hull, a lady pro golfer. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/36078666

 

[Les53]

Well I'm certainly not a top shot! But...my best scores have always been when I was happy (ish), relaxed and couldn't give a monkeys cuss about anything! On those days I just think of nothing, look at the target and everything happens apparently without any input from me, shame I can't do it every time really. Just saying.................... :lol: