TargetTalk

In a match is not the time and place to solve problems. It's no good for example realising you've developed a snatch. All you can do about it is shot a technically good shot - which is what you should be doing anyway for every shot. You will also be tempted to let your mind wander off from the only thing you should be thinking about at shot release - which is the sights. Think about about a smooth subconscious shot release and it probably can't be subconscious. But more importantly you deffinately won't be paying full attention to the sights.

The answer is to maybe write yourself a note (in your shooting journal / diary) and then forget it. When you go back to training then you can focus on solving the problem.

Rob.

What would you like me to explain?
In a nutshell, I was just saying that it is OK to think about what went WRONG with a shot to attempt to find the reason. Ed does not like to think about anything negative (please correct me if I am wrong here Ed), but I was simply saying that sometimes that is part of the process to learn...the key being to not let the negative part of the process be the "solution". Find the solution, then use POSITIVE reinforcement to support the solution while shooting or training.

sorry if I babbled. :)

Brad

Hi Everyone,

I hadn't noticed this thread took off again. Thanks for all the posts.


Bob - Thanks! I'm not sure if that is accurate. I think my comfort zone being higher than my recent performance prompted me to put in a little extra effort prior to Perry, and it paid off. I definitely had a much better Perry than ever before.


jackh - Confidence is the key to turning off inhibitions. If you fear failure, it can really interfere with your trigger operation. So can trying to be perfect in your execution. Make operating the trigger the most natural thing you can do and then "Just do it." Sounds like an ad...


darticus - the simple (but not always easy) answer...


Brad - Thanks, and you weren't too far from the top, either. Good shooting as well.

I do preach against the error-correction method of progress because it normally entails spending time studying how to produce the error. Recognizing you have an error is quite natural and not negative in itself, but obviously there is a difference between trying to avoid the error and focusing on correct application of the shot plan, which avoids the error without reference to it.

Some shooters can't progress without using the error-correction technique and it has been taught by established shooting organizations for a long time. I think the "naturals" of the sport use the other method of studying what works and leave the errors alone.


Now to some specifics: (Sorry, if I seem to be bragging, but I did have a good match.) I'm the tallest shooter at the Pistol Nationals and have always had trouble in the wind. Until this year, I have never even come close to 2600. This year I was so far ahead of previous years that I trashed my last two targets and still made it. The crash was a mental breakdown that even intense visualization couldn't override.

Why was I so far ahead this year? Basically, because my slow fire was good. How did I have good slow fires at Perry? I didn't notice any wind this year, except for one shot that fired as I was blown off the left of the bull. And you know what, I was fighting to fire that shot. Although the movement seemed a little more than normal, my focus on operating the trigger seemed to capture an awful lot of tens. I don't know if there was wind or not this year.

I put some time into studying slow fire for a couple of weeks prior to Perry in hopes of picking up the scores and apparently it did work. I did not try to figure out the annoyance I first posted about, although it did appear in my training on occasion. What I did do was to work on making sure the trigger was continuous no matter what the sights did. Sometimes I would abort successfully if anything interrupted the trigger or the smooth unfolding of the hold, but most of the time there was no need to abort. I think the training worked - I averaged 96 pretty much across all my NRA match slow fire targets.

Also I changed my visualization from working with what to see, to working with what to do. I moved more toward the trigger operation and away from replaying the perfect sight picture with gun firing. This became especially advantageous with sustained fire and made a difference between whether I used the visualization or not. The mental replaying of the five shot strings all the way up to the target turn really seemed to help my rapid fire strings. But the visualization was not mainly a visual image of anything - it was the mental rehearsal of the trigger being operated correctly five times, with only a slight reference to the sight picture.

Well, enough for now - I'm still trying to catch up with stuff. Thanks again to everyone for the added posts. I have some even deeper thoughts to bring up when I can find the words - kind of a new look at subconscious shooting perhaps. How's that for an ad for a new post? (I think Brad and I discussed some of the topic... didn't we?)

Thanks again for all the replies.

Take Care,
Ed Hall
http://www.airforceshooting.org/
http://www.starreloaders.com/edhall/