TargetTalk

As of late I have been in a very bad habit of keeping track of score while I am shooting. I try not to but for some reason it just gets stuck in my head. I know that telling myself "don't keep track of score" isn't going to help at all. I hear tthat lanny bassham looks at his target after he shoots, and if it is a 10 uses positive reinforcement to shoot more 10's etc. I do that to, but if I do that I also keep track of my score. This is mainly for air rifle I am referring to.

So my question is, do any of you guys have this habit? Any ideas on breaking it?

Thank you,
Jordan

Yes i have had the problem and sometimes still do every once in a while. Heres something you can try. After you sight in on your sighters mover the scope away so you can see you target and go on with shooting. This will stop you from counting what each shot is. But all in all the best way is just to practice and keep telling yourself not to.

Thanks for the reply!

I would move the sights over but: My provincial head coach wants me to keep track of my score to mark my improvements, etc AND I want to keep track of my score (after I shoot - just not WHILE I am shooting to see what various techniques work for me, etc). If I tell my self not to I do the exact opposite and do it.

Does anyone just not look at their target completely though while wheeling it in and put the target down without paying any attension as to where the shot went. I can see a few pros/cons with this (cons being you don't know where you hit which could be bad if your sights are off and pros being that you can't really reinforce and negative's while shooting because in your head - you got a 10).

Any more help would be greatly appreciated!
Jordan

Jordan,
Yours can be a common mental game shooters get into, thinking that the score is the important part of practice/training. Lax' gave you some great advice, shoot your sighters, then move the spotting scope aside. Focus on your position, balance, relaxation, breathing...the entire shot plan you have developed. Then shoot, and move on to repeat with the next target. After you have shoot an entire card, evaluate what you did at that point.

I have shooters work on shooting two or three shots at each target on a card, until all of the hits are fairly well centered. At this point I know that position and shot plan are working well for them. This is often after a lot of fine adjustments to position and shot plan. All thru this process we look at targets after they are shot to evaluate a change in position, or shot plan, or mental attitude.

Scoring well at matches will follow all of the work at training.

Joe

Jordan,
I REALY had/have trouble w/ this... I use to (occationaly still do) check my score as i shot and knowing the score would screw me up...if i was shooting good i'd get nervouse or cocky and mess up. if i was shooting bad i'd get worried.

well what i do now is zoom my sopttin scope in so far i can only see two bulls at a time. and i dont particuarly look at the score but the positioning..(ie. a 9.5 at 3.... ok i was fallin forward..im a lefty) so after about four shots for focusing on the position and not being able to see all the shots i forget what the first few i shot were and now i cant score..

it works for me, maybe you could give it a try and see what occurs

Nicky

I typically just take a quick peek. If it's center, move on. If it's a 8 or bad 9 I'll dry fire, relax, and continue. Make sight changes as needed of course.

HB

The method I used to not keeping track of score in my mind is treat every shot as a one shot match, if I shot a 10, good, I won this one, now clear my mind prepare for the next match, if its a 9 or 8, alright, I'll do better the next match. Once you got used to it, you'll surprise how easy it is.

Tony

Thank you for all of the replies. I will try some of the meathods you guys suggested! If I take 10 shots or so at a target I tend not to score it while I am going (although I may have a quick look at the end of my shooting sension to see how I did) - it is mainly just when I am taking 1 shot/target - like at a match.

Any other suggestions would be great!
Jordan

Hey Jordan,

Well I had the same problem as you for quite some time. Well what I used to do is I'd consider a 10 a 0, a 9 a 1, 8 a 2.

If I shot a 9 I would just count 1 in my head, so at the end of the match if my score was 10 I would've shot 590 in the match. So to avoid this what I did was just say a random number like 4, then the next shot even if I shot a 10 I would count it a 3(for example) so I could count the first few shots, but after that it would just be impossible to keep track of your score.

It worked for me. Hope it works for you. ALL THE BEST!

Dhirender Singh Jamwal

What I currently do (air rifle match, 1 shot per target, that's your main question, right?):

As I return the target to me, I have a quick look when it's still 8-7-6 m away from me. Enough to see roughly where the shot landed, thus giving me the information I might need for corrections. But when it gets closer, and when I get it in my hands and change the targets, I don't look any further.

Most of the time this quick look still tells pretty much if it's a 10, 9 or worse. But for the maybe/maybe-not cases, I won't know, and I don't care any more.
What's done is done. Just get on with the next one.

Hope this helps,
Jeroen

Would like to thank everyone who responded. I have been working on and am getting better. About 6 months ago I would come off the line knowing exactly what score I had - at the very least 1 point either way. That was obviously not a good thing. I still have a problem with this a bit - as when I come off the line I know generally what my score will be. It is improving though.

Another question though. Is it bad to count your score AFTER you have shot? I usually do this and for the most part it helps me mark my improvements. When I am actually shooting though I try to concentrate on my performance. Is this generally accepted as being O.K?

Thanks :)
Jordan

I hate when I get in that habit. It is just like having a bad nights sleep. You keep looking at the alarm clock and say.... If I fall asleep right now I still get 5 hours. Same thing with the targets, if I shoot all 10's on the rest of the paper I will finish with a 93, then it keeps going down hill. :)

Jordan, experiment with making three shots to a bull; pull target only after making all shots and take note only where they have landed (do not score) and how did each shot relate to its execution. If you really want to shoot for score, then run a proper match, including keeping time. If you frequent your stand weekdays and weekends, keep the weekdays for dry-firing, shooting groups and similar activities and run a match in the weekend (or vice-versa).

Cheers Nicholas

Do you do this in practice ? Remember that what you do in practice and training you will also do in competition. After all thats why you spend all those hours in training and practice. Just try to never do the counting thing at all. Good luck and good shooting Bill Horton

Yep Bill, I do this in practice. Of course, when during a match I do remember to pull, check and change my bulls... :-D this exercise helps me focus less on the score and more on execution, I really have to resist the temptation of pulling the target and have to focus on the execution of the next shot. It also forces me to train my shot calling since I can't see where my shots have landed - I have a cork board with a enlarged AR bull stuck on it, I put pins into the bull where I think my shot has landed and then compare with the target itself. Makes for good anger management, too... :-D

Remember, there is more than one way to cook a goose, it's just that some methods are more efficient than others, and tend to work well for some people and not-so-well for others. So far it works fine for me, it might (or might not) work for you, for Jordan or for the others - It's all a question of trial-and-error...


Cheers Nicholas

I sometimes use this target for my air rifle shooters when they get on the keeping score kick.
http://www.vc4hss.com/_Coaches/images/NoLines.pdf

A while back I realized that I hadn't touched the sights on my air guns in many months, if not years. I still shoot a couple of "sighters" to get into the mental groove, but I don't even bring a scope to matches.

Someday I'm going to have an undetected-until-too-late mechanical failure or some really wonky lighting is going to leave me with my sub-6 hold misaligned, and y'all can laugh heartily at me, but for now I find this has helped my shooting a lot. I know my sights are on, and I'm very confident in my calls, so... what's the scope for? (Note that I compete only at a low level, for my own satisfaction as much as anything. Your coaching staff's opinions may vary!)

amb wrote:A while back I realized that I hadn't touched the sights on my air guns in many months, if not years. I still shoot a couple of "sighters" to get into the mental groove, but I don't even bring a scope to matches.

Someday I'm going to have an undetected-until-too-late mechanical failure or some really wonky lighting is going to leave me with my sub-6 hold misaligned, and y'all can laugh heartily at me, but for now I find this has helped my shooting a lot. I know my sights are on, and I'm very confident in my calls, so... what's the scope for? (Note that I compete only at a low level, for my own satisfaction as much as anything. Your coaching staff's opinions may vary!)

I'd love to know how you 'know' your sights are on ?
I change my sights not only from day to day and match to match but also within a match, as muscles tire a little and the eyes weaken or change.

Do you plot all of your shots after a match to see where the average point of impact is ? It's by doing something like that that you can see where your shots are falling and you may be suprised.

The other problem is that a lot of people are scared of touching their sights. For the life of me I can't see why, but for some reason they are. That fear then translates to a reluctance to adjust sights when the shots aren't falling right 'because they are set right'. If you want to maximise your scores then adjust your sights when the fall of shots tells you you should, if you don't you're throwing away points.

If you really want to see what others do then watch a top shooter in a match. You will see that most will adjust their sights not only in the sighters, but also during a match.

Rob.

I agree almost totally wiyh Rob. Thats why I carry a screwdriver that fits my sights' adjustment screw. We had a real bru ha ha about a year ago on this subject and my position was as follows; One shot off call to the left and I start to consider the sight change to get the shots back on call. The next shot off call to the left and I make a sight change that should center the next shot, Three shots left of call and I curse myself for wasting points and not making an aggressive sight change. One right of call and one left of call amd I review fundamentals and my shot plan, If that does not stop the problem I have been known to change pistols if allowed by tha match rules. I do pride myself on my ability to call a shot and almost always look through my spoting scope directly through the bullet hole. I seldom have to search for the hole in the target. Good Shooting Bill Horton

RobStubbs wrote:

amb wrote:A while back I realized that I hadn't touched the sights on my air guns in many months, if not years. I still shoot a couple of "sighters" to get into the mental groove, but I don't even bring a scope to matches.

Someday I'm going to have an undetected-until-too-late mechanical failure or some really wonky lighting is going to leave me with my sub-6 hold misaligned, and y'all can laugh heartily at me, but for now I find this has helped my shooting a lot. I know my sights are on, and I'm very confident in my calls, so... what's the scope for? (Note that I compete only at a low level, for my own satisfaction as much as anything. Your coaching staff's opinions may vary!)

I'd love to know how you 'know' your sights are on ?
I change my sights not only from day to day and match to match but also within a match, as muscles tire a little and the eyes weaken or change.

Do you plot all of your shots after a match to see where the average point of impact is ? It's by doing something like that that you can see where your shots are falling and you may be suprised.

The other problem is that a lot of people are scared of touching their sights. For the life of me I can't see why, but for some reason they are. That fear then translates to a reluctance to adjust sights when the shots aren't falling right 'because they are set right'. If you want to maximise your scores then adjust your sights when the fall of shots tells you you should, if you don't you're throwing away points.

If you really want to see what others do then watch a top shooter in a match. You will see that most will adjust their sights not only in the sighters, but also during a match.

Rob.

Rob, this reminds me of an episode I witnessed roughly an year ago, when I started shooting. I was watching my coach's wife (she shoots Air Rifle) going through her paces in training and for some reason or another she was having a real hard time at it, her shots were all landing to the side. She kept clicking to try and get them to the center, to no avail. She paused a bit between one shot and another, and I naively (at the time I was greatly less informed than today...) suggested that she should try readjusting her position. My coach was shooting at the box next to hers and reinforced the suggestion with a few other orders, and lo and behold, the shots swung to the other side of the target! To help her out I then got the spotting scope and started calling her shots out, while she returned the sights to their original state... when she finished she was all grins... moral of the story: try clicking the body before clicking the sights, sometimes a slight change in posture and a small pause can go a longer way than just ratcheting away at the dials...


Cheers NB