TargetTalk

I'm involved in a junior program at my local club. We have been trying to find ways to put match pressure on our shooters. A couple of our shooters are competing at a Provincial and National level. When they go to a large event they tend to fall short, they have also risen to the occasion. When they fall short it tends to be an epic crash. It is painfully obvious it is driven by nerves and confidence. They have access to a sports psychologist through our shooting assoc.. Which helps but doesn't put them on the line trying to perform under pressure. Realizing there is a mixture of will to win, enjoyment and being able to tune out the world around them. We are trying to find practice exercises that will help. A few we have tried almost seems we are shaming them. We have to remind ourselves these are kids that are enjoying a sport. So we are looking for ideas. Any response would be appreciated.....John

Nothing really emulates match pressure like, well .... match pressure.
Are there other clubs in your area? If so, Ggt a small "league" together and shoot against each other ... lots.

-- Guts matches are good pressure as well.
-- I like loud 60's era music ... the kids think we're crazy when the adults go into dance moves behind them.

Really, anything that tends to distract them ... learning to tune that out is a first step to controlling themselves in big matches....

I tend to favour developing coping strategies rather than trying to recreate the pressure artificially. So get your shooters to focus on technique just as they do at any other time. The process of shooting doesn't change so why should the mental pressure part ? Focus on each shot as a match in itself and make that the best possible technical shot, then move on. Focus on the positive and the good shots, move on from the poor shots as they are done and now in the past.

For a little bit of pressure, get them to shoot man v man, shot for shot, like in the old version of the olympic finals. If you can add in spectators and cheering etc, all the better.

Rob.

Talk about distractions, we used to shoot on half of a double basketball court. There was a nice heavy curtain dividing us from the b-ballers, but the noise came through very well. Shoes, backboard noise, dribbling, screaming coaches & parents, whistles and that big ah-o-gah horn they use.

I told the kids if they could shoot with that going on, a little background talking just wouldn't matter anymore.

One technique that everyone agrees is to practice the conditions of the match. However, as much as holding a match works, it's resource extensive and hard to do frequently.

So, our club found a compromise that works for us: We finish almost all practice sessions with a final. Our club meetings/practice sessions are two hours long--so our kids get about 60-75 minutes of practice in (enough time to equal/exceed a match time), and then we finish off with a final that we start about 45 minutes before the end of practice. Every shooter starts in the final.

It's an easy way to simulate the stress of a match, without having to hold a whole match.

The results from watching my son and other shooters shoot are interesting.

Sometimes the practice session is so-so, but the finals scores are amazing (much better that the practice session would indicate).
Other times, the reverse is true.
And with some more experienced shooters, it's hard to tell the difference.

To spice it up, sometimes we'll do a "guts" final, where the shooter's who are eliminated during the final are allowed to shout, yell, crack jokes, etc--make whatever loud noises they want to make to deliberately try to distract the remaining shooters. This occurs about once every 2-3 months and is lots of fun. They do have to stay about 10 feet behind the shooters, about 10-13 feet behind the firing line. Sometimes the antics/faces/behaviors,etc can fun amusing. They do know each other and know what it takes to distract each other.

Just an idea
Chris

Some activity to raise the heart-rate prior to a simulated match can mimic match stress. IIRC we used to jog or run on the spot until the heart rate was >120

Hi,

one option to train pressure/ stress at home in Kurt Thune Training phone application. I have used it a lot (short times almost every day). http://www.kurtthune.com

It has helped me, not really to control the pressure but get better result despite the heat.

It is designed for eye and finger co-ordination but when you are getting higher and higher levels you really have to concentrate and face the pressure to get good results. One disadvantage is that application is designed to rifle sights and not for pistol.