Mental Toughness: More matches are won by mental toughness than by quickness or accuracy combined. The remainder of this session (20 weeks) should be spent trying to achieve a system that promotes mental toughness. If you have a finalized draw no matter what your quickness you will win your share of matches, but to be truly competitive you must develop mental toughness.
I have given you my system. You don't have to use my system you can develop your own but it should have the same basic elements. You need a mental routine, a physical routine, and a waggle. The point is to shoot from the subconscious. We are all better than we know but our minds keep getting in the way. The elements give you something to do. A draw should be like a breath. Your quickest shots will surprise you. You will not know how you did it.
Mental Routine: Evaluate the last shot. Let see, I was 6 inches to the right of the target and low, I need two degree to the left and balance back a little.
Physical Routine: Turn shooting toe two degrees to the left, pick up and reset off foot, adjust balance back a bit.
Waggle: Forget the last shot and adjustments. You are set. You will hit where you are aligned. Just forget it. Don't think anymore about it. You are set. Waggle. A waggle is a meaningless movement that is a signal to yourself that you are set and ready to drill the target. No thinking after the waggle. Just a loaded spring waiting to expode with the light.
Training System for Mental Toughness: I have actually never used this system since I shoot competitively about three times a week. I wrote it just for you assuming you are training alone. Get a large cardboard and draw a 10 inch circle on it. Shoot from 10 foot. Shoot a five shot set using your routine. Guess on first shot. Then mental routine (evaluate), physical routine (make adjustments), waggle, then second shot. Then continue on through five shots. Sit down (isn't that what we do after five.) Continue on through 50 shots or whatever you have left after your bucket work.
If you want to use a target and light that is fine. I just suggested the cardboard so you could also chunk data. 24 inch targets or blockers at 10 feet would work well also.
Events: It is not easy to use the system throughout an event. I can be cruises along and then draw someone I have history with and stop using the system. Or I will get up on someone 2-0 and out the window goes the system and I think "all I have to do is hit," here comes the 2 up fluster. The system will carry the day but it is easy to forget to use it.
This not about accuracy. It is about mental toughness. But it should lead you to better than 80% accuracy. A little about gunfighter rating, a gunslinger shooting at .3 speed with 30% accuracy has a rating of 1. A gunfighter shooting at .80 speed with 80% accuracy has a rating of 1. They are evenly matched. We don't care about speed or accuracy, they will take care of themselves.
We only care of about being mentally tough gunslingers shooting from the subconscious.
"Quick only matters if you can hit that which you are trying to be quick about." Virgil Cole.
I have given you my system. You don't have to use my system you can develop your own but it should have the same basic elements. You need a mental routine, a physical routine, and a waggle. The point is to shoot from the subconscious. We are all better than we know but our minds keep getting in the way. The elements give you something to do. A draw should be like a breath. Your quickest shots will surprise you. You will not know how you did it.
Mental Routine: Evaluate the last shot. Let see, I was 6 inches to the right of the target and low, I need two degree to the left and balance back a little.
Physical Routine: Turn shooting toe two degrees to the left, pick up and reset off foot, adjust balance back a bit.
Waggle: Forget the last shot and adjustments. You are set. You will hit where you are aligned. Just forget it. Don't think anymore about it. You are set. Waggle. A waggle is a meaningless movement that is a signal to yourself that you are set and ready to drill the target. No thinking after the waggle. Just a loaded spring waiting to expode with the light.
Training System for Mental Toughness: I have actually never used this system since I shoot competitively about three times a week. I wrote it just for you assuming you are training alone. Get a large cardboard and draw a 10 inch circle on it. Shoot from 10 foot. Shoot a five shot set using your routine. Guess on first shot. Then mental routine (evaluate), physical routine (make adjustments), waggle, then second shot. Then continue on through five shots. Sit down (isn't that what we do after five.) Continue on through 50 shots or whatever you have left after your bucket work.
If you want to use a target and light that is fine. I just suggested the cardboard so you could also chunk data. 24 inch targets or blockers at 10 feet would work well also.
Events: It is not easy to use the system throughout an event. I can be cruises along and then draw someone I have history with and stop using the system. Or I will get up on someone 2-0 and out the window goes the system and I think "all I have to do is hit," here comes the 2 up fluster. The system will carry the day but it is easy to forget to use it.
This not about accuracy. It is about mental toughness. But it should lead you to better than 80% accuracy. A little about gunfighter rating, a gunslinger shooting at .3 speed with 30% accuracy has a rating of 1. A gunfighter shooting at .80 speed with 80% accuracy has a rating of 1. They are evenly matched. We don't care about speed or accuracy, they will take care of themselves.
We only care of about being mentally tough gunslingers shooting from the subconscious.
"Quick only matters if you can hit that which you are trying to be quick about." Virgil Cole.
There have been some interesting observations in my implementation of this system. As background, I usually shoot at least 5 days a week, maybe every day. Since the start it has all been "bucket work" except one day practice with the club and one club match. It has all been done at 8-9 feet on either a 24 or 17 target set at the appropriate height. I have also been doing physical therapy during this time trying to correct pain issues from last year which are improving. I have not gotten that "finalized average draw", I can only get my group average about 65% so I continue to work. Think I dance and think too much about it. Now here is what I noticed. Shooting on the 24 inch target my group never concentrated as much as I want it to. I moved 2 1/2 feet to the left, that's it only difference, to line up and shoot on the 17 inch target and my group immediately shrank to match the target. Has to be a perception issue in my head. Today I decided to move to reaction training on the 24 inch target even though I haven't reached that "average" group. My first 20, just reacting to the light not checking time, were still in the 65-70% grouping, but at least 8 of the final 14 of that group were in the 2 1/2 inch light. Took me the first 4 to settle in. The next 30 were shot in two groups of 15 and times were checked. Still in the 60-70% and now no longer centered on the light, but a little low right. All the times, when properly extrapolated according to the commish, were at the fastest level I could shoot last year and one was my personal best by 14mls. After all this a question and it is impossible to avoid. How do you occupy your mind between "set" and bang without thinking about what you are doing?
ReplyDeleteIt is tough. I tried music but that did not seem to help. Just got to practice. Maybe move waggle later so you don't have to be blank mind for so long. Do know you can not think about draw, where you are going to hit, or adjustments. What does a golfer or a tennis player do? What does the tennis book say. Just doing it! Don't think about it. Hope I don't draw you. we'll see who blinks first. I am trying to go with the light instead of on the light. I am 160/240/20 shooter so my room for gain is in reaction time. Like to get to 150/150/20. We shoot close a lot and across the board, multiple shooters, moving back from 5 to 15 slows a shooter down much more than the distance would allow. I think it is just the stress of worrying about hitting the target. Got to believe and shoot the same as up close. My best for 2018 was against OR. Complete surprise, just shot my shot like at 5 feet. No thought at all. No effort at all. I know when I am on I am shooting from the subconscious, when I am thinking of anything I am slow and missing.
ReplyDeleteThe golfer, I think, would be similar to our situation but actually closer to bucket work because he does not have to wait for a "go" signal. Just go as soon as ready. Like with the bucket no it's coming, it's coming, NOW, but adjust, waggle, bang. I occasionally worry that bucket work actually could condition you to forget that you need to wait for the light. Tennis player has nothing similar because he is moving to find where the subconscious takes over--again no wait. Shouldn't waggle after set because you could get caught in the middle of your waggle. I have tried a version of Cruiser's show me the money waggle, but if I think about keeping that going it becomes a distraction. Still sometimes I'll do an off hand finger wiggle as a tension release on a long light. Just have to keep working.
ReplyDeleteI did a “live fire” test this last weekend and won a Jackpot shoot in Redfield SD. The normal strong field of Midwest shooters was there. The first day we had the main match, 5x (changed from 4x mid match since too many were going to go out in the 4th round..) 21 feet 24 in. targets. I won with only 2X’s (I think). I shot 70% ish with most times in the .375-.395 range. I lost concentration and drifted into the low 4’s mid match. I realized I was slipping back to an old draw and fixed it quickly to end in the high 3’s the last few matches. I drew a ton of byes and won all but 1. I was able to mentally block out the fact I was shooting against a couple world champions and just shot the plate and got the blinking light- Pavlov reward.
ReplyDeleteI seemed to hit my first shot, got closer to the light on second, missed 3rd. and hit somewhere on the plate the 4th shot…so I kinda walked it to the light!! I never had to reload my gun..got it done with one cylinder of wax or less every round. I had an adrenaline dump after winning that was so bad I could not hold my rod still enough to clean my gun.
Day 2 was the Bracket shoot and I won Master Gunfighter. 3X match 15 feet 24 in. plates. I wanted to end with 0x..But lost the plate while shooting the 2nd place guy towards the end. I hit first then missed 3 for the one X I got.. He had one X and I had one X now, everyone else eliminated. Pissed me off.. So I ended with my 6 fastest shots to put a stake in it. I was easily 80% since we were REAL close to that big plate. .350-.390 times. I had the same issue with getting closer to the light the first 2 hits then going a bit wild on the last hit (sometimes a miss). I think I was over speeding (flailing) to get a fast time. Had a worse reaction in the end and was shaking like I had fell in a lake! Controlling the mental game all day is tough..it (emotion) must come out sometime...but not on the line!!!
Things I learned:
Trying to walk to the light tends to distract me from worrying about other things.
If you slow down suddenly, your draw has changed. Fix it fast or loose.
Win Byes at all cost
When you see your opponent give up..finish him..or he will come back to haunt you.
If you “overspeed” you tend to flail and move body parts you shouldn’t. Shoot your fastest controlled shot all the time.
A flashing light is better than sex.
Hitch…Please don’t comment on this on the CFDA FB Group….all it gets is arguments and eyerolls…and it aint worth the effort to those who don’t give a crap……Gun4hire