The Mental Game

[Big Mc]

Your next shoot is your best shot. Tommy Mc.

 

[Bob3700]

Your next shoot is your best shot. Tommy Mc.

yogi said “90% of this game is 1/2 mental.

 

[Big Mc]

yogi said “90% of this game is 1/2 mental.

He also said When you get to the fork----Take it Yogi was one of a kind. Tommy Mc

 

[K22]

I can attest after about 30 years of competitive pistol shooting that the best match shooters were not necessarily the best shooters but the ones that had mastered the mental aspects of match shooting, i.e. ice in their veins.

Case in point, one guy on our team could regularly shoot in the high 280's x 300 in practice sessions. However in NRA registered matches, he never broke 280. The top shooter on our team, a 290 shooter, thrived on competition and match shooting so much so that he hated practice sessions because they were boring to him.

Over coming the fear of a bad shot is the greatest obstacle in my experience. Second is ignoring the previous shot especially if it was a poor shot. Both lead to failing to focus on and executing the key fundamentals in making a 10 ring shot. Most can learn to shoot quite well with enough practice, but the truly great shooters can do it in match competition.

 

[ebb]

When you get to the line shake hands with they guy next to you and whisper in his ear, " My shooting partner isn't here today. He's at your house stealing ALL OF YOUR PRIMERS1"

 

[xswanted]

Read the book “With Winning In Mind”.

It’s all about the mental side of competitive shooting sports. Great read for anyone looking to try up their metal game.

 

[Fast14riot]

Having competed at some of the highest levels and against some of the world's best in my racing career, I learned that it wasn't he who sailed the perfect race that won, but who made the least mistakes. Learning that even the elite guys still make small mistakes and can recover from them made it all seem much more achievable in my mind. As the years progressed I began to collect trophies simply by sticking this philosophy front and center in my mind. It's easy to get "star struck" when you hear than so-and-so multi-time champ is on the line, but when you think that he is simply making less mistakes than the other guys, it was no longer an impossible hurdle.

Also, practice make permanent. Bad practice makes bad permanent.

 

[JMayo]

I think if I don't screw up I'm gonna win. Keeps me on my toes better.
....
But I'll still screw up in a heart beat !
.....
Then it becomes a game against my best ever score/shot/group.

 

[PigButtons]

First in my mind is "never reinforce the negative". Never say to yourself, "Don't put it in the 8 ring." Your mind only hears "put it in the 8 ring". Now you are fighting the situation and your own mind. Second, have a short memory for fails, a long memory for successes. Put another way, only focus on what you did on the good shots and never on 'what not to do' from the bad shots. Have a checklist for making each shot and make it such a habit that you ALWAYS follow it, during practice, with friends at the range, and in competition. Have a trigger that starts the checklist that is physical, something like exhaling on to the back of your gun's bolt. It doesn't have to be big but it gets your mind ready "to start the checklist to make a shot. If you stop before making the shot, start from the trigger again, don't cut into the checklist in the middle. Last, always keep evaluating your situation and make adjustments that move in the direction of success, never in the direction of running from failure.

All easier said than done, it requires discipline and practice.