Mental Skills Philosophy

[mtn_shooter]

To counteract flinching I tell myself, its going to recoil, it'll be loud, but it wont hurt, and force myself to take it steady, sort of a" let it happen" approach. Some people say the shot should surprise you-- once you become familiar with a weapon, you know exactly when its going to fire. I think its better training to deal with recoil than to psych yourself out of it. If I had to put numbers to it, 65% mental, 30% physical, 5% luck. Physical training is very important, imho. I like to tense my hand and try to move only my trigger finger, its also good practice to aim in and dry fire, and produce good muscle memory. That said, if you can't convince yourself that you don't need to counteract the recoil, all of that physical training is no good to you.

[louieprkr]

This is an excellent thread! Its funny how much thought, effort, and money we will spend on our equipment, and overlook the most important variable... us! Patience has been one of my biggest enemies also. Funny enough, I would say the strongest correlation to group size for me is my schedule. If I have been busy, my focus is severely dampened in all tasks but shines through on targets. I just can't seem to take one task at a time. I will find myself behind the rifle not just thinking about the shot, but the following shots, the ammo I need to load, the drive home, how I need to get groceries, that guy that cut me off, etc... I just can't get them out of the back of my mind. This is a major mental weakness that should be easy to avoid. Matter of fact its just plain stupid. After going through the effort it takes to get out and shoot, I decide to let things that are 100% out of my control (at the moment) ruin my trip to the range.

I like some of the methods that were previously stated and will do my best to employ them in the future. Great thread! Thanks to those with the experience and the willingness to share.

haha just realized I pulled this up out of the catacombs... Its still just as relevant so I guess it wont hurt

[LRRPF52]

If I find myself stressed out a little with my schedule, getting to the range, posting my targets, worrying about someone with a muzzle break nearby, and other range distractions....I just lay my head down on the gun and take a little nap, if just for 15 or 30 seconds, and let my heart rate and breathing slow way down.

Then I go into my shooting sequence, where the focus on the sight picture throughout the shot is all I concentrate on, which I give credit to LR1955 for summing up the fundamentals with. I've also started to let my AR's free-recoil a bit more, and I'm shooting more consistently in the .5 MOA or less range that way with rifles that can do it.

[stokesrj]

The mental aspects of shooting are more than any of us can comprehend. I've learned this the hard way with many tens of thousands of dollars spent on the match circuit. I began shooting High Power competitively in 2008, quickly moved from marksman, to sharpshooter, to expert, to master, and now I'm pushing into high master territory shooting my service rifle. The only thing keeping me from making high master with my service rifle is my mental control. The discipline to control my body when it counts, not taking that shot that would result in a nine.
Along the way I began to notice that when I shot in important matches my scores dropped, not much, maybe .5% to 1% but that is all it take to keep you from winning leg points, or the rocker patch for Presidents 100. What I found was that I couldn't settle down to the fine level of muscular control required to perform at the levels required. The difference was 100% mental, and a friend helped me to understand this. His name is Sam Yarosh, a former CIA sniper, and multiple national record holder in high power rifle disciplines. Sam gave me some spooky material supplied to the CIA snipers to help them maintain mental control.
I won't share specifics because I don't have permission from Sam to do so, but I will say that the tapes basically teach self hypnosis techniques, ones that work. I can now move to the firing line and slow my heart beat, gain a connection with my muscles that let me identify any muscle group that is not totally relaxed and relax them. This is all done with my mind, not with my muscles.
This helped me move from the mid 180's in 200 yard slow fire off hand to the mid 190's. This means I'm hitting a six inch nine ring 100% of the time with 50% or better in the 3" ten ring. This is done from the unsupported off hand position with metallic sights.
Almost any load will shoot 100% so it is very much mental control that determines the outcome.
I used to spend countless hours making sure my loads were perfect, my rifle was tuned to perfection, all my equipment was the best that could be had. I've finally learned that my wisest use of time is in mentally training myself to shoot tens and X's.
Larry Basham has a book that has helped many in this respect called "With Winning in Mind".
Bob

[txgunner00]

Great info. I've learned same thing about mental control in some of the challenges in my life but not nearly to the level you have taken it. It's amazing what your mind can make your body do. Thanks for sharing.

[LR1955]

Stokes:

Secret stuff only given to CIA Snipers? Ok.......... Since you disclosed that this type of thing even exists on an open forum, I expect a few black helicopters to pay a visit in the near future. He, he, he.

Much of my current training involves mental skills / enhanced performance / psychological skills so I try to stay up on the current research and theories involving such improvement. For years, psychologists have tried to find ways where an athlete can control his heart rate, among other things, and do so on demand and in a very short period of time. So far, no such luck. And, for the most part, heart rate had little or nothing to do with success or failure. This includes shooting sports. You will not be able to change your heart rate significantly enough, on demand, in very short periods of time. And, if guys think heart rate is the key to successful shooting, go to the firing line sometime in a completely rested state; dry fire until you are very comfortable with your position; put on a blind fold and shoot your string for score.

Before guys go out and get books on self-hypnosis, I recommend they talk with a clinical hypnotist. You will be surprised at how few times their professional attempts change behavior or intrusive thoughts. If they could do so, many mental illnesses would be cured, no one would fail in their attempts to quit smoking or drinking, etc. And, their protocols take months and even years before they see any significant change.

Lanny Basham is a motivational speaker. He won an Olympic gold in small bore in the 1970's because he changed how he viewed himself, his training, and his sport. His lectures and book are a story of this change and its successful results. The book and tapes intend to transfer his experienes into daily life. His information on goals setting and accomplishment, is very good. However, the rest of his information becomes pretty vague as he tries to transfer it towards all activities and all walks of life. And, a-lot has changed in the understanding of mental skills since the early 1970's.

Take this one from Stokes to the bank. "I used to spend countless hours making sure my loads were perfect, my rifle was tuned to perfection, all my equipment was the best that could be had. I've finally learned that my wisest use of time is in mentally training myself to shoot tens and X's."

From my work, the problem here is that most people do not know how to think / what thoughts to be put in their head, that they trust will work to some substantial degree, no matter the conditions. And it really isn't as simple as repeating a phrase when doing something. Basham likes using positive self-talk. My experiences show that positive self-talk is more positive self-lying unless you are at the very top end of the sport, and self-talk has meaning to that particular sport. Guys know if they are good or not and no matter how many times they may repeat some positive self-talk phrase, they sill know they suck if they really suck or are good if they are really good. When Basham started using positive self-talk, he was already a National champion and had competed at the Olympic level. He was not only good, but he knew he was as good as any Olympic level competitor. What self-talk does, though, is to shift attention from some sort of distractor and this is normally good. If it shifts you from attending to something significantly related to your success though, then such talk is probably not useful and may be adverse.

If I told you guys anything more, I am sure that someone from the CIA would pay me a visit I would not like. He or she or it would probably have to cut off my head and lock it in a safe at night.

Actually, there isn't a one size fits all with the performance enhancement stuff. Shot gun approaches to its use won't work out too well although they won't hurt anything, either. To really focus a mental skills program towards someone, it takes interviews and perhaps some testing. These days, attentional focus issues, controlling arousal levels, and what we know as situational awareness are things that are of importance. At least these are the things I deal with when I get involved in the training of folks.

Good stuff, Bob. I am pretty sure this year you will make your High Master.


LR1955

[stokesrj]

I'm not so sure the tapes work as designed or work because they require you to concentrate on mental control, I don't really buy into the hocuspocus stuff, but I do buy into paying attention to mental control. However, my firend does buy into it, and I can't argue with his national records.
Bob
PS I have several of Larry Bashams books and video's. There is something there.

[LR1955]

I'm not so sure the tapes work as designed or work because they require you to concentrate on mental control, I don't really buy into the hocuspocus stuff, but I do buy into paying attention to mental control. However, my firend does buy into it, and I can't argue with his national records.
Bob
PS I have several of Larry Bashams books and video's. There is something there.

Bob:

Sounds like some sort of guided imagery script. Relaxation techniques, clear the mind, then focus on what is important. This type of thing can be very beneficial.

LR155

[stokesrj]

Yes, exactly what it is. But just listening to the guy is, well spooky, I can't imagine the process that approved funding this guy, it must not have had oversight.
Bob

[LR1955]

Yes, exactly what it is. But just listening to the guy is, well spooky, I can't imagine the process that approved funding this guy, it must not have had oversight.
Bob

Bob:

I have written a couple of guided imagery scripts for some fellows. They are kind of nuanced as good ones are made specifically for the individual based on what ever things the performance psychologist / advisor / coach / etc., and the individual found to be most effective. Just note that not all of them are intended to relax although all I have seen or dealt with are intended to allow the person to give as much attention to one thing as possible.

In the case of High Power where there is no need to physically exert yourself, the relaxation is more done allow you to focus your attention than anything else. And apparently, this one is doing what you need so no need to change it.

Look up 'Centering' under some sort of sport psychology web site and it explains things a bit more than I have time. Nothing real complex.

You may want to do some reading about visualization too as most athletes use imagery and visualization as part of their training program. It is a bit different than running a script while you are competing. This one is done at home and many use it in their training program. Although I am sure I have the abbreviation wrong, run a search using PTTLEP and you will find the latest on imagery.

One reason why you will go places in High Power is because you are willing to spend the time on the mental side of that specific sport. You have to train the mental skill as thoroughly as you train the physical skill. Most guys try the mental stuff in practice but not while competing. The guys who use it during practice and in competition are not only the upper ten percent of those athletes who use mental skills, they are also probably in the top ten percent in their sport.

LR1955