I'm not in the class of The Doe or other guys mentioned. I have been shooting springers since the 60's.Originally Posted by cooper_dan
In my experience the psychology is ...
In most sports you will hear people talk about being in 'The Zone'. Sports therapists will talk about being in a state of 'Tone'. You don't want to be so laid back and care free that you aren't really concentrating on what you are doing. Also, you don't want to be so revved up and bouncing with adrenaline that you can't function with heart racing and muscles tense.
You are basically trying to control an anxiety or excitement response from your mind/brain. It's basically the Fight or Flight Response. If the mind is overstimulated then the body releases cortisol and adrenaline and the heart rate rises and the muscles tense ready for action. You don't want this.
A couple of things you can do is to try and free your mind from negative, sensitising thoughts. If you are shooting HFT or FT comps then try and maximise your time efficiency. After shooting one peg, get your stuff in your bag, and get off to the next peg as quickly as possible but in a calm way. Walk steadily and breath steadily. Don't stand doing an autopsy on the previous peg with your partners ... and then rushing off to the next peg and walking quickly so your heart rate rises. Forget that last peg. Take in any info that will be useful ... What did the wind do? ... What range did I estimate that at and was it correct and where is this next target in comparison? DO NOT dwell on a miss. Don't curse yourself for missing that last one. Don't think 'FFS I should have got that one ... I can't believe I missed that one ... I'm going to get a sh1te score today now'.
Get to the next lane in good time. Take a few slow breaths to slow down your heart rate from the brief walk. Have a look around you. Check out the scenery. Realise how lucky you are to be well enough to be out with your mates shooting a few targets in the fresh air. Crack a few funnies. Keep the banter going to help relax you.
When it's your turn to shoot then approach the peg and take another couple of slow relaxing breaths. Concentrate on your breathing and your technique. Make your technique very repeatable. DO NOT think 'I must get this one' or 'I just missed the last one ... I can't miss two on the trot' ... or 'If I miss another one I can't get a score of 50 plus'. It's just another target. The next target. It is unimportant if it goes down or not. All you have is your breathing and your technique. You will analyse the target for wind and range and you will pick an aim point. You will then concentrate on that aim point and release the shot to the best of your ability using repeatable technique. What happens next is nothing more to do with you.
All this will prevent your mind from going into Fight or Flight and pumping you full of heart rate increasing chemicals.
Your breathing affects your heart rate. Short shallow breathing will raise blood pressure and heart rate. Slower, deeper, abdominal, rhythmical breathing will lower blood pressure and slow heart rate. The in breath relates to the Sympathetic Nervous System, which is related to Fight or Flight and raising heart rate. The out breath is related to the Parasympathetic Nervous System, which is related to relaxation and diverts blood supply from the muscles and towards digestion. So just before you shoot you can take an easy deep breath in through the nose ... and then breath out slowly through your mouth, and let the out breath be slightly longer than the in breath. So breath in to a count of 4 and breathe out to the count of 5. As you breath out through your mouth think about all your muscles relaxing as you do so. Breathe out and let your body 'relax'.
Just enjoy.
Reply With Quote