ROBERT6500
Well-known member
I'm with Ed all the way so far.Technique and compulsive practice of that technique comes first.Get to that plateaux of around 75/85 and then get into the psychology side of it. Until then technique and leaning to read the target your addressing is by far more important.Once there however the psychology side is very much needed.If you have ever watched the top shots grow through their stages of getting to the top you'll find that they started as we all do by missing most targets but bumping into one or two of them without understanding why. Then they start to hit consistently a certain type of target by doing the same thing every time in order to hit it. Then they apply that technique to another similar target but with a slight twist to get consistency and so on and so forth. All the time getting better technique and target reading skills.Once your up in the 80s then the main thing your are doing wrong is your mental preparation and routine to keep you focussed. But even total mental focus is useless without technique and target readability.Watch almost any top shot regularly and you will come up with the assumption that they are arrogant, miserable, unsociable bas***** that win every thing and it really pis*** you off about them because they get your hard earned cash every bloo** week.However, if you approach almost anyone of the top shots after the shoot maybe having a coffee or burger they are actually very nice people and no different to you or me.The only real difference between you and them is there concentration during the whole shoot, not just when in the stand. When out on the shoot though they have to stay in the zone/totally focussed which means not talking to anyone accept a chosen few who are almost always with them and they trust not to put them in a position of stress by talking about another top shot and there score or how many they have to hit to be in with a chance etc,etc. They are totally focussed both before and during shooting. What you'll find is that everything they do is as if they were suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (O.C.D) because that's the the way you have to be to get to the top and stay there. They have a strict routine and stick to it, that way the chance of something they can't handle turning up is very slight.When I'm coaching a top shot that is going through a bit of a bad patch or indeed a good A or AA class shot and there are quite a few believe it or not, all I do is check the eye dominance and have a look at his/her technique/s, then look at his/her mental routine. If there are holes that have entered their routine I will fill it with something to keep them focussed permanently. Or I'll set up a complete mental routine if they have none which they must stick to.It only ever fails if there is an underlying problem like a death, bad divorce or health issue which I ask about at the beginning of the lesson so I know what I'm up against from the word go. /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-wink.gif