How do you 'reset'?

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ExSCA

ShootClay Admin
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Jan 27, 2011
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Would appreciate some suggestions on how to reset, when things go wrong.

I shot a FITASC today, and had three clusters of misses on my card... Three or four misses in a row. Each time, I tried to follow my reshot routine and make sure I was doing the right thing for the next target/pair... But I struggled to reset and gain my composure.

Are there any specific things that you do that can help you reset when things are going wrong.

Just looking for suggestions that I can work from.

Matt


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Matt you are way ahead of me but I would offer the following:

You have missed - shame - It's gone - you can't have that shot again - So don't get uptight about it

Can we learn anything from the miss? Check hold and kill points are right. Smooth swing and smooth trigger pull

Were the feet right not to restrict or deflect movement. Did the target deceive me? Correct glasses for the light?

How am I going to tackle the next one - what am I going to do differently? Was it a question of leead?

Check Speed, Angle and Distance - How SAD is that?

 
For me, I think it's important to shoot in a style that does tell you what you are doing. I.e. not too fast or 'poky' as this requires enhanced timing skills to be repeatable and is susceptible to even small mood / mental changes. (Not saying this is what Matt suffered. I wasn't even on his squad). In other words, a miss will hopefully come from an incorrect lead or line that you will be able to recall and make the adjustment to for next shot. Conversely, if your first shot was an 'instinctive' rushed affair, surely it is harder to analyse what happened.

Everyone is different. The above just is what makes sense to me.

 
You've almost answered your question in a way from your own text.

"I tried to follow my preshot routine and make sure I was doing the right thing for the next target/pair"  So basically you've just done the same thing again that promoted a miss last time.

Break the cycle, move position and come back to a ready one, wipe the memory of the last shot away and breathe, just breathe! Big, slow breaths in and out, regain composure and start again. How many times have we said to beginners to not feel rushed? It's your time and your targets and in FITASC you'll only get them once so maximise them.  :biggrin:

 
mine is very simple give it more lead.and if that dont work give it less.i'am normaly behind so i dont use the 2nd one much.
That works well for Sporting - not so much for FITASC Sporting, where my misses seem to come in short clusters... two singles from one peg, all the doubles from another (despite hitting all the singles). 

 
Similar position to Matt myself, when the wheels come off I follow the same routine, hold points, pickup points then concentrate and start the shot doesn't always work for me and I get " program not responding " flashing across my eyes this usually leads to anger then I hit them. Its as if thinking slows down the physical aspect of the shot.

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Similar position to Matt myself, when the wheels come off I follow the same routine, hold points, pickup points then concentrate and start the shot doesn't always work for me and I get " program not responding " flashing across my eyes this usually leads to anger then I hit them. Its as if thinking slows down the physical aspect of the shot.

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Swot I was saying. Speed alone will change everything, so make sure you have one speed.

 
Sometimes you just have to keep going until it comes good.

 
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By doing what I am doing now....going to Owls to practice all parts of the routine and refine it where necessary.

Remember Matt...Fitasc is the thinking man's sporting. You will get used to it. It is not easy. It is also hard to keep concentration and focus at 100% level for the whole layout. It is essential to switch off and on during the layout or you wear your battery down. This is both an art and a skill. Don't worry, keep going, we all have many brick walls to go through in our shooting life. That is what keeps us interested.

 
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Yep - thanks, good advice... and Nic, I know what you mean there - perseverance and practice is absolutely at the top of my list. 

I guess what I am trying to figure out is why (yesterday at least),  I dropped 31 shots all day, but 15 of them were in clearly defined 'sets' - from my scorecard it seems that one miss = three misses... and just finding a way to break the cycle and shut out the previous shot is where I am struggling.  When I shoot well, I often remember that everything was very 'zen' and calm, but when an unexpected miss creeps in - my mind feels like a wasps nest. 

For example - peg 2 of the third layout (West London Gunroom if you were there), I missed ALL the doubles... target one was the rabbit, I had killed in the single - so I make the same shot, the rabbit doesn't break... then i miss the on report teal (which I smashed in the single).  So I reload, go through my preshot routine, and then miss the two benign crossers that I smashed in the singles. Four shots away, and now I am chasing rather than building. 

Somewhere in there - I needed to reset, or to find some sort of mental trigger that makes my mind clear again. 

Some good ideas in here... 

 
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Just designate a spot on the back of your left hand as the 'reset button' which takes you to a happier place. You need to have pre-programme the 'happy place' in advance obviously.

Everytime you feel out of sorts simply press the 'reset button' and hey presto!

Mind games...wassat that then?

DT

 
Ok my input for what its worth. Compose and be confident before you start the shoot then think of nothing all the way through apart form seeing the next target. (I remember a great quote form 40up that fits very well here sure he wont mind my plagiarism and that is something like "shoot the targets as best you can and then at the end someone tells you if you have won or not" I love that.

 
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For me the ability to reset came with experience. When I have a bad patch of misses, I just remind myself I've been in this position many times before and have turned it around reasonably well.

 
If you want to figure it out,spend a day with Henry Hopking. Physical pre-shot routine can be the same every time,but I bet you weren't in the right state of mind to call 'pull'

 
Mental approach has and always will be play a big part in clay shooting as with all sport

When I go through a bad patch I convince myself i have put my competition head on which always seems to work but unfortunately as Nicola stated earlier concentration plays an even bigger part often resulting in my competition head coming back off very soon after

Keeping concentration 100% on a long shoot is almost impossible and can be contributed to many things i.e a poor nights sleep or something you may or may not have eaten or drank or even just standing around to long or chatting to much.

Build your concentration skills and your scores will build and bad patches will become less frequent.

 
Some intereting reading here, visual aids to help you mentally reset only work if you have had a few sessions with someone like Henry Hopkins, using them without his sessions will not really give you any benefit. Although if you can't get time to see Henry you can use certain techniques to mentally reset, to a degree.

Its very important that you can recognise what is going wrong and then remedy this with the right technique. If you are just off form then nothing will help you and you just have to accept you re not 100% and you have to move on, most of the time, if you suddenly have spats of misses it can be ttributed to either, complacency, your brain tells you this is easy so you don't have to try too hard OR its due to you trying too hard, therefore not being natural and letting your subconcious be in charge, this also causes you to tighten up and not take the shot where you normally would, for example

 

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