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Davegh2o

New member
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
2
Hi all,

I thought I would post this before seeking professional help. 

I used to shoot quite a lot several years ago and was one of the better shooters in the state. 

I have now had a big break before starting to engage true sport again, I have acquired the technical knowledge I feel I had before but it seems I am coming undone on competitions being let down psychologically. Being nervous is doing the most damage. 

Embarrassingly, I could be one of the best shots at the range during practice but continue to shoot below what I feel I should be doing and come in around fourth each outing. 

Has anyone had any experience with this at all?  I was thinking to just concentrate on shooting comps making each target count without being too deliberate. 

Regards

David. 

 
Hi all,

I thought I would post this before seeking professional help. 

I used to shoot quite a lot several years ago and was one of the better shooters in the state. 

I have now had a big break before starting to engage true sport again, I have acquired the technical knowledge I feel I had before but it seems I am coming undone on competitions being let down psychologically. Being nervous is doing the most damage. 

Embarrassingly, I could be one of the best shots at the range during practice but continue to shoot below what I feel I should be doing and come in around fourth each outing. 

Has anyone had any experience with this at all?  I was thinking to just concentrate on shooting comps making each target count without being too deliberate. 

Regards

David. 
Hi David,

I get the impression you're from overseas, regardless, the part I have highlighted is to ask firstly what sort of level you're shooting at class wise and also whether we're talking big big comps or just bragging rights at local affairs. I have known a handful of really good old timers who dropped off for whatever reason and then came back to find the targets are really quite different nowadays and that they're not where they want, or their personality demands, in regards to the pecking order. They can find this hard to take and sadly too many can't cope and drop away again. In fact this inability to cope with losing is why scores of extremely promising people drop away. I have known a dozen at least in my lifetime, classic case of a youngster/newcomer climbing the ladder in a near meteoric fashion (often aided by huge amounts of practice) and even starting to beat the old timers who've served their time...............and yet bang all of a sudden you don't see them again for six months and when you do the answer is always along the same themes : I just wasn't enjoying it or it was ruining my Sundays but only the honest ones will admit it was because they hadn't learned how to lose.

Essentially what I'm saying in the nicest possible way is that you probably haven't quite acquired all the knowledge you need and in a great part that knowledge is part and parcel of what carries you through mentally. I honestly think it's that simple. Some people place great faith in the "zen" part of shooting but it's actually rather simple to prove that what causes one to lose is lack of technical ability, not so much mental prowess, the latter does not break the simple clays - but if you acquire the ability to break all the simple clays, your mental side will get such a buzz that it will gradually lift you altogether. Watch good shooters miss medium/hard targets in comp and hit the relatively easy one on a given stand (I myself am a prime example) and then they complain their mental side let them down, not me though. I know what let them down is they lacked the technical ability to set up correctly, move correctly and tempo correctly. George Digweed in answer to the question : what is the greatest cause of missing for people, lack of technical ability he said. I am not saying mental side is irrelevant but only that it matters at the very highest of levels where you are trying to win something that truly matters. 

Imagine for instance as you approach the closing stages of a round knowing you have dropped relatively few (and all mainly because you hit the easy and medium stuff), trust me that will also then help with the really hard targets because you will be in a good place mentally already. Learn to hit the easy ones is what I'm saying. Learn to lose, learn to hit the easy ones all the time, learn to take small steps, learn to remember the lessons of what causes your personal misses. Enjoy the process.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks for your reply Hamster,  I am not located near you at all really. A bit further south.  

As far as standard goes, I shot sporting from the age of 11 consistently through to my early 20's, then due to work commitments, I had a break from shooting clays often for about 12 years. I have been shooting sporadically for the last two years. This time however was marred by struggling with an inappropriate gun. I've now rectified it recently with immediate results. 

I am having trouble with competition above monthly shoots really, state selection shoots, qualifiers, state and national titles. More so than I would like anyway. 

I'm 37 years old and am not as happy with my place in the field as I would like. I'm in AA Grade. 

Cheers 

David. 

 

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