Mental Game

I said this earlier in my career as a professional coach:

Learning to shoot is about learning how to move and mount the gun in front of the targets; learning how to perform is about learning how to think.

Shooters who for whatever reason refuse to make this change and to let go of conscious control put themselves at a distinct disadvantage to those who embrace the power of the mind.

They eventually become like the old man who loses his keys in a dimly lit area of the parking lot and searches only in the area where the light is good. When asked why he only searches in the areas where the light is good when he obviously lost his keys in another place, he answers “Because the light is better!”

Similarly, shooters are constantly searching for things where the light is better but that is not necessarily where the solutions lie that will make their games better.

They always search in the physical area which is where they want it to be because they are comfortable there. They neglect to search their attitudes and mindsets, which is where their solutions reside.

The subjective speeding up of time keeps shooters from consistently executing shots that they can clearly execute. Therefore, shooting is not necessarily about lead and swing mechanics but is truly a mental game…