Recent Posts
Controlling the future
The more we study and teach the mental side of performance, the more it becomes obvious to us that our students are their own worst enemy. They create under performance as a result of their negative thoughts, actions, and emotions.Throwing shells, slamming the gun shut, grimacing. These outbursts over missed targets simply serve as reminders to the subconscious that you desire missing. The ever expanding list of excuse... Read more…
Ettiquette — How do I handle lots of help from others in ...
What do I do when I’m in a shooting stand and am having problems with a target, and get a lot of “free advice” on where I am missing. How do I handle this?We get this question a lot in our travels around the country. Everyone who shoots a shotgun wants the person shooting to do well. What they don’t realize with this advice is that they may not be helping. We tell our students, especially the ladies, to politely ask th... Read more…
Fear of failure
We are taught from birth that Failure is bad—and something to be avoided. Failure can be your friend—if you let itEvery success is born and dies in failure.Failure is bad only if nothing is learned.Striving for perfection excites the presence of the Fear of Failure. How many times have you run the first 4 or 5 stations and thought to yourself “I’m straight” and you immediately begin to miss targets — the easy ones!— Wh... Read more…
The search for consistency
Intermediate shooters almost always want to be “more consistent”. Four things come to mind that most often have to be dealt with:1. Developing a plan for shooting each target, Before stepping into the Box, and sticking to it; regardless of what others say or do.2. Using their eyes correctly and trusting what their vision is telling them.3. Getting them to understand that they should trust in their ability to Point (not... Read more…
The Pre-Shot Routine:
The subconscious knows rhythm. For those of you who can clap a steady rhythm without music, do you consciously think about when you’re going to clap next? Do you tick off the seconds in your head? No, you just feel the rhythm. Using that rhythm to manage the voice and stimulate feel is what the pre-shot routine is all about. It’s a crucial part of turning your swing over to the subconscious. If you’ll think ... Read more…