E. WHY CAN’T YOU BE A WINNER? (THE DANGER OF NEGATIVE THINKING.)
1. Who won the last match in which you participated? If you did not win, what was the reason?
Why is it so difficult to shoot championship scores? It is not that most of us have not been taught the fundamentals of shooting, the fault usually lies in that we open our minds up to thousands of negative reasons why we cannot shoot good scores.
The following is a discussion of each of the reasons that bring about a poor performance, and what can be done about them:
a. When the weather is bad, it is simple to say ”It is raining, snowing, the wind is blowing. All my scores are going to be bad.“. This may be a true assumption. You can follow this vein of thought throughout the match and you probably will continue to shoot just average scores as compared to your competitors.
Why not think and convince your self that good winning scores have and will be fired under the same bad conditions. Positive application of the fundamentals has produced good results in spite of the numerous difficulties. If your thoughts are directed strongly enough towards planning and executing a controlled performance, you will not have time to worry about the weather.
b. Don’t ”Sunday — morning — quarter back“ the operation of the range. Convince yourself that, ”As long as there is a target to shoot at and I have the proper amount of time to shoot, I will shoot good scores.“.
c. Have you asked yourself, ”why must I shoot exceptional scores?“. The answer to this question will vary with each shooter. You must be motivated to constantly improve your performance. One of the most common excuses for not trying your best is because there is no challenging competition. A tendency to accept a passable score in a match becomes a habit. You tolerate an average performance without becoming alarmed. Regardless of the competitive ability present, you must employ the fundamentals to the utmost of your ability. You must retain not only the desire to win, but strive to set new records at all times. Failure to accept the challenge will cause a decline into the habit of treating your shooting as a daily task instead of a challenging adventure.
d. The main components necessary to shoot championship scores are an accurate gun, good ammunition, an individual with the ability (physical and mental) and the desire to be a champion. Therefore every time you let the thought of inferior equipment enter your mind, STOP! Think: ”This gun and ammunition will shoot possibles if I control it.“
e. The potential winner is always thinking about applying his plan of action and not about how he is going to beat you. He knows that most of the other competitors are beating themselves with their own uncontrolled thoughts. You can be one step ahead of all your competitors by directing your mental effort toward your plan of controlling each shot.
f. There is a first time for winning in shooting as in everything else. A first time for a national champion to be beaten, and a first time for you to become a national champion. If you want to win all the marbles, you can. The best way is to believe you are as qualified to win as anyone else. Make up your mind that you are going to shoot your next tournament as one big match. Let the individual stages and gun aggregates take care of themselves. A good performance on each individual shot is now your aim.
g. Carelessness is a state of mind that overwhelms an individual who is aimless and hap hazard in his approach to a challenging task. Organization of all the factors having a bearing on the task will in most instances assure that the action will be successfully executed.
h. Overconfidence dulls your normal responses. You ignore or are unconscious of the development of unfavorable conditions. False assurance can upset the sensitive balance on which your performance depends. Do not relax your determination to work hard even if competition is not keen. Strive to reach a happy medium between overconfidence and pessimism.
i. Pessimism detracts from your ability to concentrate. Anxiety over possible failure undermines the ability to control the shot. Impatience and uncontrolled actions are the results. A negative approach hampers the repetition of a uniform, satisfactory performance.
j. Avoid distracting conditions which you know will upset you. Avoid emotional upset such as anger, worry, giving up under adverse conditions or after unsatisfactory shots, ignore boasts, rumors, misinformation, and snide remarks. Avoid adding up individual shots as the buildup to the final scores.
F. MATCH PRESSURE
If you think that you and you alone have the problem of match pressure, look around — we all have it. The man who has never experienced match pressure has never been in a position to win a match. What is the difference? What is the dividing line between champion and plinker? Both may shoot comparable scores in practice, yet one is invariably at the top of the list and the other at the bottom. The dividing line is clear and obvious; the ability or lack of ability to control their thinking. Mental discipline. Some have learned to control their emotions and anxieties and go right ahead and perform within their capabilities. Others, even with years of experience, pressure themselves out of the competition every time they step up to the firing line.
1. First, in the treatment of match pressure, we must find what causes it. Without knowing the reasons, we can never combat it. Match pressure is simply a condition created by suspense, and the uncertainty and anxiety which generally accompanies suspense. For example, it is easy for the relatively inexperienced competitor to feel suspense building up as he finds himself amassing a superior score; or for even the experienced competitor to feel, as he nears the finish of a match, knowing he can win. This is when worry and fear creeps in and, unless controlled, the resultant tension will undermine efforts for maximum performance.
2. The main thing that will help a shooter under these conditions is experience. Long hours of practice in working on his shortcomings and tournament participation against the best competition will serve to gradually calm our emotions and anxieties when under stress. The champions, in spite of their nervousness in match competition, mobilize all their energies and resources and on occasion, do even better in a match than in practice.
The emotional and physical upsets of competitive stress are experienced differently by different persons. The condition varies for every shooter both in its character and in its intensity. However, regardless of experience or ability to exercise self-discipline, shooters are to some degree nervous in competition. The better you are trained, the more confidence you will have. If you have trained under conditions approximating match conditions and have participated in many tournaments in the past, you will be less nervous. At the beginning of a shooting season, even with experience, you may be somewhat nervous. It is important that you must not remain passive to these disturbances. Do not let yourself become a victim of your emotions. Resist stubbornly and force yourself to shoot to win. If you feel that nervousness in competition is unknown to you, you may be indifferent to the best interests of the group. You may lack an elementary understanding of pride in doing a job well. You are showing indifference to one of the strongest, natural excitements which present a challenge to the human animal. When anxious, you add to your distress when you feel that everyone is watching you. Yet with all this, our counterpart, the Champion, appears to be calm and enjoying himself. Let’s face it, he is!