I was shooting small-gauge FITASC at the National Championship this year, and there was a person on the squad I did not know. So, I introduced myself and shared some small talk waiting for the start time to be announced by the referee.
This shooter seemed normal and relaxed and was obviously experienced in shooting tournaments. I remarked that we always looked forward to coming to San Antonio and shooting the Nationals, as this was the only shoot we attended each year. I added that each time we come over here and shoot our 800 targets for the year we realize over and over why shooters are literally in love with this game called sporting clays!
He asked if we practiced before we came over here. “A couple of times,” I answered. “But not near enough to be competitive at an event like this.” We come to have fun and look at it much like a vacation.
And it was a big event for Vicki! The hole in her macula had finally closed. While it was not completely functional, she could at least see with her left eye without the target getting hidden by the black hole that had haunted her for the past two years. While the hole had closed, she had intermittent issues seeing the barrel with her left eye because she had not been shooting with a functioning left eye for over two years.
Even though this had affected her shooting in a negative way, she still pushed forward through the confusion and shot every target with mixed results as a shooter. But this would be a great opportunity to help others who came to her with similar visual anomalies.
Well, the referee assembled us as a squad, called out the order and we began anxiously awaited seeing the targets. The squad seemed relaxed and ready to go. We got through the first peg and on to the second peg.
And then it happened. One of the shooters missed a pair and you would have thought the gold inlays had popped out of Krieghoff he was using. The words and shells thrown hard into the box by the hoop, it was a good thing it was the last pair for him on that peg. Hopefully the shooter would cool down by the next peg. This shooter took position in the hoop, steadied themselves, closed the gun, called “pull” on the first single and missed it twice. More words and more empties thrown. It happened again on the next pair. Nothing good happened on the pairs, and thankfully the round was soon over.
All of us have seen this happen. But when we realized what losing your temper and getting mad (for any reason) does to your physiology, we were shocked. You sustain the negativity for 20-30 minutes and you are done for the day. SERIOUSLY!
Something as simple as your posture will trigger hormonal releases into your system. If you are going to the emotional dark side, your brain is triggered to release cortisol. And if you are going to the positive side, your brain is triggered to release DHEA.
Cortisol increases heart rate, causes your breathing to be short and labored and overall makes your posture slump forward and makes your eyes dart around and hard to control. Conversely, when DHEA is released into your system it enables you to keep your heart rate normal and low, allows for deep and easy breathing and an upright posture.
The choice is yours. But be aware that the lingering negative effects of cortisol after about 20-30 minutes are impossible to overcome until the next day.
Any distraction that creates negativity about anything is detrimental to high level performance… not to mention you look like a fool.
OSP Knowledge Vault member John Eagle summed it up on our Coaching Hour podcast when we were talking about being in the zone. “When you are in the zone NOTHING MATTERS,” he said. “And when you are not in the zone, EVERYTHING MATTERS!”
To perform well you must learn to turn everything that happens when performing into something positive.
