Follow through

[Lisa]

Follow through after taking a shot either in practice or in competition has always been one of the hardest things for me to perform properly, especially when I happen to know the shot was good , my head tends to pop up pretty quick.

To combat this, my coach has been making us do and exercise where we are to call each shot and write it down before returning the target.

So if you think the shot is a nine and directly off to the right you would write down 9 at 3:00, then bring your target back and check the accuracy on what you called.

I am not doing too badly with this exercise. I have become quite good at calling what clock position it is in but am usually off by a point. Usually I call it against myself (i.e. give myself a nine when it is actually a ten)

It has taught me to slow way down and not pop my head up so fast. I believe that in direct relation to this exercise, I shot a 90, 91, 91 and 94 strings last night in practice I have never shot that well in practice before never mind in competition. I am just hoping it continues when I shoot the provincials in a couple of weeks

I found this article by David Tubb quite interesting and informatie as well.

Shot Call
Calling a shot is mentally identifying the exact location or orientation of the sight picture the moment the rifle fired.
This fundamental must be followed on every shot fired and that means those fired (and dry-fired) offhand, each and every rapid fire round, all prone shots and even those visualized in the mind.

Full Article

 

[Grenadier]

A good lesson.

When you combine this with improved mechanics (from the shooter's trigger finger, breathing properly, relaxing certain areas of the body, etc), you get a nice blend of the physical and mental training that goes a long way, indeed.

 

[arnisandyz]

Sorry to always relate your posts to practical shooting when I know you are talking about it in the context of bullseye shooting, but its what I'm best familiar with!

Anyways, calling your shot is one of the most important skills to learn in practical shooting. The way we define it is the same as you...knowing where the bullet went from the memory of your last sight picture. To many new shooters rely on "seeing" where the shot went instead of "knowing" where it went. If you can call your shot, you can start on your next shot that much sooner. You already know where it went, so you don't need to verify it with vision (or sound if your shooting steel). It also allows you to know if you broke a bad shot and when to immediately fire a makeup shot.

Learning to call your shot will slow you down initially, but once you devolop this skill and know what to look for it will speed up your ability to pickup a clean sight picture, break the shot and move on to the next target.

There is also mental implication to calling your shot. From a Zen point of view... when you call your shot, you're living in the moment (present), if you start trying to see how you shot in the middle of a string, your living in the past. Your mind is now clouded with not only shooting, but results of what you did. Like Kenny Rogers said "You never count your money, till the dealins done."

 

[Lisa]

Thanks Grenadier and Arnisandyz.

It has been a tough lesson to learn and a hard habit to break. But, since making the conscious effort to just slow down, return my sights onto the target and call where the shot landed, my numbers are improving. However, when I do shoot a "bad" shot, I still tend to pop my head up quite fast. My coach mentioned it to me the other day, so I still need some work.

I love the Kenny Rogers anaology. Lots of truth in that statement.

 

[Lisa]

There is also mental implication to calling your shot. From a Zen point of view... when you call your shot, you're living in the moment (present), if you start trying to see how you shot in the middle of a string, your living in the past. Your mind is now clouded with not only shooting, but results of what you did. Like Kenny Rogers said "You never count your money, till the dealins done."

Andy,

I wanted to post a thank you for this bit of advice. I actually have it printed out and with me when I am on the line. (You are famous with my team members ) But the advice has helped me immensely and kept me in the "moment". I have learned to put my rifle down instead of fighting through to force the "perfect" shot. I has been one shot per match, instead of 60 shots per match. My scores in practice have improved much over the last month or so. Hopefully I can take this with me to the Canadian Nationals later on this month and shoot a couple of personal bests.

:asian: Lisa

 

[arnisandyz]

Andy,

I wanted to post a thank you for this bit of advice. I actually have it printed out and with me when I am on the line. (You are famous with my team members ) But the advice has helped me immensely and kept me in the "moment". I have learned to put my rifle down instead of fighting through to force the "perfect" shot. I has been one shot per match, instead of 60 shots per match. My scores in practice have improved much over the last month or so. Hopefully I can take this with me to the Canadian Nationals later on this month and shoot a couple of personal bests.

:asian: Lisa

Hey, thats great! Yeah, as far as "forcing a perfect shot" thats an element I left out, living in the future...a desire to do good. When we can eleminate the attatchments of how we did, or what we are going to do, all thats left is the shooting, thats when you'll find your shooting the most rewarding and when your senses will be open to learn the most regardless of the final score. This would be equivelent to Kobe dropping 80 points in basketball or Tiger excelling in golf. Its being in the zone. Its actually very simple, but one of the hardest things to do! You can't just say..."ok, I'm in the zone"...you have to allow it to happen.

 

[AzQkr]

I'd also suggest learning to use NPOA. Once you learn this, forcing the shot is unnecessary as well.

The living in the past and living in the moment has a great deal to do with confidence. Confidence comes from being able to let everything come together naturally and not letting the mind wander from it's task or fret over the shot at hand.

NPOA will help take a lot of the stress off making the shot. I suggest the above as you mentioned rifles, NPOA is most important with long guns.

Brownie

 

[Lisa]

I'd also suggest learning to use NPOA. Once you learn this, forcing the shot is unnecessary as well.

The living in the past and living in the moment has a great deal to do with confidence. Confidence comes from being able to let everything come together naturally and not letting the mind wander from it's task or fret over the shot at hand.

NPOA will help take a lot of the stress off making the shot. I suggest the above as you mentioned rifles, NPOA is most important with long guns.

Brownie

Thanks for the suggestion Brownie. Right now it is 7 am and I have not had any coffee so I have to ask....what is NPOA? :idunno:

Lisa

 

[arnisandyz]

I'll let Mr Brownie describe it but NPOA = Natural Point of Aim

 

[Lisa]

I'll let Mr Brownie describe it but NPOA = Natural Point of Aim

Natural Point of Aim, I am familiar with, the acronym I just couldn't get my head around.

However, still would like brownie to chime in with a description.

*edit to add:

I see another thread in this.

 

[AzQkr]

Hi Lisa,

"Every muscle of the body uses a very slight degree of muscle tension to help the body structure remain in a balanced position. This also allows you to make finer adjustments in your unconscious and neuromuscle control. By over-tensing or locking your muscles, you will tire quickly and start to tremble, reducing your hold. As such, muscle tension is slight and very close to relaxed. On the other hand muscle tensions prevents the unconscious mental entity from making the necessary changes for sight alignment and achievement if the perfect Bull’s-eye. Note that muscular tension is not used to force your rifle on to the target. Your position should be constructed in such a manner that will allow the natural point of aim arrive directly on target sight alignment for a perfect bull-eye.

You may your check natural point of aim upon assuming your position and achieving completely relaxed position. Close your eyes; breathe 2 or 3 times and then exhaust your lungs until you reach perfect balance. Perfect lung balance is reached upon your receipt by kinesthetic response acknowledging the lungs are perfectly balanced. i.e. lack of need to inhale or exhale further. When you re-open your eyes, you should have remained exactly on target while viewing the perfect bull-eye through the sights. If you have to use muscular tension to "muscle" the rifle on to the target, you are susceptible to muscle spasms or tremors affecting your shots. This is the value of a natural point of aim always resulting in the achievement of the Perfect Bull-Eye (PBE)."

Thats one of the better excerpts I could find quickly, but there's quite a bit of information on NPOA on the web if people want more information about this subject.

Brownie