Daydream to shoot better

Posted on February 3, 2012 by admin — No Comments ↓

Sports Psychologist Phil Coley is daydreaming our scores up. Follow his tips for some out of
hours training

Remember the days at school when you looked out of the window and daydreamed to the point
that your teacher shouted at you? Daydreaming is a form of mental imagery – although
daydream sounds a little less formal – it is a way of imagining being somewhere else.

As we move into the New Year, January is always the time for new resolutions: for many it will
be about getting fitter or losing weight, and others will set new goals and look to create new
habits.

In the last two issues we have looked at goals and at training schedules, so in this article we will
look at a practical exercise for you to begin developing your mental clay shooting skills.

Mental imagery is about being able to rehearse certain skills and situations, but not practically
taking part. The imagery is imagining competing in a competition or completing a task, it is
about the touch and feel of that situation or experience. A simple example is to ask you to
imagine sucking on a slice of lemon – what is your bodily response to this thought?

If by thinking about sucking on a slice of lemon leads to your mouth salivating, what impact can
it have on you imagining taking a shot or competing in competition? The answer is simple: it
will make you a better shot, if you do the right things. The key with clay shooting in any
discipline is getting it right and attending to every detail.

There are two types of imagery: the first is external imagery – this is where you see yourself as if
you are watching yourself on a video. The second is internal imagery – this is where you are
looking through your own eyes and experiencing the imagery through your body. The best form
of imagery is internal imagery, this is so much more real, although external imagery is still
beneficial.

If we are going to make this work, we need to work on an exercise to show the benefits. Imagery
can be done by simply closing your eyes, or better still combining the exercise with dry
mounting – I always recommend dry mounting with your eyes shut or even with a blindfold on.

The aim of any imagery exercise is to feel the actions and to feel the responses, be those
responses physical or mental, although together the actions can be emotional.
Exercise 1

Do this sat down in a chair; imagine you are going to shoot a crossing target.

The target is a left-to-right crossing target. If you were to shoot this as a following pair, what
would you do?

 Write down how you would prepare as you step onto the stand
 Now imagine putting your cartridges into your gun
 Go through what you would do prior to calling for the target
 Now close your gun and call for the target

What did you feel by doing this exercise?

 How did you feel as you stepped onto the stand?

 What responses did you feel?
 What were your thoughts on shooting the target?
 What happened when you called for the target?

Exercise 2

If you were to shoot a pair in a competition – such as the Clay Shooting Classic or the British
Open, where there are other people watching and a big prize up for grabs – how would this
impact you?

You are now in a shoot-off: you have one pair to win the competition in your class – what are
your responses to this?

 Does your heart rate increase?

 Do you feel sweaty palms?
 Are you feeling anxious?
 Have you hit the targets?
Imagery is one of the main components of a clay shooter’s mental and technical edge.

When you use this kind of mental imagery you can refine and improve your shooting technique
and your mental approach. My friend Carl Bloxham talks about practicing for competition and
how he takes the time to imagine shooting certain targets – particularly those targets that you
don’t see too often. Carl takes the time to practice in his mind and also when dry training, on
shooting targets overhead or those challenging targets shooting below you.

Phil Coley: Anxiety

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Huw Hopkins — No Comments ↓
 You know when
you get to a stand you suddenly get sweaty palms, your heart rate increases and you don’t want
to lose? It’s the fear of failure. Almost all have experienced it. The fear of failure creeps up on
you, and when it does catch up with you, you struggle to shake it off.
You’re on for a straight with only a handful of targets to go and it then gets you; you miss the
next target or even two targets. Knowing you are out, you manage to successfully hit the next
two. Does this sound familiar? It is very common in clay shooting and other sports.

So what really happens? I am lucky to be able to explain this in clay shooting. My research has
revolved around looking at the body and the mind, using heart rate as a psycho-physiological
measurement. I use a software programme I have developed over many years that records the
data – giving profiles and readings on an individual. This is then plotted against a trend of similar
shooters. In simple terms, I have researched hundreds of shooters in all disciplines and can plot
specific patterns in heart rate trends. Those who come on our Masterclass sessions are able to

take advantage of this.

Let’s look at the sudden change in thought patterns. The human brain on average only uses about
5% of its capacity, some use it more, some use it less. But that means there is a lot of capacity
doing nothing. When you are asleep, your brain function and heart rate will slow down and we
experience fluxes in sleep patterns – some of us dream or even have nightmares. These are
triggered by various bodily responses. Children going through growth spurts or puberty
experience a range of bodily reactions and mind responses including dreams.

So, without wanting to get too technical, you can see that the powerful computer you carry with
you from birth is always looking for information and filling a void. Anxiety is normally triggered
by a response, or a fear.

In your clay shooting you need to stay in the groove or avoid negative thoughts or anxiety
creeping in. It will affect all shooters at different levels of their learning. Those just starting out
in the sport will be very conscious of what they are doing, disappointed if they miss, but very
conscious of the process of learning to shoot. Those at the top level in shooting are far less
conscious of what they are doing as it is a learned response. It is those shooters striving for the
next level that are most likely to be caught out by anxiety. That is

not to say a shooter on the brink of winning a World Championship won’t experience anxiety,
but the strongest mentally will come through it.

Let’s look now at what you can do with a number of situations as examples:
Fear of Failure – this is the most common, fear of missing the next target, or on for the straight.
The thought process is along the lines of ‘not missing’ or ‘don’t miss’. This adds pressure and
leads to missed targets.

Solution: Self-talk through the round, positive mental imagery and relaxation techniques. The
key is to use a self-talk programme through a round, keeping your mind occupied on the correct
words.

Negative Thoughts – the thoughts that occupy your mind at the wrong moment, usually
occurring when you concentrate too hard. The concentration is normally based on thoughts such
as ‘don’t do this’ or ‘don’t do that’.

Solution: The negative thoughts can be stopped by self-talk or avoided by the right levels of
focus, following a preparation routine, with relaxation and then a readiness program using self-
talk.

Missed Target – when you miss a target for no reason at all – this can be from a simple
mounting mistake, non focus or too much focus.

Solution: Refocusing on your routine and being able to separate a negative reinforcement from a
positive response. In simple terms you need to use a relaxing word or a hook to bring you back to
shooting the next target.

Get yourself centered

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Lesley Goddard — No Comments ↓
Q. I have heard about centering and how it helps with concentration. Can you explain this?

Trevor Michaels, Lancashire

A. Centering is a way of focusing the mind and body to be ready to work at the appropriate
moment. It clears the mind of all thoughts, therefore allowing the shot movement to be automatic
(a sub conscious reaction).

One example of this is on the tennis court. One of the top lady players always walks away from
the service line and takes a breath before she turns back and stands ready to serve or to receive
the ball from her opponent. She has trained herself that this action will put her mind and body in
ready mode to see and hit the ball. This is called centering, and there are many different ways of
doing it.

The one I have used very successfully over the years is the breathing technique. I think
about my breath whilst inhaling and whilst exhaling. I complete this action as the person
before me is shooting, and that tells my mind and body that it is now my turn to shoot, and
to be ready and focused. This is called a triggered response. I also combine the breathing
with a shoulder shrug, to allow me to feel how tight my shoulder muscles are and to then
relax them so the muscles are ready to move onto the target.

Centering using breathing needs to be practised like any other routine. The more you
practice the breathing, the more instantaneous your focus will become – getting to the point
where you do not actually have to breathe, only think to breathe, and in less than a
nanosecond your mind is ready for the few seconds that it takes to have your shot.

Alt articol

Centering is a very common technique used by a wide number of sportspeople. It is the ability to
combine breathing with mental focus, making it very useful to relax on a stand and refocus. The
technique, in simple terms, is breathing to a point an inch behind your belly button. Think of this
spot now and concentrate breathing to it. As you have read this you will have been experiencing
shallow breathing but, focussing on this point behind your belly button, you will now be aware
of your breathing and making it deeper. You can also combine this with focusing on a spot in
front of you or an empty cartridge.

When should you use centering?

It is commonly used in an anxiety state – you would use it if you are experiencing nerves or if
self doubt creeps in. You may want to use it prior to a shot; as you are placing the cartridges in
your gun for example. Breathe out as you close your gun and let your breathing continue – then
call PULL. You will have calmed down and refocused as you close the gun.

If you are shooting Sporting – you can use this between shots – especially if you miss a second
pair target or third pair target. It may be the difference between a poor round and a round saved –
because you have steadied yourself. The key is to be able to switch off between shots or stands,
so that when you approach your next stand or target you are able to focus, rather than being in a
constant state of alert. The latter leads to mental tiredness and missing targets in the halfway to
three quarters of the competition.

That is why I developed the traffic light system, giving you Red as a switch off time, Amber as
the pre-shot mental preparation and Green as the time to call for the target. Start to identify if
you switch off between targets, do you focus on something when it doesn’t go to plan?