*New Video* Retrain The Brain!

[Emietenkorte]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A new year deserves a new video from The Rifle Silhouette Channel. Hopefully this will help you in your training efforts for the amazing matches coming up in 2023!

https://youtu.be/YhG4D8xofX8

[c4p6t7r188]

Thanks for a great video! This will work extremely well with paper targets!

[hermit5]

Made copies of chicken on ram targets yesterday.Will try this concept tomorrow.
Thank you,Chris,Cathy and Eric.

[375Short]

Thank you all for producing these training videos. Its a great contribution to the silhouette community. I have started putting the technique to work during dry fire practice and finding it very helpful.

Training question for Eric, Chris or Cathy. During dry fire practice I have no trouble preloading my trigger on approach to my spot. During live fire practice I find myself a little more hesitant to pre load the trigger. The area that needs addressed most urgently - during a match I am acutely aware of not preloading the trigger, thus during a shot spend much time thinking about not manipulating the trigger the same as during practice and thus not performing the same on shot execution during a match as during practice. Way to much thinking going on. Help. Giving it much thought and being honest with myself I believe during a match I’m afraid the rifle will fire prior to the desired time. During practice I don’t have that concern, I have a clear mind.

[Grantmac]

Thank you all for producing these training videos. Its a great contribution to the silhouette community. I have started putting the technique to work during dry fire practice and finding it very helpful.

Training question for Eric, Chris or Cathy. During dry fire practice I have no trouble preloading my trigger on approach to my spot. During live fire practice I find myself a little more hesitant to pre load the trigger. The area that needs addressed most urgently - during a match I am acutely aware of not preloading the trigger, thus during a shot spend much time thinking about not manipulating the trigger the same as during practice and thus not performing the same on shot execution during a match as during practice. Way to much thinking going on. Help. Giving it much thought and being honest with myself I believe during a match I’m afraid the rifle will fire prior to the desired time. During practice I don’t have that concern, I have a clear mind.

What trigger are you running?

[375Short]

Single stage. I’m simple minded. One stage simple, two stage - twice as complicated.

I actually have spent a lot of trigger time on both. 3P air rifle I’m fine with and prefer 2 stage. All other applications I much prefer 1 stage.

I think in 3P it’s a very slow and meticulous shot execution. With a trigger of ounces and a LONG time to but 10 shots together.

[Emietenkorte]

Thank you all for producing these training videos. Its a great contribution to the silhouette community. I have started putting the technique to work during dry fire practice and finding it very helpful.

Training question for Eric, Chris or Cathy. During dry fire practice I have no trouble preloading my trigger on approach to my spot. During live fire practice I find myself a little more hesitant to pre load the trigger. The area that needs addressed most urgently - during a match I am acutely aware of not preloading the trigger, thus during a shot spend much time thinking about not manipulating the trigger the same as during practice and thus not performing the same on shot execution during a match as during practice. Way to much thinking going on. Help. Giving it much thought and being honest with myself I believe during a match I’m afraid the rifle will fire prior to the desired time. During practice I don’t have that concern, I have a clear mind.

I've heard this described a few times before and the best way I feel I can break it down is this. With what you described, and I hope this isn't an oversimplification but when you practice (dry fire and to a lesser extent live fire practice) your focus seems to be on hitting the target which is good! You're not thinking about what your trigger finger is doing. Your focus is on the spot you want to hit and nothing else. Big thing is you trust yourself to do it. When you get on the line at a match the doubt starts to creep in and your focus seems to shift to "what happens if I don't hit the target" and you hesitate on your trigger and then you start thinking about your trigger rather than hitting your target. This sounds like anxiety or self doubt, so the questions is what do we do about it?

I feel I am a decently competent shooter and I have confidence in my ability to shoot, physically that is, but sometimes those doubts creep in when I'm on the line as well... especially during shoot-offs! Keeping a moderate level of physical fitness is important to shooting well but more so, it is the shooter's ability to mentally focus. I have found that you can't be worrying about what your trigger finger is doing or how much pressure is on the trigger or what you're going to have for lunch or anything else when you're on the line. What is your goal when shooting silhouette? Is it figuring out how much pressure is needed on the trigger to set it off or is it hitting the target? Your focus has to stay on the goal.

Surrendering yourself to your subconscious mind is not easy! Something in your above statement that leads me to believe you are struggling with letting your subconscious take over is... "I believe during a match I’m afraid the rifle will fire prior to the desired time" when I hear a shooter say this, it tells me that they are unwilling to relinquish control to their subconscious. They NEED to stay in control and MAKE the gun go off when they want it to instead of letting the gun go off automatically when they are on their spot (a subconscious response).

If in training you're staying focused on the goal but not in competition, then perhaps you need something that connects you to your training when you're at a match. I have a mantra that I use to keep myself grounded and something that I use to bridge my training sessions and competition. It goes like this, *in the voice of Chris Winstead* FOCUS - GOOD SHOT ONLY - FOLLOW-THROUGH. This is something that I say in my training and in my competition. During a match it helps trigger the part of my brain to remember (subconsciously) the things that I did in my training sessions and gets me to focus on my goal which is of course knocking those critters down!

Sorry if this is where I start to ramble.... but...

Let me try to explain it in a different way. I'm a musician, I play trumpet and I'm also a band teacher. In middle school I was a decent trumpet player but wanted to refine my ability and take it to the next level. I started listening to trumpet teachers talk about lip tension and air speed and pressure and how to hold the trumpet and blah, blah, blah. I found my trumpet performance actually declining and not improving because I was thinking about all the things I was already doing well physically. It took my focus off what I was actually trying to do which was create a better sound. It wasn't until I found a teacher that simply asked me to focus on the sound instead of all the other things that I I started to see an improvement. All I did was focus on the sound I wanted to make and my body did everything physically that it needed to do, I didn't have to think about it. After practicing this way I started to perform this way. I apply this same concept to my shooting. The sound = the target. A good sound was my goal and hitting my target is my goal. My body knows what to do because that's how I practiced it. I also had a mantra before performing on my trumpet that I used to bridge my practice sessions to my performance and my experience as a musician has helped immensely in my shooting endeavors.

To sum up, try to find something that will help you connect your positive practice experience to when you get on the line at a match. Be it a mantra, or just simply focusing on your goal (hitting the spot on the target) so hard that you can't focus on anything else. Do this enough and it becomes the norm.

I hope somewhere in my ramblings there is something that can help you. Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with!
Goodluck to you!
~ Erich Mietenkorte

[lone ringer]

Thank you all for producing these training videos. Its a great contribution to the silhouette community. I have started putting the technique to work during dry fire practice and finding it very helpful.

Training question for Eric, Chris or Cathy. During dry fire practice I have no trouble preloading my trigger on approach to my spot. During live fire practice I find myself a little more hesitant to pre load the trigger. The area that needs addressed most urgently - during a match I am acutely aware of not preloading the trigger, thus during a shot spend much time thinking about not manipulating the trigger the same as during practice and thus not performing the same on shot execution during a match as during practice. Way to much thinking going on. Help. Giving it much thought and being honest with myself I believe during a match I’m afraid the rifle will fire prior to the desired time. During practice I don’t have that concern, I have a clear mind.

If you were to live fire practice or during shooting events with the same mentality you have during dry fire practice and vice versa you would not be having problems or concerns. Give yourself commands about what you want to accomplish before you pick up your rifle (using your conscious mind) after that trust your subconscious mind to do what ever is necessary to accomplish that goal. When you shoot thinking (using conscious mind) you will be late on pulling the trigger, you will have doubts, etc. You can also train your subconscious mind by using visualization techniques where you never miss the target and always hit it in the center. Being a smart thinking person may help you in other sports/hobbies but it will not help you performing at you best if you are thinking about it while shooting, specially rifle silhouette with the short amount of time given to fire 5 well placed shots.
If you have not done it already I recommend you look into Lanny Bassham's books, videos, etc. for mental management.
Tony Tello
I have been at it for over 40 years with a fair amount of success and have couched others to more than 20 NRA National Championships.

[375Short]

I appreciate the guidance. Sometimes you need to reapply or rediscover or retrain on things you already knew. I think the reference to CONTROL is accurate. In a match situation I switch to trying to control or physically force things to happen, the trigger breaking, undoing the gains of practice that had allowed trigger control to be a mostly a subconscious process.

I dry fire a good deal and I believe it is an extremely important training tool but it is also convenient to the point I neglect making the effort to train live fire. I am taking steps this season to incorporate more live fire training. In previous seasons my live fire comes only at matches, which I’m excited to be at, which produces some adrenaline because I enjoy the competition and am excited to be there. Add that to the anxiety (for lack of better description) of actually firing live ammo that goes bang and control freak starts to step into my mind to help me out. Although as we know the control freak doesn’t help.

Goal - live fire to develop the same level of mental comfort I have dry firing so trigger control remains subconscious. Work on a solid mantra to keep me in the same mindset regardless of the surroundings or circumstances while firing.

[375Short]

The topic of this post is a good opportunity to make a point with new shooters and old alike. The community of silhouette shooters while freely offer guidance if you only ask. I learn and listen consistently and slowly it creates improvement. In this sport no one has become bored by shooting perfect scores so the opportunity for improvement is constant and all inclusive.
I have picked up helpful tips from seasoned shooters , new shooters and sometimes folks totally unrelated to what we do but still applies.

When I first started and to some degree still ongoing, having things around you organized to your satisfaction can be as important as your rifle and training. If you don’t like something change it, being annoyed by shooting glasses, ear plugs, your score cards blowing away, the type spotter board you use, your underwear pinching your love handle, whatever it is that takes focus away from hitting that little steel animal, fix it. Be observant of other folks solutions maybe one of them is your solution.
An effort I make (not as consistently as I should) is to change the historical norm of the after relay conversation. They typically sound like a chorus of people explaining missed shots and references to the weather and other forces of the universe as to why the bullet didn’t land on the target. I try to be positive and not complain, compliment others and yourself on the hits and you can’t change the weather but you can concentrate through it and use it to your advantage. The effort has worked to some noticeable degree. I seem to notice the theme of positivity growing throughout the sport. I caught it from someone else so it must be contagious.

I guess that was a long way to say thank you to all the people in this sport that help others improve. Everyone has opportunity to be one of those people.

[SqHunter]

Thanks for the video.

Could someone make a turkey target with the black chicken? I don't have regular access to a ram length range, but can dry fire at turkey distance. I tried making a target in paint and it looks like a child scribbled it. Thanks!

[Emietenkorte]

You could just print the supplied ram target out scaled down to 77 meters.

[H.Plummer]

Erich,
In an above post you say...
Focus, good shot only, follow-thru.
Could you explain to a newbie (never shot a match!) what you mean by follow-thru?

Thanks

[Emietenkorte]

Hello! Follow-through in shooting is similar to any other sport. As the definition states; continue an action or task to its conclusion. In the case of baseball or soccer it normally means to continue one's movement after the ball has been struck or thrown.

In the realm of shooting I would define it as; to continue the action of aiming even after the trigger has actuated the firing mechanism. What that looks like for me is holding my position after the trigger breaks for at least a two-count (one one thousand, two one thousand) while holding the trigger back. By doing this my rifle stays on target until the bullet is released by the barrel, which yes takes much less than a two count but holding longer helps solidify the action in my brain. Since the brain can process very quickly if the action isn't exaggerated I find myself not following through and "completing" the shot before the bullet is released from the barrel.

1. Find your aiming point and actuate the trigger when your sights are aligned with that spot.
2. As the round is fired, hold the trigger back, don't let it bounce (this is part of the the follow-through process) If you move your finger or allow the trigger to bounce there is a minute movement that happens and this can throw your shot off.
3. While holding your position and the trigger back, count in your mind one one thousand, two one thousand then release. This is the end of your shot.

Some shooters think the shot is over when it goes bang, but in reality the shot process is only half over. Just like a baseball player's hit isn't over when the ball makes contact with the bat.

[H.Plummer]

Thank you sir!