By Ray Brummell

Competition shooters of all grades, and at all levels from club to international, identify the mental component of our sport as a key factor in achieving a successful competition performance.

This is hardly surprising, as the influence the mind has over the body has long been recognised, and various mental skills and strategies have evolved over the centuries to enhance man’s performance in many aspects of life. Some are subtly inculcated through religious or cultural practices, while others are applied by groups or individuals as a deliberate strategy, but all rely on constantly repeated application and a whole-of-life approach, to maximise results.

However, the widespread use of mental techniques in sport is relatively new and accordingly, the development of technical skill and physical capacity still remains the major priority in most sports, with less attention to mental skills. In fact, the development of mental skills is commonly seen as an add-on for those at an advanced level, when other techniques and capabilities have already been developed. Also, the value of mental techniques for the enhancement of other skills in a training situation is frequently overlooked, in favour of the competition application.

Techniques such as mental rehearsal, positive affirmation, autogenic arousal control, self-hypnosis, concentration enhancement, psycho-physiological imaging, etc. may all prove very effective, but their value is limited when only used as a “Band-Aid” in competition. Ideally, mental training should be integrated with the development of all other performance factors. An integrated approach in training will not only lead to faster and more effective development of the mental techniques being targeted, but will accelerate the learning process in other areas, with a higher performance level in competition as the ultimate result.

THE MENTAL COMPONENT OF SPORT CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM THE PHYSICAL, TECHNICAL AND ORGANISATIONAL ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE. SUCCESS IS THE RESULT OF A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ALL ASPECTS OF PREPARATION.

Basic shooting techniques are relatively simple, although shooters sometimes become sidetracked by unnecessary complexity. Likewise, the mental procedures required to promote a good performance are equally simple, so much so that some shooters find it difficult to believe that's all there is to it! Instead, they go on searching for a more involved answer, rather than practice the straightforward principles and techniques of mental management.

A key word here is management. Good management is dependent on the ongoing collection and analysis of information, leading to effective decision making and the development of a structured approach to the setting and achievement of meaningful performance targets and ultimately, our goals. This involves the same degree of record keeping, observation, evaluation, budget setting and planning required to conduct a successful business, and that’s exactly what we are engaged in, the business of success!

These ordinary, everyday procedures form the foundation our mental techniques are built on. And like any structure, if the foundation isn't sound, the stability of our framework of mental skills will be affected, particularly when under stress. The consistent application of good technique requires concentration and confidence, and both are dependent on knowing where we are going and (most importantly) how we will get there. When we walk to the line to shoot, we must be relaxed, comfortable with our current skill levels and secure in the knowledge that we are following a plan that attends to all aspects of our development.

The first step in drawing up a development plan is to establish our goals. It has been said, “a goal is a dream with a deadline”, but a dream really becomes a goal when we take the necessary steps to achieve it and accordingly, goals are necessary to determine the direction our development will take.

Long-term goals determine the overall direction of our development, and commonly extend over a timeline of two or more years. Medium-term goals generally mature in twelve to eighteen months and will determine our competition program for this period. Short-term goals are usually those which will contribute to the achievement of medium-term goals, and the most immediate of these will determine our training schedule for about the next three months.

As an example of the goal setting process, let’s say that after careful consideration of what we want from our sport, we decide that our long-term goal is to make the State Team in Rapid Fire Pistol within two years. I have stressed “careful consideration” because in general terms, this means the majority of the time and financial resources we have available for our sport will now be directed towards achieving this goal, so it must really be important to us. Remember, we may have to give up Centre-Fire and Service Pistol, resign from the club committee and sell the ski boat which has been gathering dust since we took up pistol shooting. If we aren’t prepared to do these things, we should return the goal to the dream basket, and choose another!

Given this long-term goal, a logical medium-term goal would be to qualify for the State Team Selection Squad within the next twelve months. To do this, it may be necessary to achieve a specified score at a number of sanctioned matches, and these must therefore be included in our competition program. Naturally, this program must also take into account work commitments, family obligations and so on.

These sanctioned matches then provide the basis for a number of short-term goals. The first of these goals may be to achieve an average performance level of 550 by the time we participate in the first event on our competition program. Not that it will be necessary to shoot this score on the day, our goal is merely to have reached this standard by then. And so on for each competition on the program.

The next step is to develop a training schedule that will bring us to the specified performance level for each of our short-term goals in the time available. This schedule will not only reflect the time we can devote to on- and off-range training activities, but must also take into account our training history, specific skill levels and current performance standard, to allow a meaningful prediction of future progress. If these predictions don’t match our performance targets, and we can’t allocate enough additional training time in each week to achieve the desired standard, it will be necessary to either reset our goals, or adjust the time frame for achievement of these goals.

It is very important that the training schedule is realistic and likely to achieve the nominated performance targets. For example, there is no point in scheduling a session every Monday from 5-6pm, if there is only a 25% chance of this time-slot being available. In this situation, it would be far better to leave the Monday session off the schedule, in favour of another time that can be guaranteed. Similarly, it is better to underestimate the training outcomes of the program, rather than fail to achieve an overly optimistic expectation and suffer a loss of motivation as a result.

Having determined how many training sessions we can fit into each week, on what days, the times for each day and whether each session will be on- or off-range, the next step is to plan what we will actually do in each session. Session development is a large subject area, but for further information, the segments “Developing a Basic Training Program”, and “On-Range and Off-Range Skill Development Drills” contain some general guidelines that may be useful.

It isn’t enough to simply lay out a training schedule, it’s also essential to record what actually took place. Was the schedule followed in full or in part, which sessions were missed, were there any additional sessions (eg. on one or two of those uncertain Mondays), and so on. This will allow us to measure performance gains against the training input, and will therefore increase the accuracy of our future performance predictions.

Obviously, we must record all this information somewhere, which highlights the need for one or more training books. These can take any form, (including electronic storage), but the combination of a master file of some kind and a small loose-leaf binder for use as a day- book is a good choice. The main file will contain everything, from our goals and overall plan, through to the objectives for each of the individual training sessions for the coming month/s, and may even include the particular skill drills to be applied during these sessions.

The day-book, or training diary, is used as a handy reference and general notebook for use on- and off-range in both training and competition. The day-book contains the information we should always have immediately available, such as instructions for the adjustment of sights and trigger weight, equipment and preparation checklists, our current Match Plan, a list of this week’s training sessions, etc. The day-book is also used to record training session or match evaluations, technical instructions, reminder notes, scores, group diagrams, positive affirmations, and so on.

In terms of development value, the day-book is the most important single item of all our equipment. As one of Australia’s best shooters said a few years ago, “I can train every day, but without my book, I might as well not bother. I’d rather lose my pistol on the way to the World Championships than that book. At least I could borrow a pistol!”

Let’s now move on to discuss some basic mental skills and strategies, and the way in which these may be incorporated into our preparation and training to enhance competition performance. To begin with, it is important to establish an appropriate “mind-set”.

When most shooters take up pistol shooting, it is because the activity itself appeals, not because their original intention is to become really good at it. Initially, they are intent on developing the skills necessary to be competent at the game, and performance in terms of score is not particularly important. As time goes by, they want to achieve some degree of improvement and naturally enough, tend to measure their technical improvement by the outcome (ie. score). At this point, they are no longer merely participating, they have become competitors (even if only competing against themselves) and having become a competitor, they now need to develop certain attitudes to be successful.

A positive mental attitude is widely recognised as an essential element for success in all aspects of daily life, and most competition shooters are already aware of the need to constantly recall, “feel” and “feed on” good shots and good experiences. Conversely, successful individuals avoid negative situations and don’t dwell on less satisfying experiences. Reliving a good result not only promotes repetition of that performance but will also enhance our self-image, and a healthy self-image is vital if we are to achieve our training scores in a competition situation, and to exceed current performance levels in future.

However, we can take the positive approach a step further and make it really work for us, by using a technique known as positive affirmation. Simply, this is a statement of ability or achievement, which “programs” our subconscious to achieve a desired outcome, and enhances our self-image. Widely used by successful people from all walks of life, positive affirmations can be written, used in the form of self-talk, or as public statements. Muhammad Ali was responsible for one of the simplest, all-encompassing and best known public affirmations of all time when he announced to the world, “Ah is de greatest!”

There are various ways in which the positive affirmation technique may be used, one of the most common being the use of one or more small cards, each carrying a positive statement that is written in the first person, present tense, and is quite specific to our objective/s, eg. “I am capable of Master grade scores in Air Pistol” or, “I am an 860’s shooter in Service Pistol”, or “I am a non-smoker”. The cards are carried in a pocket or purse, and are read a number of times every day.

Alternatively, affirmation/s may be written on the bathroom mirror, the refrigerator, the toilet door, the car dashboard, etc. but, regardless of the method used, the “first-person-present-tense” format must be followed. Future-tense affirmations such as, “I want to be….” Or, “I will become ….” don’t program the subconscious effectively, and will do little to enhance our self-image.

Although generally used to achieve relatively short-term objectives, positive affirmation is just as effective in the pursuit of long-term goals. Twenty five years ago, when this technique was almost unheard of, a then unknown shooter told me, “I am the best pistol shooter this country has ever seen, they just don’t know it yet!”

This was a public affirmation of what was, in effect, his personal mission statement. He continued making similar public affirmations over time, as he progressively achieved more of his sporting goals, and eventually attained the status he had identified years previously. Of course, this was only one component of his success (and was accompanied by a lot of hard work), but it is a real-life example of the value of positive affirmation.

Of all mental techniques, the one most commonly applied in sport is mental rehearsal, often referred to as visualisation or mental imagery. These latter terms can be a little misleading, as both imply “seeing in pictures”, when in fact, many individuals verbalise their actions, or place more emphasis on how it “felt”. While visualisation is the primary form of rehearsal for the majority of individuals, this has no advantage over other methods. Actually, the more senses involved in the rehearsal, the more effective will be the result, so regardless of which form our primary rehearsal takes, we should attempt to “hear, feel, see and describe” the relevant experience.

But, what’s the point of mental rehearsal? Well, research has shown that the sub-conscious cannot distinguish between a real experience and something vividly imagined! In other words, if we imagine the production of a perfect shot, the brain treats this as high quality practice that has actually taken place. Repeating this experience fifty times will have almost the same training value as firing fifty good shots. This doesn’t mean we no longer need other forms of training, as research has also shown that the greatest performance gains are the result of a combination of both mental and physical/technical training.

However, a major advantage of mental rehearsal is that not only does it provide an opportunity to train anywhere at any time, but also allows the application of perfect process, which we can’t always achieve when we have a pistol in our hand/s! This aspect of mental rehearsal can therefore be used to enhance the value of both on- and off-range training, by mentally perfecting the techniques we are currently working on. Some years ago, I surveyed a number of shooters of various grades at several major events, and found that while all competitors used some form of mental rehearsal before and/or during competition, the top shooters also used mental rehearsal during training.

So far, I have only addressed the use of mental rehearsal in relation to the shot production process, but it has broader applications. We can also rehearse an entire match, including our response to any contingencies that may arise, or even a whole program of events in a major competition such as a State Championship. As is the case with rehearsal of a single shot or series, the process should be as realistic as we can possibly make it. This will involve visualising the range, the bay we are shooting in, the layout of our equipment, the presence of other competitors, the sounds of range commands, etc. etc. To increase the quality of this “virtual reality” in the lead-up to a major event, some competitors even record an actual match, and replay the tape during their mental rehearsal.

This process of rehearsal does not include progressive or final scores and eventual match outcomes, it is simply an “action pre-play” of our match plan, ie. what we will do, what it will look and feel like and so on. The aim is to become familiar with the competition environment, and reinforce our confidence by previewing the experience and establishing an operational strategy. If we are comfortable with the environment and have a plan to follow, we will then be able to concentrate on our shooting technique, without distractions or uncertainty. (For more information, see segment on “Match Plan”).

Mental rehearsal is an incredibly powerful tool, which is simple and available to everyone, but like any kind of tool, it can’t work for us until we take it off the shelf and actually put it into service. And unlike most other tools, the more we use it, the sharper it gets! Accordingly, if we incorporate both shot production rehearsal and match rehearsal into our preparation, these techniques will be more effective in competition.

Another valuable tool that responds to regular use is relaxation. Unfortunately, because most of us aren’t stressed in training, we tend to overlook the need to practice relaxation techniques in advance of competition. Like mental rehearsal, relaxation and breathing exercises can be used almost any time and anywhere, so once again it is simply a matter of including these in our training. Copies of two popular relaxation techniques are included in the “On-Range and Off-Range Skill Development Drills” segment.

At the beginning of this segment, the importance of developing certain attitudes was mentioned. Although not always recognised as a mental strategy, one of the most basic attitudinal requirements is a total commitment to technique above all else. As simplistic as it may seem, the key to success is to concentrate on the process of shooting, rather than attempting to produce a result. After all, it is technique that determines the ultimate outcome of each shot, series or match, and everything else we may bring to the game, including the mental component, has value only if it promotes the application of good technique.

The value of this process-oriented approach has been addressed in the Match Pressure segment, so I won’t labour the point on this occasion. Also, while there are many other mental techniques, only the most common of these are included here, as even a brief description of them all is beyond the scope of this segment, and additional information can be obtained at any library.

However, to sum up, if all the books ever written on how to achieve success through the use of sport psychology, mental management, psycho-cybernetics, the power of positive thinking, etc. etc. were condensed into three words, those words would be organisation, perseverence and confidence.

Successful people come in varied shapes, colours and personality types, but they all share some common attributes. Regardless of how they go about it (and no matter how outwardly idiosyncratic or flamboyant their behaviour may seem), they are basically well organised, strongly goal oriented and very positive in their approach to everything they do.

The good news is that, unlike inherited physical attributes such as height or skin colour, these characteristics of success are not genetically determined, they are available to all of us. In fact, we already have these characteristics to varying degrees; they simply require further enhancement for us to fully exploit our potential.

Sounds simple? It sure is, but like everything else, it only works if we use it!