Chilling Out - Before the Beep

[vecdran]

So I am sure that most of us here are familiar with BEnos and his whole "zen" philosophy of shooting, something I am always trying to strive towards. Unfortunately, I seem to have a big hurdle in my way.

Relaxing.

Even during simple practice matches, I can't seem to chill the hell out before the buzzer. By the time I'm on deck, my heart rate is elevated, I'm a little jumpy, and nothing I seem to do relaxes me. Breathing exercises, air-gunning the targets mentally, etc. I end up just going through my admin load motions, visualizing my index, breathing deeply, and winging it once the buzzer goes off. Sometimes I do fantastic (95%-100% alphas, fastest time, stage wins), other times I appear to have forgotten how the whole "shootin boolits" thing works, especially when I make a mistake and the wheels really fall off.

Recently I have been trying to work with, not against my body's natural tendency. During practice sessions at the range, I'll pound out reps quickly, get a little flustered, get my heart rate up, just like what happens to me at matches, so that when I get there, I'm "used" to it. It seems to be working in some ways, as my speed and accuracy have been improving, but I also seem to burn out a fair bit faster. Also I end up angry at the end of every practice session.

I know this is not the road to success, especially if I want to reach my goal of USPSA Master in Production by the end of summer. It seems though that reaching that completely relaxed state is beyond me, at least at this moment. I'm not exactly inexperienced, as I shoot plenty of club matches and about 20,000 rounds of 9mm a year, so this isn't related to competition shooting being a "new" thing for me.

Any advice from those who have trodden the road before me?

[DonovanM]

It isn't something to accomplish only between "make ready" and the buzzer. It has to be on your mind all throughout the match.

Day before yesterday I completely tanked my first stage. Pushed myself way too far past my talent envelope and it cost me. Came back and won the next stage, and the one after that, but a jam cost me the 4th.

What did I do? Decided I wanted to relax and wiggled my toes before I shot each stage. Something about it being the longest nerve in the body, and if you can't wiggle your toes, then some part of your body is tense. I've found that tension in the body directly follows tension in the mind, so if I relax my body, my mind usually follows. I let go of being attached to doing well, because really that's what it all comes down to. Being committed to doing well, I think, is a much better policy.

Watch videos of top shooters. Don't focus on their speed, or their accuracy, or their footwork, watch how methodical they are. Watch how they take only the time that is needed to do any particular task. Not pushing themselves faster than is absolutely necessary. These guys aren't tense. They go into a stage wanting to kick its ass, yes, but not in the hyper-aroused state usually associated with being attached to the result of doing well. I know you probably realize this, but do it - watch videos of top shooters and see how every action they take is a reflection of how relaxed and methodical they are.

Also if your heart rate is out of control and you're feeling jittery, try four-count/combat breathing. 4 seconds in, hold 4 seconds, out for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, repeat. It's a proven technique to overcome combat stress but it can certainly be applied here. It's roots are in meditation practice anyway

The Enos forum, and his book, really is the best resource for this kind of thing. Do some reading!

[Magsz]

Vec, how long have you been competing?

A year as of today was my first match. I still get jittery prior to stepping into the shooters box BUT i know for a fact that my heart rate is not as elevated as it was when i first took "center" stage.

Something about stress inoculation and experience. I guess it takes differing amount of times per individual to really understand and deal with "stress" and the way your body releases endorphins.

I dont think you can EVER do away with the endorphin rush or the adrenaline dump but you can condition your body to get used to it. Perhaps you just need more time behind the wheel? I know i do.

[jetfire]

If the butterflies before the first stage of any match ever go away, that'll be the day I hang it up. These days, the level of butterflies at a club match isn't what it was when I first started, but they're still there. And I love each and every one of their beautiful winged faces.

The idea here is to reach the state of "no-mind action" where I'm not thinking about my plan, the gun, or anything like that; I'm merely observing the gun go off and my surroundings as my body performs the manual operations. If I'm tense, I can't do that nearly as well. Hence, the pre-stage ritual. Sometimes I need a little bit more air, sometimes I need to wiggle my toes, but whatever it is I want to take myself out of "thinking" and into "observing" before the buzzer goes off.

[ford.304]

Personally... and I know this goes against every piece of advice I ever read for the first twenty years of my life - I amp myself up. I get angry, I get intense. I think about crushing somebody with a tackle or punching them in the throat.

And if I work myself up enough, I get into this angry calm where I'm just DOING instead of THINKING and observing, and I perform well.

The whole relaxed calm thing never worked for me - always gave me too much chance for my inner monologuing play-by-play analyst to distract me from what I'm actually doing. Gave me time to think about being nervous.

Don't know if that works for anyone else, though - I mean, it's still the essential concept of the Inner Game of Tennis (*awesome* book, btw, for any competition), but using an entirely different method to get there.

[DonovanM]

it's still the essential concept of the Inner Game of Tennis (*awesome* book, btw, for any competition), but using an entirely different method to get there.

Except instead of training the ego to focus on seeing the seams of the ball as it flies through the air, I train it to focus on the serrations in my front sight

[beltjones]

Personally... and I know this goes against every piece of advice I ever read for the first twenty years of my life - I amp myself up. I get angry, I get intense. I think about crushing somebody with a tackle or punching them in the throat.

And if I work myself up enough, I get into this angry calm where I'm just DOING instead of THINKING and observing, and I perform well.

The whole relaxed calm thing never worked for me - always gave me too much chance for my inner monologuing play-by-play analyst to distract me from what I'm actually doing. Gave me time to think about being nervous.

Don't know if that works for anyone else, though - I mean, it's still the essential concept of the Inner Game of Tennis (*awesome* book, btw, for any competition), but using an entirely different method to get there.

Oh yes, this.

There is certainly too much stress/nervousness/anxiety, but a heightened level of adrenalin will absolutely help your performance. As far as your mental edge goes, knowing you can use your nervous energy to your advantage will be very helpful in the long run. Let's examine two quick cases.

Shooter 1 gets very nervous before each stage. When he feels the nerves creeping up he starts to go through relaxation exercises to try to calm down. When those exercises don't work he gets even more nervous. All the while he's distracted from his preparations, and knowing he's not as ready as he could be makes everything even worse!

Shooter 2 gets very nervous before each stage. When he feels the nerves creeping up he knows his body is getting ready to perform at a very high level. He keeps his hands dry with pro-grip (or my favorite, Mitchum non-scented roll on deodorant), and he lets his nervous and heightened sense of awareness augment his normal visualization routine. He tells himself that his body is simply gearing up for his best possible performance, and he crushes any negative thoughts that come into his head with his pre-stage affirmation routine.

The point is, nervousness will become what you make of it. You can let negative self talk convert nervousness to destructive energy, or you can expel the negativity and let the nervous energy carry you much higher than you could if you were relaxed. It's all in how you perceive the nervousness, and how you program yourself to respond to it.

If up to this point you haven't programmed yourself well, it's not too late, but it will take some preplanning. Write your affirmations now, before you get on the range. Have a phase change activity where you do something physical that tells your body that it's time to go to work (mine is putting my ear muffs on over my in-ear hearing protection). Think of a few mental cues to run through your brain as you're waiting for the beep (I use "frontsighttriggercontrol frontsighttriggercontrol" for accuracy stages and "B in beep B in beep" for hoser stages).

[jetfire]

You left out shooter number 3. The relaxation techniques actually work for that guy.

[KeeFus]

If anyone ever finds out how to chill out before the beep please let me know. I shot the NC Ironman this weekend and got my a$$ handed to me on mental errors. Without the errors I would have finished first in the division (CDP/SS) and got a bump.

Then, on the day the shooters shot I SO'd a stage. Relatively simple stage (stage 9). I can not tell you how many people screwed the pooch on that stage. Essentially, dont leave P1 before drawing your weapon and dont stop walking until you get to low cover...engaging targets as you move. We had 1 DQ, 1 FTDR, and countless procedurals. I remember someone stating once that the beep on the shot clock was an instant eraser...and it's true.

Here's a video of the match. Stage 9 starts at 3:03 with yours truly as the SO.

Hat Cam video of stage 9.

[JodyH]

One of the guys I RO'd last year would throw up after every stage.
His hands would be shaking as he made ready.
He'd shake on reloads.
He'd be shaking bad when he unloaded to show clear.
Then he'd go throw up.
He was a really good, safe shooter, but adrenaline was messing him up bad.