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Thread: I get stressed out when I shoot and it affects my marksmanship

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by pangloss View Post
    Cypher, do you see any relative difference in how well you shoot from the holster versus slow fire?
    I must not have said it right in the OP but that's my whole point.

    When I simply draw and shoot I do fine. Even when I'm qualifying which should produce the most "test anxiety" I'm fine. It's when I'm doing the slow fire that I freak out and get performance anxiety and pull every single shot to the left.

  2. #12
    banana republican blues's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cypher View Post
    I must not have said it right in the OP but that's my whole point.

    When I simply draw and shoot I do fine. Even when I'm qualifying which should produce the most "test anxiety" I'm fine. It's when I'm doing the slow fire that I freak out and get performance anxiety and pull every single shot to the left.
    I agree with the comments about training your breathing...relaxing...and just letting your focus attach to the task at hand.

    Don't look at it like when a teacher would announce a surprise or pop quiz. Let your controlled breathing relieve you of the anxiety, then just look at your intended POA and place the rounds where you want them. There is no quiz. There is no buzzer. It's all you...the gun...and your target.

    Clear your mind of everything extraneous to that task.
    Last edited by blues; 10-20-2019 at 04:38 PM.
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  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cypher View Post
    I must not have said it right in the OP but that's my whole point.

    When I simply draw and shoot I do fine. Even when I'm qualifying which should produce the most "test anxiety" I'm fine. It's when I'm doing the slow fire that I freak out and get performance anxiety and pull every single shot to the left.
    I just missed it or have troublingly low short term reading retention. Anyway, you're definitely not alone.

    EDIT: Also, do ball and dummy drills. I often shoot 2-4 mags per range session that are loaded with alternating live and dummy rounds. Results are best when combined with nightly dry fire sessions. Tightening up my support hand grip a little helps too.
    Last edited by pangloss; 10-20-2019 at 04:58 PM.

  4. #14
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    I have "liked" all of the responces to this thread, because they are all right. Even If you think you have figgered out what is happenining, every one of these posts have had solid advice that can be applied even if the poster is wrong about you or you are already dealing with the issue. Confidence and capability in shooting is incremental. As Uncle Pat used to say, shooting advancements are evolutionary, rather than revolutionary...

    pat

  5. #15
    Site Supporter ST911's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cypher View Post
    How do I overcome it.
    Find a club, USPSA/IDPA/etc doesn't matter, and shoot matches.
    الدهون القاع الفتيات لك جعل العالم هزاز جولة الذهاب

  6. #16
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    Last edited by Duces Tecum; 10-20-2019 at 05:56 PM.

  7. #17
    Site Supporter JohnO's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cypher View Post
    I've noticed a pattern in my shooting. Every time I've qualified with a handgun for either my church or my employer I've qualified expert. The only exception was the first time I qualified for my church. I panicked and I failed the qualification. The second time I remember making a specific point of making sure I saw the sights and I passed. The point of this paragraph is that I don't think I'm an intrinsically bad shot.

    I've noticed lately that when I go to the range I do fine if I simply draw and fire but if I take my time and make sure of my grip and my stance and focus on my sight alignment and try to make shot on center I (for lack of a better word) panic and start pulling to the left. The more I panic the worse it gets and the worse it gets the more I panic. I think it's what people call "Buck Fever".

    How do I overcome it.
    You may benefit for what is presented here:


  8. #18
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    Anxiety and stress is so common their are instructors who are known for teaching how to overcome it. Brian Enos was one of the first prominent shooters talking about the mental game.

    I took a Steve Anderson class a few years ago and he had his own instruction along with some stuff from Enos and Lanny Basham; olympic shooter, author speaker, etc. who wrote With Winning in Mind.

    Check the book out.
    Last edited by nwhpfan; 10-20-2019 at 09:54 PM.
    A71593

  9. #19
    Site Supporter gringop's Avatar
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    In the early part of my shooting journey, I use to get VERY VERY nervous when practicing on an indoor range and also on a busy outdoor range. I'd be thinking about the other shooters, If they though I was a bad shooter, where my brass was landing and if I would be able to find it, etc. etc. In other words, if it was something that had absolutely nothing to do with the important aspects of shooting, I was devoting at least1/3 of my brainpower to it while shooting.

    Through practice, (most of it alone on the range) training classes and competition, I was able to concentrate on what is important and learn to ignore the rest of it. The fact that back then it was 2 or 3 days before the match scores got posted really helped me to not focus on the outcome and just focus on the process of shooting each shot well as mentioned above.

    Also, tracking my progress and working on my weaknesses during practice helped a lot.

    So, after some time, I no longer give a hoot what other shooters think, or if I lose a bunch of precious brass in the weeds. If I shoot good I smile about it and if I make mistakes, I note it as something to work on in practice.

    Gringop
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  10. #20
    Site Supporter JRV's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cypher View Post
    I must not have said it right in the OP but that's my whole point.

    When I simply draw and shoot I do fine. Even when I'm qualifying which should produce the most "test anxiety" I'm fine. It's when I'm doing the slow fire that I freak out and get performance anxiety and pull every single shot to the left.
    I have two thoughts. Both might be different, independent issues. However, I have seen both in students and friends.

    First, the psychological block. It's because you're trying to shoot, and not shooting.

    If your problem comes from overthinking the basics of a trigger press, I would consider a clays class for a change of pace. Pulling a shotgun trigger on a bird is a quick and deliberate reaction to visual stimuli. It might help your brain to get over a fear of breaking the trigger "wrong," and it will help you develop a deeper focus on the gun-target visual relationship. Pistol shooting at a fixed target is generally a proactive exercise (where you can psych yourself out in advance), but shotgunning is reactive.

    So, consider a shotgunning class to change your relationship with your trigger. It could help you transition from a person that tries to make a good trigger press happen to a person that causes them to happen as a reaction to a proper sight/target relationship. It sounds like hippie-zen bullshit. It is. But it helps.

    Second, the distance-related psych-out. In most qualification courses, slow-fire portions tend to be longer distance "marksmanship" tests. Anecdotally, most shooters practice slow-fire at longer distances (not many people, beyond novices, do slow fire at a 7 yard silhouette). Is this your experience?

    If your slow-fire issues are only arising at distance, then I recommend dot torture at 3 yards. Many rounds of it. A small target close up will allow you to focus on marksmanship fundamentals without getting mentally goobered about distance.

    When you can clean it, go to 5 yards. That's still close, and it will push your marksmanship fundamentals as hard or harder than a silhouette target at 25 yards.

    The trick, presuming your slow-fire issues are arising from longer-distance targets, is to fool your brain into just seeing the target as just another small target, and not one that's far away.

    So, in sum, it might be that you're psyched out about breaking the trigger right before you need to make it happen. Take a break and enroll in a clays class to get experience with reactive shooting. It might be you're psyched out over distance. Get your brain to start thinking "small target" and not "far target."

    Neither might help you, but I hope something in this thread does. Good luck!
    Last edited by JRV; 10-20-2019 at 10:39 PM.
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