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Tips and Hints for Airgun and Smallbore Competition – Meeting Your Shooting Goals
Posted by Junior Shooters
By: Bob Benbough-Coach Bob
The last subject covered in “Tips and Hints” (Junior Shooters Vol 4 Fall Edition available
on-line at www.juniorshooters.net) had to do with your mental approach to shooting competitively. We talked about goal setting and how to do that most effectively. Today, I want to talk about one way that you can enhance your chances of meeting your shooting goals and how to do that without wasting you valuable time. In today’s world it seems that everyone has way more demands on their time, more activities than they can possibly participate in, and consequently, a real need to make the best possible use of every minute of every day.
Also, in last issue’s column, we discussed the value of a shooter’s diary to keep track of your shooting progress and help you avoid re-learning the same thing over and over. The next question is: what can we do to best use our time developing our shooting skills? I suggest that you, along with your coach, (if you are fortunate enough to have one), develop a comprehensive training program. Your plan should include ideas on how to reach both your short term and long term goals. For your practice sessions, concentrate on those areas that you are the weakest in. If, for instance, you are having trouble in the kneeling position, it doesn’t seem to be a very good use of training time to shoot three targets in the prone position and then only one in kneeling and maybe one offhand. The aggregate score for the day’s practice may look good, but how much have you improved your ability to compete successfully in a three position match? Adjust your daily practice sessions to address specific problems, be it a position or one of the fundamentals like “follow through” that you may be struggling with. For the long term, develop a one year “season focus” plan to help you reach your longer term goals. Your season focus plan should include as many competitions as possible. Everyone knows that you shoot better in a practice session because you aren’t faced with competitive pressure, so put yourself outside your comfort zone and then when a big match comes along you’ll be better prepared to handle whatever pressure you have to face. If there aren?t any matches in the local area, shoot in a postal league or set up a competition with another junior club that’s within driving distance. Lastly, I’ll pass on a concept that I used very successfully while coaching a college rifle team years ago. Our shooters went to every match with the idea in their heads that that match was only a practice for the next one coming up. This helped a lot to relieve the feeling that, “I just have to win this match,” and allowed the shooters to remain focused on the fundamentals of firing each shot into the center of the target. The only time that this mind set won’t work is when you are finally shooting in the Olympics, and by that time you will be playing far more advanced “head games” to put you on the winner’s stand!
How about sending us an article on some of your shooting experiences? (Be sure to include some good photos of you, your team, your coaches, and your range.) We can always learn from each other and here’s a good chance to brag a little bit as well.
Until next time: Be safe, shoot straight, and have a great time doing it!
Contact me at bbenbough@juniorshooters.net
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Copyright and Published By: Junior Shooters magazine & Junior Sports Magazines Inc. December 2009
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