CMP Article: Competition Nerve Control

For those of you not on the CMP email list they just put out an interesting article on controlling your nerves during a match.   It is written by rifle shooters but the concepts are exactly the same.   This is a topic that comes up here from time to time so I hope the article will help.

https://thecmp.org/competition-nerve-control-from-the-experts-highpower-rifle/

Clark:  Thanks for the link.  Here's something from the article>

To remain calm during the standing phase of a match, I concentrate on what shooting a 10 actually looks like: It’s like a little movie where the reticle crosses into the 10-ring and then oscillates until the shot breaks. I try to keep the movie playing until I load a round and shoulder the rifle. I take up the trigger’s first stage as the reticle is coming into the black, and when what I see in the scope agrees with the movie I’ve been playing in my mind, I pull through the second stage. The movie starts up again when I set the rifle on my stool.


When the process is working, I’m cognizant of the target going down, verifying if the shot was on call and that the scorekeeper has acknowledged the shot, but I have little awareness of the shooting or anything else around me.


For me, playing “The Movie,” keeps my mind focused on the task at hand and pushes everything else out. If something happens to interrupt that, like a competitor loudly lamenting his shot, or one of those random thoughts like, “Did I close the garage door when I left?” – it’s time to get my finger off the trigger and start the process over.