Mental Training and Approach to Training for Next Three Months

I've finally gotten hold of the Lanny Bassham materials on mental training for shooters from a Friend after quite a long time of meaning to get them and never getting around to it. I listened to all of Mental Management for Shooting Sports yesterday, and far from feeling bored and lectured at, it was fascinating. I intend listening to this often to reaffirm my approach, but most importantly, I've taken his points on progressive training and have set myself a timeframe within which to work, over the next three months, on significantly improving the process of my shooting.

He advocates training in three stages: Dry-firing, group-shooting and live shooting, on both an individual session basis and on a larger scale, over a season. What this means is that the process becomes much, much more important than the result, as, ignoring groups, which merely provide a reference for the observer, perhaps only ten to twenty shots will be individually observed and remarked on out of perhaps a hundred processes. I am going to make this a feature of all of my training sessions from now on, and am going to condense a season's worth of progressive training into the next three months, focusing heavily on dry-fire for the next month or so (and moving the rifle home at the weekend to dry-fire against the wall, since it will help me avoid temptation to train in college before the exams), then shifting the emphasis towards group-shooting, and then live fire for the last month or so. I hope to see a significant improvement in my performance by then, and hopefully in time to qualify for the European Championships, the qualifications for which I expect will begin in May or June.

The other element I took from the lecture was the correlation of a mental programme with the physical shot routine. I've since sketched out my shot routine again and noted the stages in the mental programme of visualisation and positive reinforcement against their corresponding points on the shot routine. This is proving extremely interesting for my mental visualisation (What Bassham calls rehearsal) as I can see everything so clearly in my head now, while focusing on the process. As I'm loading the rifle I'm visualising the sight picture, the little hope of the foresight and the settling down on point of aim again, feeling the little thud of recoil. As I'm settling I'm noting the wind flags and the mirage and picturing them exactly as they will be when I break the shot. As I'm checking my natural point of aim and inner position I'm imagining dead calm, silence and the flat, even feeling of the trigger against the second stage. As I'm on aim, I'm visualising the ten as my finger sits on the trigger (An issue I've had is I've found myself taking a neutral approach to the shot. "Let's see what happens if I pull now" sort of thinking, rather than being dead certain and expecting the ten. This is what I want to change here.), imagining I'm teasing the aiming mark back through the foresight as I release the shot.

I also liked his ideas on rehearsing the whole shot process mentally before beginning. I'm going to make a point of starting every training session kneeling on the mat, feeling my way through the whole process mentally at least ten times before I get down to shoot at all. I'm going to be positive, relaxed and focused. I'm more than capable of the 587 for Belgrade. I'm capable of 600. I shoot good, deliberate shots. Shooting good shots is what I do. It's my routine. Shooting good shot after good shot is just exactly what I do. I'll update later.