In this issue: Re: calling the shot Re: kneeling roll Blackhawks Mental training Sydney ranges in trouble again! Seeking junior teams for postal competitions ******************************************************************** PS: I have some input for the Coach's page regarding the Skinner discussion on calling the shot. Top shooters all want to put all shots in the middle (10.9). Due to the many variables (outdoors) affecting the actual impact of the shot, you must accurately "call" the shot based on the conditions of wind etc. so that if it did not impact the middle of the target you can damn well adjust if necessary and put the next one in the center. Calling the shot reinforces the concept that all should go in the middle! As the coaches who have responded are saying, it is critical to teach kids early on this skill so that they can learn to react to the conditions properly in their drive to shoot a 10.9 every time. Calling the shot can be used in a positive manner to reinforce the mental program of shooting for the perfect shot. Shots on call are a powerful reinforcement and confidence builder. To put the shot in the middle every time, one must first learn where the shot is going to go based on how they shoot and then strive for the consistency and perfection necessary to let them be 10.9's. On outdoor ranges the conditions can change very quickly. You must check conditions immediately after firing the shot to see if what you attempted to shoot in remained consistent. This allows the accurate call of the shot. This allows the ongoing strive for perfection in shooting the shots in a course of fire. There are many times in many conditions where you must shoot the best shot that you can, dealing with the given variables of wind, light, timing, relaxation etc. The Final is a great example. You don't have the luxury of time. You must compress the best mental program you can execute, the best read of the conditions, the best placement of the shot in regards to that read of wind, light etc. and let yourself execute the shot in that 75 second time frame. If you have done all you can to execute a 10.9 and the shot impacts somewhere else, you must figure out why it happened. This allows you to learn how to shoot the 10.9 on the next shot while dealing with the given variables. To ignore the impact or write it off as "never should have shot it" does nothing to improve the next performance. I wonder if some of this discussion is a discussion over semantics. In a perfect world, on a perfect range, in perfect conditions, in unlimited time, using a perfect human with perfect reflexes and mental processes, with perfect equipment, yes, one could argue that anything less than a 10.9 should never have been executed. If the discussion is hinging on when to call (or evaluate) the shot (before vs after looking in the scope), I believe you must call it before you look in the scope. Conditions change so quickly outdoors that you must evaluate them immediately after executing the shot to see if there was any change in the variables you evaluated and attempted to shoot in. If you don't, good luck on figuring out where to execute the next shot. Looking in the scope first wastes time in which the wind may have changed from the execution point. It also can push emotional reactions to the impact of the shot into the evaluation of the shot. Calling the shot gives you the best logical evaluation so that the next shot can be put in the middle. Has Skinner ever shot outdoors? Coach DJ ********************************************************************* In a message dated 97-08-10 20:10:19 EDT, you write: << The second question is about a kneeling roll I got at Camp Perry. What should I fill It with? The club one I use now is filled with hard rubber chips. Also who made it? It is of brown leather and it says "Top shot" on one side. Thank you! [Editor - anything that can be molded easily - I would try rubber chips (recycled tires), cork, or birdseed.] >> We use cedar wood chips which are sold as "hamster litter". They will last for 6-9 months before they compress and need additional material added. They have the advantage of not being attractive to mice and bugs. They are also much softer than tire rubber. Phillip Williams ******************************************************************** I heard that this one team called the Blackhawks do not belong to a club instead they are a group of shooters (apearantly good shooters) that meet once or so a year and they shoot in Camp Perry or sectionals or such matches. Is this true? Thank you very much! [Editor - the only team I know of is the Cherry Creek Blackhawks which are junior shooters from Colorado. They happened to win the '95 Walsh match over West Virginia.] ****************************************************************** WHY MENTAL TRAINING There have been years of research conducted by hundreds from both the academic and clinical fields resulting in volumes of literature published on sports psychology. The shooting athletes previous attention may have focused on shooting equipment, techniques, positions and training programs. Consider that hundreds of shooters have good equipment, adequate knowledge of the physical shooting technique, and they exert considerable effort in developing their expertise as marksmen. Why then, are some consistent winners while others are merely competitors...? Just as with other sports the answer lies with the athlete's state of mental preparedness. It is proper mental training that promotes a progressive increase of scores and the achievement of the athletic goal which is the perfect bulls-eye produced through superior performance. As an athlete obtains a mastery of the techniques and perfects their shooting positions, continued improvement will largely be through the technical aspects of shooting. For the advanced shooter, poor shots are frequently the result in procedural errors of mental rather than a lack of physical expertise. Information contained in the books "Shooting for Gold" by William Krilling and "The Mental Art of World Class Competitive Shooting" by Chet Skinner will benefit all shooting athletes. The more advanced shooting athlete, however, will place maximum effort and emphasis upon the basic physical and advanced mental training areas. There are a number of facets to mental conditioning and while discussed separately it should be kept in mind that they are interrelated and interactive. Books: "Shooting the Gold", by Mr. William Krilling may be purchased from Mr. Krilling at PO Box 52204, Ft Benning Ga., 31905-2204. "The Mental Art of World Class Competitive Shooting" by Mr. Chet Skinner may be purchased from Mr. Skinner, 121 Whitehall Dr., Clarksville, TN., 37042. ****************************************************************** The New South Wales Supreme Court today handed down its decision over the Anzac Rifle Range at Malabar, in Sydney. This smallbore and fullbore rifle range is one of the largest in the country, with 110 long-range target positions. The Court ruled that the Clubs must vacate the site if the Commonwealth wishes them to do so, and thus the Notice of Eviction dated 20 August 1993 is valid and must be complied with. If this is enforced, then Sydney's only major rifle range will be closed down...three years before the Olympics. There are still some difficulties with the proposed indoor range complex at Cecil Park. This site was chosen after Holsworthy, the original site, was rejected due to a possible airport being constructed on top of it. Cecil Park is a $19 million indoor facility, but will not be open until 1999. Already there are many teams making plans to visit Australia in the next couple of years. Without Malabar, they will be forced to use smaller suburban ranges, sometimes with only 2 or 3 targets at 20 metres. This is considered by the shooting community as unacceptable. A temporary web page has been set up to provide information about the situation. If you are interested, please refer to: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~nathans Please circulate the info about Anzac Range, if you can. It looks as though smallbore may be the hardest hit, as the government is hoping to charge an enormous sum of money just to allow them to continue to have a place to shoot until Cecil Park opens. If the Association can't pay this, then it will close down the only major range in the Metropolitan area. Just had an inquiry from a team from Norway after a place to train next year. So much for Sydney's Olympiad. Nathan Scudder ****************************************************************** On to another matter, though, and the school rifle team that I coach has just opened a web site (ten minutes ago). Part of this page is an invitation to overseas school/cadet/scout/junior teams to compete in a friendly smallbore postal competition. Any ideas as to how I could distribute this link through USA smallbore circles, especially to any schools that have smallbore rifle clubs in the US. The link is http://www.ozemail.com.au/~shsrc. Nathan Scudder ****************************************************************** End of UIT Mailing List #38 Michael Ray - Systems Engineer Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. Rifle Coach UIT Shooting Page - http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/1190/index.htm