LR1955 Wrote:Vas:
Goals Setting, Imagery / Imagery Scripts, Self Talk, Attentional Focus, Relaxation Techniques -- all work. The problem that I see with many people is that they rarely use any of the Performance Enhancement / Mental Skills techniques in training and so they aren't prepared to use them in competition when it strikes them that they may be of value. Personally I view any of these techniques as a means of focusing attention on the right thing at the right time. It is kind of a survival technique providing the person knows his attention is wandering and that in order to succeed they must focus on the task again. To me this can mean a conscious focus on doing the task (which will be very slow) or simply to push some unnecessary thought out of the conscious and replace it with the thoughts that are necessary to succeed. It is not particularly hard to push a negative thought out of the conscious mind and replace it with something more beneficial to successfully accomplishing a task. The hard part is more likely to be able to focus on a single correct thing done at the right amount of energy (arousal) that allows the body to function without interference from the brain. There are areas where a person can do very well at a task but when they are outside of that zone due primarily to counterproductive thoughts or emotions, the chances of them doing very well disappear and good performance becomes luck more than deliberate.
Anyway, that is my view but to get to your theory, certainly someone can use it to their benefit. This would be by performing the task at a pace where the movements are done as perfectly as possible with feedback from a coach or the person. I have also found out that in order to do so, it pays for the coach or trainer to ensure the person knows what right is. This is where people can really move apart in training concepts. I push what success is, looks like, and how it is quantified or qualified. The goal is to do well, to succeed, even if success is rare at the outset of learning a skill. Of course once they know what success is, they are more prepared to focus their attention on attaining success.
Others tend to focus on physical action -- the movements that they think must take place for the end state to happen. One size fits all approach. It has its advantages in that it is easy to get a large group of people to a mediocre level of performance such as the military. It is poor because it forces people to do something that their body may not be too good at doing for various physical reasons. And, it normally emphasizes a strict process as more important than result. Plus it tends to focus on failure rather than success. The shooter looks in wonderment when he does everything he thinks must be done but misses time and again. This is because he was never taught to succeed, only to act.
So, certainly a person can take your comments and use them to their benefit. Just that slow can be smooth but slow can also be slow. That's why most of the marksmanship problems faced by people on the Forum are because they do not shoot fast enough when they are testing loads. They need to understand that going slow allows the brain time to consciously input its opinion into the shots. So, guy either gets ahead of the trigger or behind the trigger but either way, they tend to do poorly. Then they go to LRRP52 wondering what is wrong with their barrel, optic, trigger, loads. He, he.
Off to my sport for the weekend so be good!
LR55
I commend you for your critical thinking skills. Thank you for taking the time to challenge some of the thoughts so many shooters have been taught. It's clear that you have much more experience in coaching than I do. However, I can offer some thoughts based on my experience in shooting, limited coaching, and knowledge/experience in psychology.
First off, I am of the mindset that if something works (i.e., performance enhancement techniques), shooters need to do it. It doesn't matter if they are too lazy or confident to apply them enough in practice. If it works, it should be done. Shooting for practice is about building skills, not ego. Therefore, I believe that a lazy shooter does not preclude one from teaching performance enhancement techniques to help shooters succeed. It's like any other skill (i.e., trigger finger discipline), it only works if you use it. So maybe it comes back to selling the fundamental skills to shooters in training. Making sure they understand and appreciate the value of what they are learning.
Also, I really like your approach to coaching. It is important to understand what success looks like, and especially how to produce it. The best coaches I have had have taught me how to think about success and what I am doing to achieve it.
RE: slow being smooth and smooth being fast. This is just one step in the training process. It is important when your brain is learning a motor plan to go through it slowly because it minimizes error, which increases learning. As the motor plan is developed and practiced, speed will naturally increase. Similar to the notion that you have to crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run. Someone with limited experience trying to perform speed reloads is just ugly. It makes me want to look away. It's like an 8-month-old trying to run a 40. Skills have to be built up slowly and consistently before someone can perform a complex task quickly.