TargetTalk

Thinking about pulse, tension and adrenaline during a match... Most mental programs and coaches says this physical reaction relates to fear. Fear of winning, of loosing etc.
But is it possible this reaction could be a result of pure exitement?
I mean, fear and excitement has very similar physical reactions. If so, shold the mental tactics be the same or be different?

The Observer wrote:Thinking about pulse, tension and adrenaline during a match... Most mental programs and coaches says this physical reaction relates to fear. Fear of winning, of loosing etc.
But is it possible this reaction could be a result of pure exitement?
I mean, fear and excitement has very similar physical reactions. If so, shold the mental tactics be the same or be different?

Why are you excited? Could it be because of the fear of winning or losing?

It really doesn't matter what you call it or how you perceive the symptoms. As a shooter, or any sportsperson, it is how you approach the situation that matters. What I mean is that you focus on the positives, look forward to a good performance and get a heightened sense of arousal (nervousness, excitement or whatever). That is probably the best way to get those good competition scores and get a big buzz out of performing well. I.e. really enjoy it and enjoy the experience !

Rob.

Good point. Perhaps you're right. The excitement in my case comes from a good feeling, more like joy and excitement over the fact that everything goes according to plan. And if it's a pleasant feeling without anxiety - how come fear controls it? This is the part that makes me puzzled.

By the way - my reply referred to RichardH.
Thanks Rob - you sure got a point there.

These are the hard things about shooting, its what makes it a mental sport vastly more than anyhting else.

The human mind is a strange creature, we all have comfort zones, needs, anxiety, fears its how we deal and control this stuff that makes the difference between the average shooters and the great shooters.

You have to really learn to understand yourself and whats going on, not always easy and sometimes we don't like what we find. There are people that can assist you but really its more of a journey of self discovery (one reason why I think women have an advantage, they are usually more in tune with their feelings). You read shooting journals from guys they are filled with technical stuff, you read journals from women they are way more likely to contain ho they felt, what it felt like ect.

This is the first posting I've seen that seems to mesh with something that I relied on thats very different from what most shooters report. Most say don't deal with any thing but performance, I found myself dealing with beating every shooter on the range and I would try to identify my strongest competitor and on occasion I would put my scope on his target just to see how he/she was doing. I usually did this when I was starting to get a little careless about my performance and used it as a stimulant. I must say that I was very arrogant and truly believed I would win the competition no matter who showed up for the match. When I finally found myself shooting against equals or better I lost much of this cocky determination and lost many matches that I should have won. As long as I stayed positive that I would prevail I usually succeded in doing exactly that .Good Shooting Bill Horton