TargetTalk

I have read that one should avoid practise when tired or mentally drained etc. I decided to shoot on the trainer last night after a very trying day at work and my performance was terrible. But there was an upside, I was able to actually relax somewhat and was able to identify why I was shooting so badly and the final 10 shots actually produced a very tight group (for me).

So is it really bad to shoot under less than ideal conditions?

You need to be prepared for any conditions... just don't reinforce bad technique in training by shooting for the sake of shooting.

The only exception would be if you were shooting badly in a competition; there you would take a break, do a relaxation exercise, mentally go through what you need to do to get back on track, talk yourself up and get back to the line.

For my air rifle team, I try to create less-than-ideal conditions on purpose on select days.

I have my team pretend that our van had a mechanical breakdown, and we arrived 15 minutes after the match actually started, and they have quickly and quietly get their stuff together and shoot under a time pressure.

I sometimes play annoying music, or weird sound effects off my cellphone right behind their heads as they try to shoot.

I don't purposefully torture them every single day....maybe just once a week or so.

But I try to include less-than-ideal conditions every single week at practice.

One specific example. At a college match at a school I won't name, the host school's shooters were acting as match officials and scoring targets.

They were also loudly laughing and talking, and two of them even engaged in a tickle fight, which was rather distracting to my shooters on the line.

There is no telling what kinds of less-than-ideal conditions you might encounter at a match.

What the previous poster said.

So long as you aren't just shooting for the sake of shooting, as long as you are learning something, and noting changes, improvements, things to work, go ahead and shoot.

Roy Hill wrote:For my air rifle team, I try to create less-than-ideal conditions on purpose on select days.. . . .

I sometimes play annoying music, or weird sound effects off my cellphone right behind their heads as they try to shoot. . . .

That's funny, Roy! At my age what I think is annoying music is the stuff the younger shooters would actually enjoy.

We used to shoot on the second floor over a bakery. The floor was wooden and had a ready room separate from the range. If a group of people would walk around together, it would create a wave in the range floor. We still loved shooting there because the sticky buns from the bakery below were excellent!

I used to get irritated when there would be people talking or walking around while I was training. I came to realize that having those distractions or shooting when you were tired, could be a good training technique if I changed my way of looking at it. The distractions can help you to hone your concentration and focus on shot plan which in turn helps you deal with match pressure and distraction, such as: you have two shots left to take and you are the last one shooting on the line and everyone is waiting... and watching you.
One of the ranges where we shot smallbore rifle was in the basement of an old armory. They had youth rollerskating right over our heads on Friday night during the match. Once you got your self adjusted to the deafening roar of 50+ kids on roller skates overhead, it became white noise of sorts. For me the real ditraction came when they STOPPED as you were shooting offhand and in the middle of settling on target to break a shot. I finally learned the meaning of the phrase, "the silence was deafening!"
Scott

higginsdj wrote:I have read that one should avoid practise when tired or mentally drained etc. I decided to shoot on the trainer last night after a very trying day at work and my performance was terrible. But there was an upside, I was able to actually relax somewhat and was able to identify why I was shooting so badly and the final 10 shots actually produced a very tight group (for me).

So is it really bad to shoot under less than ideal conditions?

Unless you're physically ill and disoriented and cannot safely operate a firearm, I say always shoot no matter what the condition. It's a great opportunity to teach yourself to overcome adversity. After all, it's possible that you'll feel tired/mentally drained on the day of that big match. If you've taught yourself to overcome it, you'll be ready.
Every adverse situation whether internal or external should be seen as an opportunity to strengthen ourselves by learning how to deal with it and overcome it.
Shoot Tens!