Winning the Mental Game

[mikeschroeder]

Hi

I took a VERY long day trip to Columbia MO and the Bianchi cup. I'm not yet a competitive shooter, so these comments are just an amatuer observaton.

Rob Leatham shoots for Springfield Armory. He usually wins one of more of the titles at the Bianchi cup. He's a good sized guy and he's a comedian. There was a falling plate shootoff with Rob, Rob Vasquez from the Border Patrol and two other guys. Rob Leatham was smiling and joking the whole time. There are six plates to shoot, two rounds at each of 4 or 5 distances. Rob won after the first round at the second distance. Mr. Vasquez from the Border patrol went out on the second round from the nearest distance, and the other two missed the second plate of the 3rd round. Rob wins by appearing to be much more confident that the other shooters.

Bruce Piatt won third in Air Strike, I watched him. He and his opposition from DPMS were practicing for about 15 minutes before the match. Bruce was shooting both two handed, and in the traditional way. He pretty much missed (A LOT) during practice. The guy from DPMS (sorry didn't see his name) wasn't missing much. When the match started, Bruce broke 5 of 5, in about 2 seconds faster then the competition. Did Bruce make the other guy overly confident? Is his just better when the heat is on?

More Later

Mike
Wichita KS

[Don]

Mike: Everyone who attains a certain level in any sport, has their own way of dealing with pressure, etc., and figuring out how to win. This comes from lots of trial and error, trying different approaches to competition, etc. Some people have to be by themselves before a match, others like to talk and fool around, others like to not pay much attention to practice and tune in when it counts. So, there are many ways to get to the goal. I have quite a lot of info on this general area. Email is: bawilli@attglobal.net

Don in Oregon