Rejecting bad shots

[Nick_Burman]

Hi all,

Need a bit of help...of lately I've been noticing that I've been accepting bad shots rather too frequently. A shooting colleague remarked (quite rightly) that during training or competition I hardly seem to refuse shots. Is there any drill that I can employ to rectify this situation? Ideas very welcome.

Cheers NB

[tim_stone]

You got my attention. I know when I squeeze the trigger if the shot should be a good one. I would like to see how everyone does shot rejection.

[WarWagon]

I used to keep a separate page in my notebook, in which I only wrote "I will not pull the trigger until I'm ready."

Every time I shot a bad shot in practice, I would break position, go over to my equipment bag, write this down, and go get back into position. You soon refuse to shoot a bad shot because of the sheer inconvenience of it.

[tsokasn]

I also deny/refuse a bad shot.When I sence that I've been holding the aiming position more than about 8 sec,I lay the riffle for a sec and try again.If I pull the trigger after trying more than 8 sec,I know that it will be an 8 in the best case.
The bad thing is that during a match,I always finish at the last minute,and during the match I get stressed by the time.
Which means that I need a lot of PRACTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Greetings my friends!

[Spencer]

I used to keep a separate page in my notebook, in which I only wrote "I will not pull the trigger until I'm ready."

Every time I shot a bad shot in practice, I would break position, go over to my equipment bag, write this down, and go get back into position. You soon refuse to shoot a bad shot because of the sheer inconvenience of it.

Love it!

Spencer

[Pat McCoy]

Great idea by War Wagon, BUT write down a positive instead of a negative. "I will let the shot go off by itself", or "I will only shoot good shots"

[WarWagon]

Great idea by War Wagon, BUT write down a positive instead of a negative. "I will let the shot go off by itself", or "I will only shoot good shots"

Believe it or not, that WAS my positive message. It was reaffirming sound practice, as opposed to something like "I won't shoot bad shots" or "I won't pull the trigger too early."

[methosb]

I like it! I think I shall start using that in practice from now on. Though my coach will probably give me funny looks as I jump in and out of position every other shot :/

[RobStubbs]

Hi all,

Need a bit of help...of lately I've been noticing that I've been accepting bad shots rather too frequently. A shooting colleague remarked (quite rightly) that during training or competition I hardly seem to refuse shots. Is there any drill that I can employ to rectify this situation? Ideas very welcome.

Cheers NB

You need to make one of your training elements 'to have a greater number of good shots'. If for example you have been accepting say 20% poor shots then aim for 85% good, and increase it as you improve. In training mark down every shot as good or not (don't record the score). You should also further break down the poor shots to work on the elements that make them poor and do likewise, so for example; holding too long, accepting too much movement, poor starting position (i.e. vertical or horizontal position requiring too much correction). If you train hard on those kind of parameters - just for say 20 shots before moving on to another element you want to train and write it all down.

At the end of each session write down how it went and think about areas that you feel need working on for the next training session. The only additional comment I would add is to drop this kind of training off before a match, so that you have a clear head and can just concentrate on good shot execution and put out of your mind any poor shots.

Rob.

[Junior Coach]

Nick -
You have hit a topic that is one of my most common issues with young (Junior) shooters. We as coaches can't emphasize enough, it's OKAY to put the rifle down.

I use a drill with some guys in training... I want to see them set up a shot but I want to see them put the rifle down after a hold of about five seconds. Then, set up the shot again and if perfect squeeze the trigger and let the shot off. In this drill I want them to reject the shot at least once before each bullseye.

I really believe the brain has to be "trained" to put the rifle down. It's easy to fire a shot. It's a lot harder to reject a shot.

Try this drill a few times. See if it makes a difference.

TRAIN THE BRAIN!

[Guest]

Here's a drill my college team does.

We shoot a 10-shot string with the requirement that all first holds be rejected.

We typically add a time pressure element to it, too.

Say, 75 seconds per shot, and the shooter must reject the first hold, and go back on the offhand stand and start over, all within the time limit.

We do this drill once a week or so.

[Nick_Burman]

Nick -
You have hit a topic that is one of my most common issues with young (Junior) shooters. We as coaches can't emphasize enough, it's OKAY to put the rifle down.

I use a drill with some guys in training... I want to see them set up a shot but I want to see them put the rifle down after a hold of about five seconds. Then, set up the shot again and if perfect squeeze the trigger and let the shot off. In this drill I want them to reject the shot at least once before each bullseye.

I really believe the brain has to be "trained" to put the rifle down. It's easy to fire a shot. It's a lot harder to reject a shot.

Try this drill a few times. See if it makes a difference.

TRAIN THE BRAIN!

Thanks JC. The issue is less of telling myself that it is OK to put the rifle down, but more of putting the rifle down more frequently, i.e., catching more would-be-not-so-good-shots before they happen.


Cheers NB

[joydeepk]

when a shooter is fundamentally strong in techniques, he or she finds it increasingly easy to repeat a good sequence. I mean to say, if by any chance the rythme is obstructed by faulty synchronization of 'aim-hold-trigger or breathing,the shot might be aborted,but it should not be more than 6 to 8 shots in a 60 shot match,with the exception of external effects of wind /light. the restrain and patience is important but the basic discipline in shot preparation and delivery is important most.
Happy Shooting :)

[solomon grundy]

I really believe the brain has to be "trained" to put the rifle down. It's easy to fire a shot. It's a lot harder to reject a shot.

There have been studies of the behavior of securities traders that have come to a similar conclusion. Basically it's been observed that traders are prone to holding, and even adding to, declining positions that exceed their risk tolerance. While they may rationally understand that the position should be closed, they experience a strong motivation to excuse their avoidance of doing so. Essentially they feel compelled to rescue their initial commitment.[/i]

[Soupy44]

Cut out the center ring(s) of the target you are shooting. What ring you cut out depends on your level of shooting of course. I'll use air rifle as an example. Shoot a 60 shot practice. Count how many 10s, 9s, 8s, etc you shoot. I shoot in the low 570s so I usually have something along the lines of 2 8s, 23 9s, 35 10s. In my case, I would cut out the 7 ring and in, to get rid of my 8s, leaving a hole in the center of a bull. Cut out the centers of the record bulls on one 12 bull target, leave the sighters alone.

Sight in, then shoot the first bull until you shoot one of those "bad" shots. You'll see the outer edge of the shot on the edge of the hole you cut out. Then move to the next bull. See how many shots you can get on each bull before you have a bad shot. This allows you to concentrate on getting rid of your not so good shots while still shooting and being rewarded for your good shots. As you get to where a hole size is too easy, make it smaller. Record your progress and try to beat yourself, awesome motivation.

A mental trick to use during this is to put the rifle down at the first negative thought. This includes the thoughts of "the hold's going downhill, but I can still manage it." That's the most common thought you will have. Any time you think "I should put this down", put it down. This takes practice, but will refine your mental process during your shot plan. The above drill shows when you should have put it down.

[CJ Wallace]

man, you guys make me wish I was still shooting :)

[Guest_66]

I think Bob Rotellas book 'Golf is not a game of perfect' has a good chapter about ACCEPTING bad shots. It gave me a new perpective on my bad shots. Accept - Forget - Move on. The last shot is gone, there is notning you can do about it. Anger or frustration will only mislead your focus on the next shot and disturb your game plan.

[Soupy44]

That's not quite what we're talking about. We're referring to putting the gun down in order to not shoot a not so good shot.

[Raymond Odle]

Why this is an intersting subject may be simply to ask?
Do we train to take the shot?
Do we train to not take the shot?
Can we train to do both?
How do these question relate to the skill level of the shooter?

I want my begginer and intermediates to take the shot. Through proper training improve the percentage of good shot.

[RobStubbs]

I want my begginer and intermediates to take the shot. Through proper training improve the percentage of good shot.

Beginners, I'd agree - they need to shoot and learn what feels good and what feels less good. Anyone above a novice needs to know when to abort the shot. Some aspects are very easy to learn whilst others are much more subtle and vary between shooters.

One of the other regular posters here uses the phrase "An aborted shot in the gun is still a potential bull" If you accept a poor alignment, overlong hold, big wobble etc, then the result will be an imperfect and most likely poor shot.

I need to clarify that we're never looking for total perfection every shot, just a good technique which will deliver a good shot (the result of which will vary with the level of the shooter).

Rob.