TargetTalk

Our son is having problems breaking 90 in Air Rifle. He has a better than 9 hold. However, when he gets to his last two bulls he will drop either a 7 or two 8 to drop him back into a comfort range of 88-89. Any ideas on how to help him get over the Yips or Mental barrier of breaking a comfort zone.

My recommendation is to not shoot for score ether get some trainer targets or just shoot groups. Another way is if he is shooting with a spotting scope take it away for practices. Hope this helps

Shoot "one shot matches", a nine or better is a "win", less is a "loss".. Shoot an odd number of targets (13, 17,21, etc- not easily divisible to find an average) then look for number of wins and losses. Don't worry about the total score.

Also, in counting bulls shoot two bulls or four bulls (columns) then start again. You never get to #9 or #10, but shoot lots of #4 bulls, and they are easy.

I used to have trouble with the "last bull" until I changed my training technique to continue firing until I had a "good" shot, then quit. That way may "last shot" was always a good one. Over the years this trained my brain that the last shot would be good, and it almost always is.

I agree, take away the spotting scope "what you don't know cant hurt you". Another thing to try, is change where his last shot is. For example if he shoots top to bottom on the last column, shoot bottom to top. I have tried this without much success but I know other shooters who swear by it.

Thanks for the info, I like the shoot one shot match Idea. The others we have tried. He is good enough to call his shots that he keeps a mental score in his head even though we tell him not too. Our thought about removing the scope is that in matches he will have one, and he needs to be able to work through it with it there. Group shooting seems to work if we have him shoot 3 shot groups but we just need to keep it up until he breaks that comfort level.

Thanks for the ideas, any others ideas are always welcomed.

I'd suggest you don't get too hung up on training being exactly the same as a match, it shouldn't be (all the time). I'd advise shooting ten shot groups on a single bull. You cannot tell the score so you forget it. You can also try shooting odd numbers of shots per card, like 3 on 1, 6 on the next, then 5 etc. we only shoot 10-shot strings because it makes the maths easy. We could equally shoot 7 or 8 (for example).

Rob.

I can't find the link, but George Norton spoke about "the game" that helped him shoot the standing scores he is capable of. Basically it's a final where the score of each shot doesn't matter. He just counts the number of well executed shots he can take in a row, resetting the count when he shoots a poor shot. An idea...

Check the Mental Management CD's from Lanny Bassham. Mental Management for Shooting Sports is a great 6 cd set.

Lanny (an Olympic gold medalist in 3P rifle) would describe your son's problem as a "self image" issue. His self image is that of a 90's shooter so that is what he shoots. It would take to long to describe the issue and the solution here, just get Lanny's cd's. If you are serious about competing they are well worth the price.