On The Firing Line
On The Firing Line: Physical-Technical-Mental-Emotional- Pt.1
BY JP O’CONNOR SPECIAL TO USA SHOOTING NEWS
Many athletes, coaches, and parents believe that purchase of good equipment and ammuni- tion, range time and some hard work on the part of the athlete and coach will lead to great re- sults. This is certainly a good start, though not always enough. Eventually the athlete experi- ences “match nerves” in various forms and the game changes. Athlete and coach struggle to fi nd the “secret” to success. This problem is much more common in our sport since we have fewer participants who understand the principles of training and competing that are more broadly known in a number of other sports. We are improving;,though have further yet to go. Even in those other sports, only small percentages reach the highest levels of per- formance and score. Why is this? Our culture is all about tak- ing control, making things hap- pen, strength, speed, being the best and winning. We emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in our educa- tion system. We talk about teach- ing students to think critically, yet make them memorize static facts and then test their memory. We follow celebrities and the media castigates the slightest mistake without benefi t of fairness or critical thought. We train the ac- tive thought part of the mind and we feed our ego.
Lost in all that noise are the techniques and methods of uti-
lizing the majority of our inner power, hidden and untapped in the deeper part of our mind. Lost in all that noise are the keys to thriving under pressure, achiev- ing exceedingly high levels of performance, enjoying the mo- ment, and receiving top scores as a result. Even in the areas where we
place great emphasis and have great knowledge, we often thrash around with constant change. The positions need tweaking, the equipment needs perpetual ad- justment, the ammunition isn’t good enough, new accessories need to be added, and so on. This constant change destroys the “program” deep within us that allows ultimate performance. A comprehensive program is needed to provide athletes and coaches with a broad view of all the important factors along with depth of content that pro- vide both what is important and how to teach or implement the factors.
While studying this sport as practiced outside this country, and while studying applied sport psychology as it is practiced out- side this sport, a number of fac- tors emerged, which fall roughly into four major areas: Physical, Technical, Mental, and Emotion- al. This article provides the very briefest of introductions to the physical areas as they apply to our sport. The next three articles will explore the technical, men- tal, and emotional aspects.
36 USA Shooting News | March 2014
Physical The physical parts of this
game encompass a number of areas, some obvious and others less so. Certainly physical train- ing is important, as are sound positions. The lowest level of the physi- cal foundation includes breath- ing, sleep, hydration, and nu- trition. All four of these areas generally have plenty of room for improvement, and they do have a profound impact on a shooting athlete’s performance. Next is general fi tness. Can
you run a mile without gasp- ing for air? Can you stand on your fi ring point or stations for a couple of hours without any pain and with minimal fatigue? Can you hold the fi rearm up with no shakiness or strain at all? Are you fl exible or stiff in your move- ments and/or when in position as appropriate? Physical training must be ap- propriately designed for the sport and for the specifi c athlete’s situ- ation. Rather than building bulky, fast, coarse, anaerobic muscle, one must build toned, slow, smooth, aerobic muscle. This is done with lighter resistance or weight and many more sets and reps. Instead of the vein-popping bodybuilder look, one ends up with natural musculature that is easy to maintain, is conducive to high performance in this sport. Work with coaches and physi- cal trainers if you have access to them, and refer to reliable
sources of information. If starting a physical training routine, make sure your doctor gives you the OK. Start slowly and simply. Body core strength is impor- tant for all athletes and is fre- quently overlooked. One set of exercises designed specifi cally for this sport is known as “Am- bercise” because it was devel- oped for and by Amber Darland (one of the best rifl e athletes in the nation when she was ac- tive), along with a member of the USOC training staff several years ago. Copies of one version of the program are available on my Pilkington’s web page and via my blog (URLs at the end of this story). Some of the routines seem a bit “odd” to some folks and they won’t do them. “How good do you want to be?” Additionally,
most female
athletes need to pay special at- tention to enhancing upper body strength and endurance while most male athletes need to pay special attention to enhancing lower body strength and endur- ance.
Another important aspect of
the physical part of this sport is the topic of positions, which en- compass the concepts of outer position and inner position. Outer position is that which the coach or spectator can see from their point of view. Where are the feet placed? Why? How are the hips positioned? Why? And on and on and on ad nau- seum. The details are limitless.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68