lackadaisical, as if he didn’t care. Yet his was the truer picture of focus. He cut his losses and moved on, un- harmed by them. [Sports Il- lustrated, 1993] Ashe cared about his im-
1992] He learned to go above
and beyond and he learned the value of remaining calm. “We were taught table
manners and the strictest etiquette and that unshak- able calm,” says Ashe. “But I also noticed that control was [darned] effective. Other players’ fathers were always telling Dr. Johnson, ‘My son was going to pieces. Your player never changed expression.’” [Sports Illus- trated, 1992] Paradoxically, we often
dwell too much on our score or performance between shots – especially the poor- er ones – and do not apply enough calm determination, focus and will power to the actual shot delivery; nor to our planning and training. One cannot think clearly,
solve problems and perform if angry or upset. Ashe was the best at
leaving every shot behind. He played each stroke as if it were for life and death and then instantly abstained from regret or celebration because there was another shot to play. It was ineffi - cient, even self-destructive to waste energy raging at himself or his opponent or the umpire, even though to do so is wholly human. Too, he learned early that his un- natural cool was often so unsettling that it could be a tactical weapon. So at his best he was a
wonderful paradox. Com- pared with the antics of his racket-throwing, blasphem- ing opponents, Ashe’s blithe shrugging off of errors and injustices seemed almost
age - not out of vanity, but rather out of a sense of pride and respect for those from whom he had learned and for those who had gone before him. We do well to emulate his example. Dis- plays of anger or profanity do not become the athlete or the sport. Are there differences be-
tween mental and emotional skills? Mental skills include focus, awareness, and vi- sualization while emotional skills include calm, positive energy in the face of adver- sity and confi dence. Though closely related, they are as separate from each other as are the closely related, yet different, physical and tech- nical skills. A new competitor on
the Ohio State University Women’s Air Pistol team was mentioned in the pre- vious installment (#7) of this series. At one point in practice, at the 2000 NRA Collegiate National Pistol Championships, she fi red a 3. She turned around and her coach gave her a big, beaming smile! Later, she
About the Author
Based in the Atlanta, Georgia area, JP O’Connor (email:
jpoc@acm.org and blog:
http://jpoconnor.wordpress.com/) is involved in shooting as a competitor, offi cial, and coach. He is a former Assistant National Coach – U.S. Paralympics Shooting Team and ISSF Judge, serves on the National Coach Development Staff in both rifl e & pistol, and is Coach Emeritus of the NCAA rifl e and intercollegiate pistol teams at the University of North Georgia. He enjoys working with a number of pistol and rifl e athletes and junior club teams from around the country, ranging from beginners to the highly advanced, in training sessions, clinics, and one-on-one private coaching. Previous installments of this series, additional resources, and book suggestions may be found at http://www.
pilkguns.com/jparticles/jpcontents.htm and via his blog.
would tell me “…when I saw that smile I knew everything was fi ne.” She returned to her shooting as if she had fi red a 10. Tennis, anyone?
References: • [Sports Illustrated, 1966] DeFord, Frank – “Service, but First a Smile” – Sports Illustrated – August 29, 1966
• [Sports Illustrated, 1992] Moore, Kenny – “Sports- man of the Year” – Sports Illustrated – December 1, 1992
• [Sports Illustrated, 1993] Moore, Kenny – “He Did All He Could” – Sports Il- lustrated – February 15, 1993
• All from: http://sportsil-
lustrated.cnn.com/ten- nis/features/1997/ar- thurashe/
• Quoted by kind permission of CNN/SI and Sports Illus-
trated.
50 USA Shooting News | July 2015
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