Mental Concepts in Training

I’m still pretty covered up right now, but let’s start to look at the ideas I posted last week. The mental side of shooting is incredibly important if you want to develop real skills. The kind of skill you can call on when you need it, not just when everything is going your way. To that end, some of this is stuff I cover in ODP, and some of it is not. I’m going to try and keep these ideas fairly short and digestible, but let me know if you have any questions.

The little things are the only things. This is a concept overlooked by most people in most activities and is one reason most people are not at the top of whatever field they are interested in. In shooting, an example of the little things is how you reload your gun administratively. Do you take your magazine out of your pocket, point the gun down at the ground, and reload that way? The better way to do it is to reload exactly the same way you normally do when time matters. Bring the gun into your workspace, retrieve a magazine from your mag pouch, and reload like you mean it. Once done, top off your mag pouch with a loaded magazine, so that the next reload doesn’t end up coming from somewhere else by accident.

This concept applies to everything you do. When I draw my gun, I tend to draw it fast, even if draw speed is not what I am measuring at the time. To get more granular, perfect technique, while likely out of reach, is what we need to strive for. I want to do every part of every motion or activity as perfectly as possible. All the time.

This type of outlook helps ensure that my technique is as good as it can be. It helps ensure that my routines or sub-routines are executed correctly. Not just when I think it counts, but all the time, so that when it does really count, I can rely on my practice to get me through. I think this concept is one of the most important ideas for long-term practice, and it was drilled into me very early on. So far, it has not let me down.

Watch any line of shooters at any school and you will see people violating this principle. Sometimes they don’t realize it, sometimes they are lazy. Conversely, if you watch a top shooter in any discipline that I am familiar with, they do things the same way, all the time.

Until next time, train hard.