Shooting Up To Your Potential (Or Not)

Learning proper perspective is the first step to learning to win.

“And will you succeed? Yes, you will indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)” — Dr. Seuss

We’ve all been there before (probably at our last match). We go out the morning of a big match to warm up and it seems that we can’t miss. Every target we shoot goes down; every offhand sighter shot is perfect; our hold looks like we’re sitting on a bench. Then the match starts and those perfect shots turn into shaky, poorly timed, ugly stepsisters of what they were just a few minutes before.

Who hasn’t shot wonderful scores in practice that that have rarely or never shown up in a match? Or what about those great scores at club matches that are strangely absent at championship matches?

Why does this happen? Are we just choking when it matters? Are we not as good as we think we are or that our practice/club match scores show? What is the problem here???

The answers to these questions are wide-ranging and way too complicated to cover in one article. So, over time (a LOT of time and a LOT of articles) we are going to thoroughly dive into each of these issues and all the little things that ultimately lead to good scores in the biggest matches. But before we get into all that, the first thing we need to understand is that proper perspective is essential to winning. One of the first concepts to understand to gain proper perspective is the concept of potential.

What is Potential?

Merriam-Webster defines potential (the kids definition, always my favorite) in these two ways.

1. : the chance or possibility that something will develop and become real.

2. : an ability or quality that can lead to success or excellence.

Let’s think of that second definition - an ability or quality that can lead to success or excellence - as achieved potential. You’ve done it before so you have the ability to do it again. You’ve shot a 34/40 before'; you have the potential to do it in this match. You’ve shot 10-in-a-row rams before; you have the potential to do it on the rams that are sitting in front of you right now. You’ve hit the spot on the target you’re aiming at before; you have the potential to hit the spot on the target you’re about to shoot.

We will think of the first definition - the chance or possibility that something will develop - as unachieved potential. Unachieved potential is something you haven’t done yet but you can do it. If you can hit one turkey, you can hit five turkeys in a row. You may not have done it yet, but the possibility is there. If you can hit 25 targets in a match, you can hit 35 targets in a match. You may not have done it yet, but the possibility is there.

The important thing to recognize about unachieved potential is that your achieved potential is never the best you can do - the possibility is out there to do something better than you’ve done it before and increase your achieved potential. Most of the training tips and advice you’ll see on this newsletter is about turning unachieved potential into achieved potential - turning possibility into ability; but today we are going to talk about achieved potential, because for most of us, we only need to shoot up to our achieved potential to win! (For the rest of this article, when I use the term potential, I am talking about achieved potential - the known ability to do something we’ve done before.)

Thanks for the English Lesson, Now What Does This Have To Do With Shooting Silhouette?

Here is something you probably have never thought about before: The VAST majority of championship silhouette matches are won by the ONE top shooter that shoots up to his/her potential for that match. Every once in a while, more than one top shooter will shoot to her potential and we get a very close match with GREAT scores. The other possibility is that none of the top shooters shoot to their potential and we get a very close match with not-so-great scores. The same thing happens in each of the classes. We have the ability to shoot a great score, now who is going to DO IT?

The interesting thing about silhouette is that most shooters do not shoot up to their potential in a given championship match. It just doesn’t happen very often. Think about it; how many times in your shooting career have you gone to a really big match and shot as well as you do in practice or at your club matches at home? It probably hasn’t happened very many times. This is not limited to shooters in lower classes - the exact thing happens to the top shooters. The nature of this game is that we usually do not shoot up to our potential!

Mr. Dennis Martinen is an absolute legend of our sport. He has won everything there is to win and at one time or another held almost every national record there is to hold. A few years ago in Ridgway at the nationals, Mr. Dennis shot a nice 35 or 36 in a match and I congratulated him on the score. His response was a big smile and this: “Thanks, but I can do better.” Mr. Dennis understands that he has the potential to shoot great scores because he has done it before and does it often. More importantly, he understands that to win he simply needs to shoot up to his potential. He also has learned over the years that shooting up to that potential is pretty rare - and that’s what makes the sport so great.

Why Is This Important?

Consistently getting to the top of the standings in a match or in your class requires two things: (1) developing your skills and ability (your potential); and (2) learning how to win. We are going to work on both of these over time. The first step to learning how to win is learning how to look at this sport, and your performances, realistically.

Your practice scores and club match scores and warmup hits are all important to give you confidence in your potential to be great. You only need to shoot to your potential to win your class - but shooting to that potential is rare, for everyone - keep shooting!

So, next time you go to a big match (or any match) and you don’t perform like you were hoping, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t any good, or that you need to start making big changes to how you shoot, or that you’ve failed. You simply didn’t shoot up to your potential this time, just like almost everyone else. We know that the ability is there; and the wins and great performances come in those rare times that we shoot up to our potential - but usually we don’t, and that’s what makes this sport the greatest shooting sport on Earth!

Be realistic. Understand the nature of this very difficult sport. Work hard to get better. Then step into the arena over and over and take the chance that today will be the day that you shoot up to your potential!

QUESTION AND ANSWER

Here is a great question from one of our fellow competitors:

“Congrats at the Monarch Cup! So, my question might be a little complicated...I'm in my 30's and I just got in to silhouette for the past couple years and I know one of the worst things you can do is second guess things and change things up....in the video with Erich you all mentioned stick with something for a year etc...I feel like the kids at Ridgway, etc. are coached properly, etc...but what  about the people that aren't, love the sport, and dream of winning a nationals or finally obtaining a grand slam pin? We are just feeling our way through until we strike oil.

So my question is, As a top competitor, how did you know when a grip/form was worth sticking with or abandoning; I guess what I'm trying to ask is how do you properly identify what works and what doesn't, and never will.

I've tried something new and I'm like man that feels great, I try to repeat and it's like I'm back to square one...”

Thanks for emailing this in! This is not a complicated question, it’s just several questions, so lets break them down and answer each. But first, let me comment on a few things you said that aren’t questions.

“I know one of the worst things you can do is second guess things and change things up.”

It’s generally a bad idea to second guess things that have worked in the past if they don’t seem to be working in ONE MATCH. Don’t overreact to one performance. If you know something is not working, that’s a different story.

“[I]n the video with Erich you all mentioned stick with something for a year…”

My policy for changes IN EQUIPMENT is to stick with a change for a year. If I feel strongly enough about a piece of equipment to change to it, I have thought it through enough to give it a full season. This doesn’t necessarily apply to something like position changes or grip. Don’t stick with something that you KNOW is not working.

Now, to the questions.

“I feel like the kids at Ridgway, etc. are coached properly, etc...but what  about the people that aren't, love the sport, and dream of winning a nationals or finally obtaining a grand slam pin? We are just feeling our way through until we strike oil.”

If there is a top shooter in your area that is willing to teach, and most all are, ask lots of questions and ask whether that shooter will help coach you. Don’t be afraid to ask; it is our responsibility to grow the sport and help competitors become better. We want better shooters!

If you don’t have someone in your area, take advantage of things like this newsletter and Erich’s YouTube channel. Keep in mind that standing to shoot silhouette is basically the same as standing to shoot 10 meter air rifle or 3P. Check out instructional videos on those sports from coaches like Heinz Reinkemeier. Send in questions like you did here and we will work through it with you. The internet gives us an amazing tool to teach things that shooters didn’t have years ago - use it!

Also, of course, if you go to nationals, make plans to attend the clinic on the off day put on by Cathy Winstead-Severin. Get as much instruction FROM TOP SHOOTERS (not just from anyone) as you can.

“So my question is, As a top competitor, how did you know when a grip/form was worth sticking with or abandoning; I guess what I'm trying to ask is how do you properly identify what works and what doesn't, and never will.

I've tried something new and I'm like man that feels great, I try to repeat and it's like I'm back to square one...”

When it comes to position, grip, etc., I developed my habits by trying lots and seeing what (1) feels most comfortable to me, and (2) helped me to hit the spots I’m aiming at. This takes a LOT of tinkering around for the first couple of years of shooting. You have to try little things to see what works and what doesn’t. You’ll know pretty quickly if something doesn’t work at all. If something does, you might want to develop it more. If something is not repeatable, that’s a good indication that it’s not working!

It takes hours and hours of shooting and thousands and thousands of shots to get your position down. What works for me might not work for you. The only universal things that you basically have to do is tuck your support elbow into your body, get your natural point of aim down, and learn how to break the trigger without moving the rifle and with a good follow-through. The rest is mostly personal preference and everybody does it a little different.

If this answer just leads you to more questions, email me and ask them. If you can get to a match that you know will have a top shooter, reach out to them before the match and see if they will spend some time with you at the match to work out any issues you might be having.

The most important thing is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

In case you haven’t seen it, you can check out the video referred to in this question here: