At a recent shoot at the Camp, we had 17 of the toughest gunslingers in the valley. Rodeo Romeo was probably the quickest shooter there, but finished 7th. Afterwards on facebook he commented that he has "accuracy issues and needs to go back to the wall." Rodeo does not have any accuracy issues. He is one of the most accurate shooters in the CFDA. When he hits early he will normally follow up with two more hits almost on top of the first, three hits, and he is done. It is the sign of a finalized draw.
Rodeo's slump stems from one or more of three issues: 1) alignment, 2) mental toughness, and 3) temper.
Alignment: When Rodeo's first shot is high on the target, he will follow it with 2 more high on the target. When his first shot is low on the target, he will follow it with two more low on the target. If he is shooting at 21 feet all will be within 3 inches, at 15 feet all will be within 2 inches. It is the sign of a finalized and accurate draw. But if his early shots are off of the target, he struggles. He is like Albert Pujols trying to hit Jenny Finch. Because his practice has been so focused on speed and accuracy, he does not have chunked data in his subconscious on how to walk his hits to the target. He needs to store data on how the make those small incremental alignment changes that will bring the hits to the target and once on the target to the light. With the wall, Rodeo has no excuse to be less than 80% at any speed. If the first shot is a miss, his second should be on the target, next shot should be closer to the light, next shot in the light, and then sit down because of his speed.
Elevation: For most folks, I suggest that they determine their target height then draw two lines, one 3 inches above and one 3 inches below the target height and shoot 50 rounds from 6 feet. An average shooter will start out with 40% in target zone for first 15-20 rounds then move to 60% and then by last 10 shots be 100% in the target zone, all done without thinking about it. Let the subconscious do the work. One inch change at 6 feet equals about 4 inches at 21 feet. This drill will probably not work for Levi because he is so accurate. He will put the first shot at the target height and follow it with 49 more in the target zone. What will he have learned, little.
For Levi I suggest he shoot at 6 feet and at a 17 inch or blocker target. Draw a line 3 inches above the center of light and a line 3 inches below the center of the light. For first five shots, the target is the area below the bottom line. First shot is a guess. He needs to adjust the elevation before set command however he does that. Do not aim! Do not think! Adjust the elevation, waggle and draw! The shot will go where ever it is aligned. Keep adjusting until the hits are below line. For Levi, for the next five shots, the target is the area above the top line. For the third five shots, target is the middle six inch area. Do three sets of 15. The point is to store data on how to make small incremental adjustments prior to the set command so that you can walk your hits to the light. Do not adjust by aiming! Do not adjust by thinking! Make the adjustment, then let the shot go where the alignment takes it. Make all adjustments before the set command, then forget them.
Right and Left: I normally do not concern myself with right or left when I practice because those adjustments are so easy to make. But some shooters struggle with it so I will cover it. Right or left adjustments are made by rotating your stance. For me one degree of rotation equals about 4 inches of movement at 21 feet. I wrote a earlier post on this. Adjustment right or left again should be made before the set command.
A good drill for this is to shoot cross target. See my post on this.
If you are trying to adjust right or left by changing your draw you will be hopeless lost. Never ever change your draw to adjust. All adjustments should be by alignment and done before the set command.
Mental Toughness: When Rodeo is on, mentally tough, he will put three on the plate at .35 speed or less all within a 2-3 inch circle. He is shooting from his subconscious. When he is struggling he will shoot at .38 speed and where he hits is just a matter of chance. "Any thinking will transform an expert into a novice." The Sports Gene. When he is struggling he has moved from shooting from the subconscious to shooting from the frontal lobe. He is thinking about it.
If you are missing to the left, and you think about it while you are making your draw you will hit exactly where your mind has told your body to shoot, and you will miss to the right. Shooting from the frontal lobe results in wide swings. First, a miss to the right, then a miss to the left, then a high miss, then a low miss. The body does what the mind tells it to do. You also run the risk of changing your draw. Once you start changing your draw you are lost to the agonies of the mind.
A pre-shot routine is essential to mental toughness. I have given you mine in a prior post. Walking the hits to the light is not about accuracy, it is about mental toughness. Evaluate, adjust, waggle, (no thinking after the waggle), coiled spring, shot will go where alignment takes it, normally closer to the light than the last.
Temper: I have noticed that Rodeo has a temper. When he is struggling, he will get mad at himself. This does not help. The last shot is water under the bridge. Anger will only be a disruption of mental toughness.
I struggle many times when my first shot is near perfect. A perfect first shot disrupts my pre-shot routine. I have no adjustments to make. A miss is just a opportunity to get useful information on our alignment so we can continue our stroll to the light. Once you have evaluated a miss for alignment information, forget it. It is just a distraction.
Rodeo Romeo, who I believe to be one of the few shooters capable of being a true 3 flat shooter (.25 to .35 at 80%) gave me permission to write this post. I greatly appreciate his permission. After he wins World, he is going teach me to go fast!
If you want to go fast, go to the Camp.......!
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