Personal Defense World
  • News
  • Guns
    • Handguns
    • Rifles
    • Shotguns
    • Class III & More
  • Gear
    • Accessories
    • Ammo
    • Holsters
    • Knives
    • Optics/Lights
    • Safes
    • Suppressors
  • Lifestyle
    • Concealed Carry
    • First-Time Shooters
    • Home & Self-Defense
  • Videos
    • Latest Videos
    • PDW Videos
    • Free Gun Friday
    • SCCY Brand Videos
    • Video Series
      • Everyday Carry
  • More
    • Sweepstakes
    • Subscribe
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Personal Defense World
  • News
  • Guns
    • Handguns
    • Rifles
    • Shotguns
    • Class III & More
  • Gear
    • Accessories
    • Ammo
    • Holsters
    • Knives
    • Optics/Lights
    • Safes
    • Suppressors
  • Lifestyle
    • Concealed Carry
    • First-Time Shooters
    • Home & Self-Defense
  • Videos
    • Latest Videos
    • PDW Videos
    • Free Gun Friday
    • SCCY Brand Videos
    • Video Series
      • Everyday Carry
  • More
    • Sweepstakes
    • Subscribe
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Personal Defense World
No Result
View All Result
 
New Year, New FREE GUN FRIDAY! Enter to WIN the Smith & Wesson and Black Hills package.

Train the Mind to go Beyond the Mechanics for Increased Confidence

Ranon Mastison by Ranon Mastison
February 4, 2022
in Skills / How To
0
When you train the mind, the way you look at the process of shooting is going to change how confident you are.
0
SHARES
9
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

You’re set up at the shooting range and look down your sights at your target downrange. You’re about to take the shot and train your mind toward the process. “Slow and smooth press,” you tell yourself, as your finger starts to creep toward the back of the triggerguard, bringing the trigger with it. You focus on the movement of your finger, making sure it’s going as smoothly as possible for that perfect shot.

With proper training and instruction, the modern semi-automatic rifle is perfect for defense.
RELATED STORY

VIDEO: Rifle Training, Skills and Safety for First-Time Buyers

Train the Mind to Become a Better Shot

You think about your grip, making sure your finger is coming straight back. You’re becoming aware of where the trigger is touching your finger, and how you can start to feel the individual muscles in your hand . . . but now your sights have shifted because of how long you’ve been focused on your finger.

So, you readjust your sights and start the process all over again. This time you focus on your sight picture and crosshairs. So much so that your finger slaps against the trigger and snaps the shot. It’s nowhere near where you wanted it to be.

Then you come off the gun, frustrated and exhausted after just one shot because of the amount of mental and physical effort you’ve just expended fruitlessly. It doesn’t have to be as complicated as it all sounds. It’s all about your understanding and perception.

Perception

There are several factors that come into play when you’re mastering or improving a skill, especially shooting. The first I want to talk about is perception. Perception is such an underrated concept that many people quickly glance over or even just straight ignore it.

Regardless of firearm type, the author's method of perception, confidence and understanding will improve your shooting.

If you’re behind your firearm and don’t have the right understanding of what’s happening and what’s going to happen, there is a significantly smaller chance of success. Is there still a chance? Yes. Is that chance incredibly small? Also yes.

You can understand the basics of how pulling the trigger causes the bullet to go downrange. But if you’re nervous, doubtful, or distracted from that process at all, then your shot is going to be affected.

There are so many different things that you have the option to focus on when getting ready to pull that trigger: smooth press, aiming, breathing, the movement of your finger, the subtle pulse of the crosshair matching your heartbeat, and so on. That’s a lot of options for you to decide what to focus on. But you have to choose what to focus on as well as how to do it.

However, this doesn’t mean you have to make a list of everything you notice when you shoot, prioritize it and go through a list of steps to make sure that each one is taken care of. You’re allowed to think of the whole process however you like. This leads into the next topic I want to talk about…

Confidence

The way you look at the process of shooting is going to change how confident you are. If you focus on every little detail, it can begin to appear overwhelming. While each individual detail may not be that difficult, when they’re put all together it can seem like a lot to handle in such a short period of time. This can be prevented with a change in your perception, similar to re-grouping or re-organizing all the information.

Shooting can be broken down into just a few simple steps: breathe, aim, pull the trigger. And these are the steps that people often break down even further and then become overwhelmed with.

A way of avoiding getting overwhelmed is to simply accept all the details. It may sound cheesy and philosophical, but if you accept the fact that all these extra steps are happening at the same time as those few basic steps, there’s significantly less pressure over the whole process.

That’s because, after accepting the details, you don’t feel as surprised or pressured to acknowledge them all one by one as you’re trying to take your shot. Because you already know about them and when they’ll happen.

This makes the process of shooting much less complicated, and it feels like a much easier task. Even though you’re doing the exact same thing. All the smaller details now seem to blend together into those few larger and broader steps.

Now you can practice those more often and more easily without being distracted by the smaller things, even though they still happen. There’s no need to worry about them when you know that they happen when you go through the larger steps.

Understanding

This method is something that I’ve taken a long time to figure out and finally understand enough to put into words. Once I fully understood what was happening and how I was overcomplicating the whole process, I immediately saw a positive change in my results. I even felt surprisingly more comfortable with each shot.

Accepting the details makes the process of shooting much more comfortable—and accurate.

The best way to describe it is like a temporary feeling of complete serenity. You’re aware of everything going on around you, but it doesn’t affect your focus on the target. You feel your body slow down as you get ready to take the shot, then the trigger goes back, and that bullet goes downrange.

After the shot, the world starts to affect you again. Nothing changes—it just comes back into focus, and then you realize you’ve only spent a brief moment taking that shot. Then you check your target and notice a major improvement in the results. That is essentially my experience with this method, and I believe that many other shooters would have the same experience.

This is not only for bolt guns or distance shooting, either. The exact same method works for working on speed and training drills, handgun and rifle, and so on. It’s the concept of changing your understanding that does all the work. Once you’ve done the slow practice and know all the motions and details, you can reorganize your thoughts about it. You realize it’s not as complicated as it may seem when you break it down into small things.

Persistence

It’s all about understanding what you’re doing and realizing that it’s all going to happen, regardless of how fast or how slowly you go through it. So, you might as well realize that and go into it with confidence. Even if it starts with just a little bit more confidence, you’ll see an improvement in your results and how comfortable you feel handling your firearm.

The idea of confidence leads me into the last point I want to make, which is to be persistent but not stubborn. These words can often be confused with one another in meaning, but I believe it’s the way they’re used that makes the difference.

When you’re shooting, and things aren’t going as well as you’d hoped, this can very easily get under your skin and get irritating—especially with the price and scarcity of ammo. If that starts happening, just take a second to yourself, take a breath, go over what you’ve been doing and try again, or change something and try again.

Don’t give up because you’re having a bad day, though—that’s how things get worse. If you give up one time, it gets easier and easier to keep doing that. That’s what I consider stubbornness. Going at it over and over again out of spite rather than with the goal to improve.

When you train the mind, your shot placement will be on point.

Continued Training

Even if you want to get better, the way you go about it is what’s getting in your way. However, persistence is the mindset to keep trying and keep doing what’s needed to improve.

All in all, when you train your mind to look at things differently, it will greatly improve your results. And it’s not difficult, either. It may take a bit of time to understand and practice, but once you understand it, you’ll realize how much can change with just your mindset.

You’ll go from asking why you aren’t shooting well to asking what you should be focusing on. Then you’ll be seeing results.

This article was originally published in the Personal Defense World Gun Buyer’s Guide December/January 2022 issue. Subscription is available in print and digital editions at OutdoorGroupStore.com. Or call 1-800-284-5668, or email subscriptions@athlonmediagroup.com.

Didn't find what you were looking for?

CLICK HERE FOR COMMENTS

Related Posts

The T4E S&W M&P9 M2.0 Marker.

Train as You Carry with the T4E S&W M&P9 M2.0 Marker

WildEar FieldEarz Custom Hearing Protection.

FieldEarz Hearing Protection: Hear What You Want Not What You Don’t

Dry Fire Training: Mantis X10 Elite.

Hone Your Skills with These 10 Dry Fire Training Products

The Mantis BlackbeardX.

The Mantis BlackbeardX Provides AR Training in Your Home

Load More

PERSONAL DEFENSE WORLD VIDEOS

Discussion about this post

FEATURED POST

Study Proves the Good Guy with a Gun Theory.

Good Guy with a Gun: Study of CCW Holders Stopping Mass Shootings

Following the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, gun control advocates have taken the anti-gun narrative to a fever pitch. They insist...

Read more

TRENDING

pump-action, pump action, lever-action, lever action, pump-action rifle, pump-action rifles, lever-action rifle, lever-action rifles

10 Ultra-Reliable Lever And Pump-Action Rifles

...

Taurus 605 TORO and 856 TORO Revolvers.

Taurus Releases New Optics Ready 605 TORO and 856 TORO Revolvers

...

pocket pistol, pocket pistols, concealed carry handguns, concealed carry handgun, concealed carry pistol, concealed carry pistols

Best Pocket Pistols for Personal Defense [2022]

...

concealed carry, concealed carry handguns

Top 13 Compact 1911 Handguns for Concealed Carry

...

PICK A CATEGORY

CONCEALED CARRY SPOTLIGHT

gun drawing tips techniques

Tips & Tricks for a Fast Gun Draw

You have the right gun. Your cutting-edge holster is made with some lightweight, futuristic material. Your belt is even specially made to carry your...

CONCEALED CARRY SHOWCASE

The FightLite SCR Bandito Pistol.

Shot at SHOT Show: The FightLite SCR Bandito Pistol in 5.56 or 300BLK

Are Switchblades Illegal?

Are Switchblades Legal to Carry in the United States?

Two New Concealed Carry Pistols from Rock Island Armory.

Two New Rock Island Armory Concealed Carry Pistols at SHOT Show

The GPO Spectra Reflex Sight.

GPO Debuts Spectra Reflex Sight at SHOT Show – Its First Reflex Optic

The Tisas Bantam Carry 1911.

Tisas Bantam Carry 1911: A Feature-Rich Pistol with Custom Performance

The Taurus TX22 Compact .22 LR.

Seen at SHOT Show: Taurus Ups the .22 LR Ante with the TX22 Compact

How to Choose a Gun for Self-Defense

How to Choose a Gun for Self-Defense

gun drawing tips techniques

Tips & Tricks for a Fast Gun Draw

AMMO SPOTLIGHT

Getting a Jump on SHOT Show 2023.

7 Personal Defense Related Products to Start SHOT Show 2023 Early

SHOT Show 2023 is almost here and the anticipation is killing us. Of course, the staff of Personal Defense World...

site logo
Gun News, Gun Reviews, and Self Defense Tips

Tactical

  • tactical-life.com

Magazines

  • Tactical Life
  • The Complete Book of Reloading
  • Guns of the Old West

Facebook

  • Tactical-Life Facebook
  • Guns of the Old West Facebook

Twitter

  • Tactical-Life Twitter

Self Defense

  • PersonalDefenseWorld.com

Magazines

  • Personal Defense World
  • Combat Handguns

Facebook

  • Personal Defense World Facebook
  • Combat Handguns

Twitter

  • Personal Defense World Twitter

Shooting Lifestyle

  • BallisticMag.com

Magazines

  • BallisticMag.com

Facebook

  • Ballistic Magazine Facebook

Twitter

  • Ballistic Magazine Twitter

Alpha Lifestyle

  • SkillsetMag.com

Magazines

  • Skillset

Facebook

  • Skillset Magazine Facebook

Twitter

  • Skillset Magazine Twitter

Instagram

  • Skillset Magazine Instagram
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • California Privacy Notice
  • Cookie Policy
© Athlon Outdoors, All Rights Reserved.
You use of this website constitutes and manifests your acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and awareness of the California Privacy Rights. Pursuant to U.S. Copyright law, as well as other applicable federal and state laws, the content on this website may not be reproduced, distributed, displayed, transmitted, cached, or otherwise used, without the prior, express, and written permission of Athlon Outdoors.

Manage your GDPR consents by clicking here. Manage your CCPA consents by clicking here.
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Guns
    • View All Guns
    • Handguns
    • Shotguns
    • Rifles
    • Class III & More
    • Sponsored
  • Gear
    • View All Gear
    • Accessories
    • Ammo
    • Holsters
    • Knives
    • Optics/Lights
    • Safes
    • Suppressors
  • Lifestyle
    • View All Lifestyle
    • Concealed Carry
    • First-Time Shooters
    • Home & Self-Defense
  • Videos
    • PDW Videos
    • Free Gun Friday
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Contact Us

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.