Mental Concepts in Training (Part 4)

To wrap up this fairly superficial look at some mental training concepts, we have two more ideas to explore. Quality, not quantity is likely something you’ve heard your whole life. How many of us actually follow that precept all the time though? When we don’t, we usually realize at some point that we should have.

When it comes to shooting, you can apply it in many different ways. Instead of shooting tons of ammo, focus on a solid 15 minutes a day of dry fire, combined with a few hundred rounds a week of live fire. If you structure your training correctly, you can get very far on a regimen like this. When I shot almost daily, and somewhere around 2000 rounds a week, I was sloppy in my practice and got better through sheer volume. It works but is inefficient as you can get further sooner by doing it differently.

Another way to look at it is in just your dry fire time. A few concentrated minutes a day is far better than a ton of time once a week, where you just go through the motions after a while. 10 solid draws a day will hold you in good stead. If you have time, add in 10 reloads. If you have time, add in 10 high-speed trigger presses. None of that takes long, but it is tremendously beneficial. If you don’t do that and instead just spray bullets for a few hours a month, trying to cover every skill you can think of, you will not see much improvement.

Technique is another area where quality matters. Spend the time to refine your techniques and you will see more benefit from your training. A poor grip does no one any good. An inefficient draw will be slower than you want. A botched reload will cost you much more time than you want to give up. Too much tension in your body will hold you back. All of these things take a concentrated effort to improve, but they are best done in small doses regularly. Quality of technique, and quality of practice, is what matters. How many guys do you know have done something for 69 years, but are no better at it now than they were after the first year? Quality over quantity.

A saying you may not be as familiar with is “talent is an unhelpful descriptor.” How many times do we hear people describe skilled shooters as “talented.” It is meant as a compliment, but are any of us naturally good at shooting? That’s what talent is, a natural aptitude. Even the old-fashioned school talent shows usually feature things that the students have learned to do. Juggle, sing, dance, etc. All of those things are learned and practiced to one extent or another. Some of us learn faster than others, and some just seem to because we don’t see the hard work they are putting in.

When you describe someone as talented, you are glossing over all the hard work they have put in. It is true that top shooters often have attributes that make them more successful than others. Better eyesight, “fast hands”, faster mental processing, short arms, or a long torso. All of these things help, but none of them will make you great if you don’t put in the work.

Though usually meant as a compliment, when you say someone is talented, you are giving yourself an excuse for not doing as well. “It doesn’t matter how much I practice, I’ll never be as good as Todd, he’s talented.” That is a cop-out that prevents you from achieving your goals or reaching your potential. Very few people ever reach their genetic potential in anything they do. If you think about it, that’s kind of sad. It is my belief that of all the various reasons we may be on this planet, one of them is to reach our potential. It doesn’t matter what field you choose, reaching your potential in anything is an amazing and rare thing. Don’t make it harder by assuming you can’t do something well. Just keep plugging away and see how close you can get. You might surprise yourself. Just don’t get frustrated if you aren’t talented at it.