Jane is a good shooter. Her training scores are solid enough to win her class in every shoot. Her equipment is the finest money can buy, and her technique is sound. She should win, but she doesn’t. John shoots well in smaller competitions, but when he gets to ones that are important to him, he has difficulty shooting well. He should win, but he doesn’t.

So what is the reason? In my more than 45 years of competing and coaching, one factor is most often the culprit. It takes more points from those who are skilled and have trained diligently than any other. The villain is the amount of MENTAL EFFORT the shooter uses in the tournament. 

“Giving 110% is almost certain to keep you from winning.”

When you give it your all, you may be over-trying. Your level of mental effort exceeds the optimum, and points are lost. Let’s examine why this happens and what we can do about it.

When we begin any form of skill acquisition, we must do things consciously. An example would be looking at the keys when we learn to type. I must admit that I still have to look at the numbers when I type, but the keys are touched automatically now that I’ve been typing for a while. As my Conscious mind can only think about one thing at a time, I was as slow as Christmas at typing in the beginning. As I began to practice, exciting things happened. I soon found that I didn’t have to think about the keys. They seem to type without conscious effort. When this happens, we type with our Subconscious mind. What a difference! Our speed increases, and so does our enjoyment of the skill of typing.

Skill acquisition in shooting occurs precisely the same way. At first, we have to think about the elements of our form. Through training, we begin to do them automatically or Subconsciously. There is a considerable advantage when the Subconscious controls the shooting process. The Conscious mind can only think of one thing at a time, while the Subconscious can handle countless activities simultaneously. We shoot best when the Conscious mind is quiet, and the Subconscious is in control.

So, if this is true, why would we ever want to shoot Consciously? We shouldn’t. But, we do this every time we try too hard in competition. I have observed that close to 90% of shooters are trying too hard in competition. Here’s why. When we enter a significant competition, we naturally want to perform well. The Conscious mind can override the Subconscious at will. So, the Conscious mind, TO MAKE CERTAIN WE SHOOT WELL, over-rides the Subconscious. The result is a drop in scores and an unhappy shooter.

This doesn’t happen in practice or unimportant competitions because the Conscious mind is happy to let the Subconscious take over in lesser situations. You see, the ego resides in the Conscious mind. It seems to resent not being in charge when important events occur. Also, it appears that the Subconscious is quite willing to allow the Conscious mind to take over its job whenever it wants to. The Subconscious is the team we want on the field. We need the Conscious to stay on the bench, but if it takes the field, we will have difficulty winning the game.

So what are we to do? We need the Conscious to do just enough, not 1% more. You see, everything in life requires a certain amount of effort to perform well. If you give it 1% less effort than is needed, performance drops. If you give it 1% MORE effort, performance drops again.

How can you tell if the effort you are using is too much? If you think you NEED this target or begin to count your score when you are shooting, you may be over-trying. Giving it all you’ve got in a competition is over-trying. This problem is so common among shooters that almost everyone will do it at least once in a competition. 

What is the right amount of mental effort? I asked hundreds of elite performers this question, and this is the best answer I’ve received.

“The optimum level of mental effort and let’s just have fun today are close together.” 

That’s right! There is a time to try hard, but it is not in the competition. The time to try is in preparation, not in execution. We must TRUST in execution. That’s correct… TRUST! Trust your training. If you are not training efficiently and effectively, you will have difficulty trusting anything in the competition. But, if you are well prepared, TRUSTING is the ticket to a winning performance.

Unfortunately, most shooters try in execution, and that is the problem. How hard would you have to try if you knew you would win? Think about it. You could enjoy the experience without fear of a bad outcome. That is precisely the feeling that you should have when competing. Relax and let it happen; don’t try to make it happen. Making it happen is putting the Conscious mind on the field and over-trying results. Just let it happen. Trust your Subconscious. Let it do its job. 

Putting the Conscious mind on the bench while competing takes work. Some shooters find that they can do this well. Most, however, find that if they do not give the Conscious mind something to think about, it will find things on its own. It may think about things that will hurt your performance. It has been my experience that if the Conscious mind is not occupied or quiet, it almost always overpowers the Subconscious, and trying too hard is the result. 

I recommend Running a Mental Program just before shooting. It occupies the Conscious mind and allows the Subconscious to do the work. The Mental Program is a planned, practiced sequence of thoughts you picture while executing the steps of your shot routine during the shot execution.

Remember to trust your training to avoid over-trying. The better you train, the more you have to trust in the competition. Run your Mental Program and LET IT HAPPEN.