If you are second guessing yourself you need to re-evaluate your mental game. You are thinking about something outside the shot routine and that means you aren’t in a good place mentally. Get back to a processoriented routine. Her final advice comes after the shot. Relax between stations, you can’t concentrate on shooting 100% of the time. Practice putting pressure on yourself as you practice. Also practice the Pre-shot routine you expect to use in tournaments during practice sessions. Refine it before you shoot registered targets. Finally, read all the articles you want, it still comes down to finding what works for you. TrapShootingUSA – July/August – 2021 This is the Florida Issue with reviews on the Southern Grand, Bill Jacobson Memorial Shoot, and the Florida State Shoot. Also included is a nice story on Ruthie Flayderman. Sandra Jo Jack pays wonderful homage to her. Part 1 of a series of articles by Matthew Gay on the mental game starts in this issue. First he gives a thumbnail review of all of the important aspects of the mental game. The conscious mind, subconscious, self-talk, selfesteem, and finally a shooter’s reaction to lost targets. Mr. Gay suggests visualization exercises to learn how to control conscious thought and talks about the Quiet Eye principle and being in the zone when referring to the subconscious. When discussing self-talk, he only refers to the negative aspects and how it can interfere with the subconscious and its free expression of the shooting response. As to having a positive self-view, Matthew cau-
tions that it is a long-term process, changing a negative attitude to a positive one. Lanny Bassham’s philosophy is described in four paragraphs. He concludes that the advancement of a positive selfattitude allows the subconscious to do its job. Finally, move on after a lost target. Prepare for the next shot and leave the last shot behind. This is a general overview article. Part 2 will not doubt have more detailed strategies.
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