Jan/Feb - uspsa

In every truly unlimited
performance I've had there was
a feeling of total effortlessness.
There isn't any room in
shooting for using effort; nothing
we do really demands it. If
you're not aimed at the target,
aim at the target. If you need
to fire the gun, press the trigger.
If the gun is empty,
change the magazine.. You
know how to do all these things;
it's tension, whether mental,
visual, or physical, that makes
them seem difficult.
Our sport is a tension
sport. People who began their
competitive shooting through
IPSC may never understand
how important it is to relax
because the tension is always
there. But any high-speed
movement can be performed
much more smoothly, quickly,
and precisely when you're
relaxed. You really only need to
have the experience of relaxation
through a few strings of
fire to understand its effect on
your performance.
Learning to relax first
comes from having an awareness
of the existence of tension.
Understand your condition.
Mount the gun and "tune in" to
your stance.
Notice, for in-
stance, if you feel excess or
unequal tension in your arms,
hands, fingers, neck -- any
where.
When you fire the gun,
do you feel tension increase in
one hand, both hands, your
shoulders, stomach, face --
anywhere? Focus your attention
on different areas. It's
particularly helpful to monitor
RELAX
By: Brian Enos A-387
Submitted by Zediker Publishing
the tension in your face. Do
you clench your teeth, press
your tongue against the mof of
your mouth, squint your eyes,
dip your head? Another important
area is the stomach muscles.
Don't worry about where
your shots go or what your time
is when you're checking yourself
out; you're trying to discover
something else.
Check your "visual
tension." Can you follow the
front sight, keeping it in clear
focus all through the recoil cycle
of the gun? Can you see muzzle
flash? Is your vision relaxed
enough so that you notice brass
coming out of the gun? You
may never be consciously aware
of seeing the brass, or of seeing
lead splatter off steel, or seeing
anything but what you need to
see to hit the targets, but in a
state of total relaxation those
things can be seen.
To become aware of your
tension, you may have to
change your routine. As I said
% -
1.11,: :WI!U.I. I!. :.:: !:nos practicing his techniques
earlier, IPSC is a tension-inducing
sport, and if you've never
experienced relaxation in IPSC
shooting then it stands to
reason that you wouldn't be
aware of your tension if you're
"practicing" IPSC. Shoot groups
instead. Fire into a dirt bank.
Use targets set at radically
different distances than what
you normally practice on. Start
with the gun in your hand
instead of drawing it. Do
something different to get out of
your routine so that you can
begin to experience your shooting
for the first time again. It's
then--when there aren't any
preconceptions or routines--that
you11 open up, and feel what's
actually happening as you
shoot.
Turn off the timer! My
first real awareness of the
excess muscle tension I was
shooting with came when I
made a few runs on a stage
without a timer. My partner
had to leave for a while, and
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