Key attributes of a good shooter

Introduction

So what makes a good club shooter? Some of the key attributes include having intelligence, showing compatibility, careful planning, being confident, showing consistency, maintaining a positive mental attitude, staying healthy, keeping an open mind, staying determined, focusing in on the objective and sportsmanship. Let’s investigate these factors and see how they apply to us.

Intelligence

Many people believe that it does not take intelligence to be good at sport. This may hold true in some exceptional cases however, in the majority of cases a sportsman has to use intelligence to become successful. A shooter for example has to investigate the purchase and merit of equipment, has to select a coach who is able to point them in the right direction and has to develop an understanding of what it takes to improve. Ultimately, it is still the shooters responsibility to decide if the advice given is appropriate. This takes an inquisitive mind and intelligence. Most sports are not for dummies. Shooting is one of them! In addition, they must know when to make up their mind and decide to adhere to training strategies regardless of any short-term result.

Compatibility

In most team sports competitors must show compatibility with their team members. In many individual sports it is thought that compatibility with other people is not essential. Essential it may be not, however it is a lot easier if you get on with your coach, club officials and selectors for example. You may be able to achieve without this attribute, however it end up being more work. Their are many stories in many sports where athletes have missed out in selection for example purely because they were unable to get on with other team members (shooting is after all also a team sport!) and are passed on by coaches and selectors.

Planning

As discussed in the previous articles to improve ones shooting scores no matter what grade of shooter you are. You must carefully plan. This is no game for the indecisive. Each step must be planned and deliberated. Decide what has to be done, then carefully and methodically do it!

Confidence

Confidence is critical to success. To be successful you must be confident in your abilities. Set realistic goals and plan to succeed. Not only must you be confident in yourself but you must be confident in your equipment. Confidence comes when you know that you have done everything you can do to maximise your shooting success.

Consistency

To succeed you must be consistent in what you do. Be consistent in your training. It is better to train a little less then you were initially aiming for then to train four times a week only to find out that you are unable to maintain this work load. Consistency in training is one of the cornerstones of the successful shooter.

Positive mental attitude

Maintaining a good positive mental attitude is important. Especially when things are not working out as you had anticipated. All athletes fail at reaching some of their goals at some stage of their careers. It is how you respond to your failures that will set you apart from other shooters. Maintaining a positive mental attitude through period of failures will make you a better and tougher competitor on the shooting line

Health.

Maintaining an active healthy lifestyle is important to all shooters. For elite shooters overtraining can be a problem. For the club shooters and the elite shooter alike the aspect that is often overlooked in regards to health is to achieve an appropriate balance between social, business and family life. If these are not balanced properly your competitive success will be short lived.

An Open Mind

You must keep an open mind. Shooters who close themselves off to the possibility in tackling something differently in their shooting or who do not accept coaching or re-evaluation of their technique will often fail. That does not mean however, that you must listen to every suggestion. Be open to different viewpoints, evaluate carefully and then act decisively in the direction you have to move.

Determination

Determination is important as it assist you in focusing in on critical aspects of your shooting. I have never met a winning competitor that was not determined. When things are not going well determination can assist you in maintaining a positive outlook towards your shooting.

Focus

Having in sight a clear defined goal will provide you with focus. Focus can often be a bi-product of determination. The only warning here is that often being too focused can be harmful. Sometimes solutions can present themselves in different ways and a shooter who is to focussing himself too narrowly will often miss out on these vital clues. Be focused yes, but not to the point of excluding other avenues.

Sportsmanship

Some athletes get bye by not displaying good sportsmanship. However, displaying good sportsmanship in winning and losing is the mark of a true champion. Great champions are often remembered on how they handled defeat then how they handled winning a championship. Think back, I am sure you will remember the occasion where someone has displayed great sportsmanship in defeat and shown themselves to be a great champion.

Conclusion

I am sure that there are many other factors in becoming a good shooter. However, if you possess the above traits you are well on your way in winning that elusive championship.

I wish you well and good shooting

Dieter Wilhelmi MSP.S., BSc.