Developing Mental Toughness for Air Pistol Shooting

[brihacharan]

Developing Mental Toughness for Air Pistol Shooting

Dr. Pierre Beauchamp is a universally acclaimed expert on building ‘Mental Toughness’ in sports. His “Mindroom” methodology is all about sharing each athlete’s work to make them stronger mentally,”

Heena Sidhu is an Indian shooter. She along with Annu Raj Singh won the gold medal in women's Pairs 10 metre air pistol at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Heena (384) and Annu (375) won the 14th gold medal for India from the shooting range. She also won a silver medal in the singles event.

Heena has been a practicing shooter since 2006 when she was in 12th standard and by the end of that year she made it into the National Junior Team & began participating in different competitions from 2007. She played for the Patiala Club and is right handed shooter with right being her dominant eye. Heena, along with Annu Raj Singh and Sonia Rai, won a silver medal in the Women's 10m Air Pistol Team event at the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China.

Her other notable achievements include winning silver medal in ISSF World Cup 2009 at Beijing and 1st position in the women's 10m air pistol at the national championship 2009, Kerala.

Sidhu made it to the Indian squad that represented the nation in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She competed in the Women's 10 metre air pistol event, finishing 12th in the qualification round.

Dr. Pierre Beauchamp and Heena Sidhu shared notes at the end of each training session and this helped her attain marked improvement with every succeeding training session.

Mindroom methodology is gaining acceptance in Indian sport. Shooters are adopting mental training and body monitoring techniques to steady their mind and hand. Abhinav Bindra tried it out under Dr. Timothy Harkness of South Africa in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he won the gold medal (10m air rifle). The Indian shooter continues to work on mental training and body monitoring techniques with Dr. Pierre Beauchamp of Canada.

Both Harkness and Beauchamp are experts in Peak Sports Performance (PSP), developed by Professor Bruno de Michelis in 2002.

Beauchamp started mind training for shooters before the London Olympics, when India’s Heena Sidhu (10m air pistol) surfed the net for a mental conditioning expert. After interacting with her over Skype, Beauchamp began working with Heena on her mental conditioning at Pune’s Balewadi Sports Complex before moving over to Hanover for further preparations before the London Olympics.

Beauchamp spoke to Sportstar on Mindroom methodology and his experiences with Abhinav Bindra.

Beauchamp:
The key to successful interventions is to be flexible and adaptable for every individual. We term this as “Individualization.” Without it, you would be doing the same with everyone and that methodology just does not work. In Mindroom, we profile each athlete and work with his strengths to help him / her become stronger mentally.

Abhinav Bindra’s experience in the 10m air rifle event at the 2004 Athens Olympics was so heart breaking that anyone in his position would have been wrecked mentally. However, he went on to win the gold in Beijing in 2008. What did he do differently?

I cannot talk about this event because I was not working with him at that time.

He broke a psychological barrier for Indian shooters and other participants by winning the gold medal. He needed eight years (Sydney 2000 to Beijing 2008) to do that. Should we be more patient with our national champions instead of expecting them to win medals on their Olympic or World Cup debut?

Abhinav broke an important barrier for Indian athletes. Consequently, many young shooters now believe it is possible to win a medal at the Olympics.

We need to be more patient. In not doing so, and focusing only on medal count, we would be putting unnecessary pressure on athletes. A more effective way of encouraging athletes is to demonstrate the rate of improvement each of them has made in relation to his/her personal best. This allows them to focus on their game-winning strategies, not the expectations of others, which they have no control over.

Question to Beauchamp:
You are working with Abhinav now, how does Mindroom techniques work when applied to a proven performer like him?
Beauchamp:
With a proven performer like Abhinav, the first thing I do is listen, observe and take notes. After all, he is the master when it comes to shooting. When he came to visit me in Montreal for 10 days last November, I listened to him very closely as he described his routine, performances, how he handled critical situations in the past, his World Cup and Olympic successes etc. It was an important visit to get to know each other. We had no shooting range there then, which allowed us to have many discussions on a variety of sport science topics, for example, how one processes visual information and sensations within the body during a performance and how one deals with distractions. We then moved on towards goal setting for the next two years.
Question to Beauchamp:
Abhinav is known for his work ethic. How has your experience with him been?
Beauchamp:
I have learned first hand Abhinav’s work ethic; I have seen it at his training base in Chandigarh. He is meticulous and very detailed about everything he does, not just shooting but also in life. This quality is for young students, athletes and professionals to emulate. I think Abhinav’s mind is his greatest quality. He asks incredible questions about sport science, performances and life in general. This quality demonstrates a very curious and inquisitive mind. In a sport like shooting, where the mind is critical to performance under pressure, this is an excellent quality to possess.
Question to Beauchamp:
Heena Sidhu trained under you during the concluding phase of preparations for the London Olympics. What did she focus on during her Olympic debut?
Beauchamp:
Heena’s focus was on executing her game plans for the London Olympics. Her plans included week before routine, night before routine, day of competition routine, pre-competition routine, competition game plan and a post-competition debrief.
Question to Beauchamp:
India’s sporting achievers end up using a lot of mental energy fighting the system on way to the top after which critical aspects like equipment, support staff, sponsors and money starts falling into place. How can they channel this energy in a more positive way?
Beauchamp:
These obstacles are common in all sport and across all countries around the world. What athletes need to do is surround themselves with a high performance team that includes a business manager who will at times take charge and provide the networking skills to cut through the red tape that often discourages athletes from going forward with their dreams. In India, with the Mittal Champions Trust, this role for those selected athletes is done by Manisha Malhotra (CEO of the Trust). Ideally, India needs more people like her to work on athletes’ behalf.

Question to Beauchamp:
Indian national squads have a mix of players from diverse regions, speaking different languages and thinking differently. It has always presented a challenge for managers and coaches — even experienced foreigners — to get the whole team on a similar wavelength. Can mind-training tools help in this regard?
Beauchamp:
Mindroom training can help athletes, coaches and support personnel towards talking the same language. For example, I was working with an Olympic skiing team on the importance of every player being aware of whether they are having a positive or negative impact on the team. I pointed out to them that whenever someone was negative about training it could have a negative impact on not only the remainder of their training, but also on the rest of the team. I had someone to restructure what they said in a positive way. They soon learned to monitor each other towards being on the same page in terms of their professional attitude both on and off the slopes and this led to an enormous improvement in their individual performance & the team as a whole.

> In the final analysis what we can conclude from the above is:
> Conditioning the 'Mind' for individual sport like Air Pistol Shooting is a "One to One" interactive procedure. Because the mindset of each individual varies from one-another.
> While collective sessions can help one in coming to grips with what is required as a 'principle' - Only individual sessions can help one put to practice one's individual strengths & capabilities.
> The cases of Bindra & Sidhu are classic examples.
Briha

[brihacharan]

CONCENTRATION EXERCISES FOR TRAINING THE MIND
(Concluding Part)

Concentration exercises can sharpen the mind and improve the ability to concentrate. You need training and practice. Even only ten minutes a day of concentration exercises will do you good.

• Your mind does not like discipline, and will resist your efforts to discipline it.
• It loves its freedom more than anything else, and won't let you master it.
• It will make you forget to do the exercises, tempt you to postpone performing them, or make you feel too lazy.
• It will find many tricks to occupy your attention with something else.
• The choice is yours, to be mastered by the mind and its whims, or to be its master.

Here are a few simple concentration exercises. By practicing mental exercises, it is possible to train the mind and master it, and put it in its proper place, as your servant, and not as your boss and master.

You are not the mind, nor the thoughts that pass through it. Though it might be hard to accept this idea, the mind is not you, the real you, but only a tool that you use. It is an instrument, which has great value, but it has to be taught to obey you.

Most people believe that they are the mind, and erroneously believe that controlling the mind means holding themselves back and denying their freedom. They feel that controlling their mind is not natural, and that it is some sort of repression. These beliefs are not correct.

The proof that we are not the mind comes with training. Accept the idea in theory, and in time, as your control over your thoughts grows, you will know it as a fact. In reality, you, the real you, is the one mastering the mind. It is not the mind mastering itself.

HOW TO PRACTICE CONCENTRATION EXERCISES

1.Find a place where you can be alone and undisturbed. If you wish, you may sit crossed legged on the floor, but most people would find it more comfortable to sit on a chair. Sit with your spine erect.

2.Take a few calm deep breaths and then relax your body, by directing your attention to it, and relaxing each muscle, from head to toes.

3.Practice each of the exercises below for about 10 minutes, and after a few weeks of training, lengthen the time to 15 minutes.

4.Start with the first exercise. Practice it every day, until you are able to do it without any distractions or forgetfulness, and without thinking about anything else, for at least three continuous minutes.

5.Every time you get distracted, start again, until the 10 or 15 minutes pass away.

6.You have to be honest with yourself, and proceed to the next one, only after you are convinced that you have practiced it correctly and with full concentration.

No timetable can be given, as this could be frustrating. For example, if certain exercises have to be completed in a week, two things might happen.

a)You might get disappointed, if you cannot get the desired concentration within a week, or you might move on, without practicing the exercise correctly.

b)Mastering the exercises successfully can take days, weeks, months and sometimes even more.

Put your whole attention into the exercises, and do not think about anything else. Be careful not to fall asleep, daydream or think about other matters. The moment you find yourself thinking about something else, stop the exercise and start again. After you become proficient, lengthen the time, and if possible, include another session in the afternoon.

Do not attempt too much at the beginning, and don't try to perform them all at once. Go slowly, without overdoing them or tensing your brain.

If you find it too difficult, or thoughts distract you and make you think about other matters, don't despair. Everyone encounters difficulties along the way. If you persevere and never give up, in spite of difficulties and disturbances, success will crown your efforts. Remember, even those with powerful concentration had to exercise their minds.

It does not matter if your concentration is weak now. It can be developed and strengthened like any other ability, through training.

In time, you will find out that you can concentrate anywhere, anytime, no matter where you are. You will be able to focus your mind, think and function under the most trying circumstances, while remaining calm, relaxed and collected. The reward is worth the effort a thousand fold.

CONCENTRATION EXERCISES

Exercise 1
Take a book and count the words in any one paragraph. Count them again to be sure that you have counted them correctly. Start with one paragraph and when it becomes easier, count the words in a whole page. Perform the counting mentally and only with your eyes, without pointing you finger at each word.

Exercise 2
Count backwards in your mind, from one hundred to one.

Exercise 3
Count in your mind from one hundred to one, skipping each three numbers, that is 100, 97, 94, etc.

Exercise 4
Choose an inspiring word, or just a simple sound, and repeat it silently in your mind for five minutes. When your mind can concentrate more easily, try to reach ten minutes of uninterrupted concentration.

Exercise 5
Take a fruit, an apple, orange, banana or any other fruit, and hold it in your hands. Examine the fruit from all its sides, while keeping your whole attention focused on it. Do not let yourself be carried away by irrelevant thoughts that might arise, such as about the grocery, where you bought the fruit, about how and where it was grown, its nutritive value, etc. Stay calm, while trying to ignore or show no interest in these thoughts. Just look at the fruit, focus your attention on it without thinking about anything else, and examine its shape, smell, taste and the sensation it gives you when you touch it.

Exercise 6
This is the same as exercise number 5, only that this time you visualize the fruit, instead of looking at it. Close your eyes, and try to see, smell, taste and touch the fruit in your imagination. Try to see a clear and well defined image. If the image becomes blurred, open your eyes, look at the fruit for a short while, and then close your eyes and continue the exercise. You may imagine holding the fruit in your hands, as in the previous exercise, or imagine it standing on a table.

Exercise 7
Take a small simple object such as a spoon, a fork, or a glass. Concentrate on one of these objects. Watch the object from all sides without any verbalization, that is, with no words in your mind. Just watch the object without thinking with words about it.

Exercise 8
After becoming proficient with the above exercises, you may try this exercise. Draw a small geometrical figure, about three inches in size, such as a triangle, a rectangular or a circle, paint it with any color you wish, and concentrate on it. Look only at the figure you have drawn, and at nothing else. Only the figure exists for you now, with no unrelated thoughts or any distractions. Keep your attention on the figure in front of you, and avoid thinking about anything else. Also, try not to strain your eyes.

Exercise 9
The same as number 8, only this time visualize the figure with the eyes closed. As before, if you forget how the figure looks like, open your eyes for a few seconds and watch the figure and then close your eyes and continue with the exercise.

Exercise 10
The same as above in number 9 but the eyes open.

Exercise 11
Try for at least five minutes, to stay without thoughts. This exercise is to be attempted only after all the previous ones have been performed successfully. The previous exercises, if practiced correctly, will endow you with the ability to impose silence on your thoughts. In time it will become easier and easier.

How many times have you tried to focus on a task, read, study or meditate, only to find that your mind is wandering?

The secret of success is constant practice. The more time you devote to the exercises the faster you progress, but this need to be done gradually. Start with ten minutes, and as it becomes easier, and your ability to concentrate improves, increase the time.
When you see that you are successful, you will begin to love the exercises, and in time they will turn into a habit. You will be able to concentrate your attention easily and effortlessly upon anything you want to concentrate on.

Do you jog, exercise at the gym, or study a foreign language? How difficult it was when you first started? How many times you wanted to quit? Yet, after a while you began to like what you were doing. It became a habit, and did not require special effort. So it is with developing the power of concentration.
After some of time, it will be easier to concentrate, and your mind will learn to be calm and relaxed. Things, circumstances, and events that used to agitate and anger you, will not disturb you. You will experience happiness, content and satisfaction, self-confidence and inner strength. You will be able to cope more easily and efficiently with the outer world.

You will feel a new form of consciousness growing in you, bringing you peace of mind. At first, you will experience it sporadically and for a brief moment, but in time, it will grow and fill you completely. You will be able to make the mind work for you in a most efficient way, and you will also be able to silence it when you want.

After your concentration gets stronger, your attitude and reactions to events and people will change, and you would discover many things about the mind, how it functions, and how to use it efficiently.

Give these exercises a genuine try and you’ll be surprised or you’ll surprise yourself by effectively controlling your mind at your will!

I wonder how many of you will recollect my suggestion in an earlier post when I had recommended looking at a “Perfect Score Card” and concentrating on it and doing the same thing by visualizing it mentally to form the picture in your mind.

The most probable end result of this exercise would be that when you look at the target while shooting – you will recall that image & impose it on your target – when this happens your arm holding the pistol will automatically align with the image and enable to get you that ‘Perfect Score’ you always dreamed of!

Best Wishes!

Briha

[airgun_novice]

Brilliant contribution, Brihcharanji. I have requested the MODS to merge these with the hvj1's older thread so we have everything in one place.

There's a Chennai company (Medha Minds) that' started this sort of "Mindroom Training". Just saw them on the Net. This phrase itself was new to me. But hvj1 and tirpassion have actually scratched the surface of this very new approach quite a few times in TOPS.

regs
A.

[airgun_novice]

hvj1 / tirpassion,

> Frankly it doesn't surprise me one bit - It has to happen
> Its an established fact (quoted in the puranas & the affcianados of telepathic communication) that when two people or a small group are committed wholeheartedly to a certain task & follow it assiduously "a certain mental / spiritual / telepathic" connectivity occurs. I personally have several experiences in this regard as well as being a witness to this phenomenon happening.
> We are all connected through a symbiotic vibration which is simply inexplicable - but nonetheless established
> I only wish that we could benefit each other from this dormant power within us - by awakening it further.
Cheers
Briha

Something to do with thought waves getting modulated (FMed) on the Universal Frequency, rather Universe's Frequency. SO essentially what happens is that in Telepathy, individuals or the group would be using the same vibrator ! Ahem !

From our own Maharshi Kanad, the exponent of atheistic Vaiseshika school of thought - one of the 6 principal school of Hindu philosophy and one of the two "atheistic" schools, to Nicola Tesla -> EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE VIBRATES AT SOME FREQUENCY OR THE OTHER. Now that could be the reason why I miss those #10s.

[hvj1]

From our own Maharshi Kanad, the exponent of atheistic Vaiseshika school of thought - one of the 6 principal school of Hindu philosophy and one of the two "atheistic" schools, to Nicola Tesla -> EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE VIBRATES AT SOME FREQUENCY OR THE OTHER.

Please do read Nicola Tesla's background and history, you will be surprised to notice that he goes through everal experiences in life, which are akin to kundalini awakening experiences.

Regards

[brihacharan]

EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE VIBRATES AT SOME FREQUENCY OR THE OTHER.

You will be surprised to notice that there can be several experiences in life, which are akin to kundalini awakening experiences.
Regards

> The phenomenon 'Natural Frequency' is to be experienced to know what it really means.
> Like two people who have never known each other meet for the first time and feel that they have known each other for years.
> In today's parlance 'getting on well with each other' means 'We vibe well'
> Awakening of the Kundalini is a realization that "You are no longer a part of the Whole - You are the Whole"
Briha

[airgun_novice]

Please do read Nicola Tesla's background and history, you will be surprised to notice that he goes through everal experiences in life, which are akin to kundalini awakening experiences.

Regards

Yessir ! His heightened sense of awareness could be because of his proximity to EM fields that could have triggered the serpentine energy. Thankfully, it aroused in a non-destructive manner. Something similar can be said of Leonardo da Vinci.

Another couple of anecdotes I could not resist sharing - since they are wrt shooting:

1. Once Swami Vivekanand during his sojourn in the US was taking a walk in the woods when he came across small boys shooting some egg shells with their ARs. These egg shells were bobbing up and down in a brook tied in a net for comfort. The kids got some and missed some. They offered the AR to the "alien" and asked him to give a shot - literally. Swami without so much as any adjustment took the AR and shot all the shells with dead accuracy. Then he confessed that it was the first time he ever shot. Finally to the amazed kids he gave a small lecture on concentration and "rhythm".

2. Dada Kondke, the wonderful Marathi actor and director, was a keen shooter who often traveled into the forests for night hunt and more often at the requests from forest officers who for a photo with him literally invited and accompanied him. He cites this anecdote about Lata Mangeshkar in his biography "ektaa jeev...".

Once he carried his gun to the sets of Bhalji Pendharkar studios at Kolhapur. It so happened that LM was there and evinced great interest in his gun and Dada set out to give all the gyaan about the parts of the gun, how to aim, shoot etc. etc. LM nodded her head at every word and asked a few Qs for her own. Then Dada asked her if she wanted to try and asked her if she remembered all the gyaan he had given her. She said she would try and so a small tea glass was set up some distance away. LM first fidgeted with the gun and then pulled out the "compact" from her purse. Dada wondered in his style - "Aaila - is the *bai* going to shoot or do her makeup!" Seconds later, LM turned around, put the gun on her shoulder, caught the reflection of the tea glass in her compact mirror and shot. The target broke into pieces, leaving Dada and everyone there dumbstruck. LM then calmly returned Dada's gun saying "Nice Gun".

For the uninformed, a "compact" is a small case of compacted facial powder that comes with a velvet puff and has a lipstick inserted in the hinge side. There is a small 1.5" mirror on the inner wall of the cover lid. Just the basic makeup kit in a "compact" fashion. Hence the name.

Now what do these two irregular shooters have in common ? Same thing - rhythm or attuned vibrations. SV with his Yoga practice and 'shaktipat' from Ramkrishna and LM with her classical music practice with deep devotion.

[hvj1]

Thanks AGN
What a lovely post, both stories worth reading in the context of kundalini.Now back to Tesla, Nicole Tesla underwent the experiences in his child hood and adoloscence. Even before he starting his experiments. The awakening led to his experiments.

Regards

[fantumfan2003]

tirpassion and brihaji,

Many Thanks for the workouts....

M.

[airgun_novice]

Thanks AGN
What a lovely post, both stories worth reading in the context of kundalini.Now back to Tesla, Nicole Tesla underwent the experiences in his child hood and adoloscence. Even before he starting his experiments. The awakening led to his experiments.

Regards

Dear hvj1 guruji,

That's a very important point of observation about Tesla. Astute, in fact. Could that be the reason why Tesla was way ahead of his times harnessing both the constructive and destructive powers of Physics ? Thanks to him we have the AC (War with Edison on AC v/s DC) - Indian railways took 2013 to finally make the trains fully AC-operated.

Sometimes some people (children) are blessed with stirrings of kundalini which usually goes into dormancy as they develop into adolescence through adulthood. These children display clairvoyance or knowledge of languages unknown or even past-life experiences right early on and all these they lose as they grow up or as they are labelled psychotic cases and subjected to meridian destroying therapies like Valium-based, hypno-based etc.

After reading up a bit on Tesla (thanks to your pointer), I would say that his celibacy may have to do something with retaining that power in the positive tunnel, so to speak. Celibacy is one of the proper and effective non-pranayamic "bundh" in raising the kundalini. While he was driven by the challenges of physics later, nonetheless he was not consumed by them like Edison. Ah ! So much to learn here and so little a time. Anyway, my apologies for going totally leaving lead shots in favor of energy surges.

regs
A.
PS: Reading Sri M's autobiography at present.

[fantumfan2003]

For the sake of all of us, I really hope not.......



M.

After reading up a bit on Tesla (thanks to your pointer), I would say that his celibacy may have to do something with retaining that power in the positive tunnel, so to speak. Celibacy is one of the proper and effective non-pranayamic "bundh" in raising the kundalini.

[fantumfan2003]

briha, tirpassion and all others,

Recent posts have touched upon physical and yoga training required for target shooters.
For everyone's benefit, can you please let us know the how to for each exercise ? Especially things like Pranayam, how to perform, when to perform, for how long etc. etc.

Thanks

M.

[airgun_novice]

For the sake of all of us, I really hope not.......



M.

After reading up a bit on Tesla (thanks to your pointer), I would say that his celibacy may have to do something with retaining that power in the positive tunnel, so to speak. Celibacy is one of the proper and effective non-pranayamic "bundh" in raising the kundalini.

Dear FF - Not to worry. You don't have to go the Tesla way of corking the bottle. You can cock your pistol by going the "straight" but bumpy way of Rasputin or the "bidirectional" street of da Vinci.

They both seem to have kundalini stirrings/ awakenings, Rasputin having actually recorded "enlightenment post psychic/ telepathic meeting with a Himalayan Master to his (Russia's) South", while da Vinci mentioning a journey to and through "terrifying cave with hideous visions" in one of the few and rare personal anecdotes. Those "two" years of da Vinci are enigmatic and his creative genius in advanced engineering seems to have blossomed post this "emergence".

We can discuss this among a lot of other issues chez/ avec hvj1 (Remember "any topic other than shooting" ) or moi.

regs
A.

[hvj1]

Dev
Kindly sort out this thread, request you to seperate Mental Training thread from TOPS as I feel that it is getting too crowded out here. Cant pursue one line of thought before something from the other thread short circuits it.
Regards