Calling All Sport Psychologists

[COEngineer]

How do I help my daughter regain confidence? She is 18 yrs old now and has been hunting since she was 12. She has killed a cow elk and a doe antelope with some pretty darn good rifle shooting. However, she has had a cow elk run off wounded ($%&ing guide on her RFW hunt told her to shoot at 450 yards right after I told him she was confident out to about 150 yds). A year later she rolled a whitetail doe with an arrow (blood everywhere, but it somehow ran off and my uncle who was with her could not track it down - probably died fairly close by, but in thick woods...crossed private fence, etc). Then last year she had a clean miss at ~160 yds on a muley doe and this year she had a clean miss on a bull elk at 15 yds with her bow (steep downhill, but should have been a gimme). Anyway, she has had her share of good and bad experiences, but the last few have been tough. We have been practicing archery several times a week in our backyard and she usually shoots really well out to about 40 yds and we try to vary the shots as much as possible (we're not standing on smooth concrete shooting perfectly flat at the same target). Is there anything I can do to help her shoot with more confidence?

 

[SO7mm]

I'm no sports psychologist, (I do coach a lot of youth sports) but I'd say she needs some easy victories and maybe some practice under pressure. Can you do some kind of small game or bird hunting so it's not as big of an achievement if she gets one? If you get her feeling more relaxed while connecting on some shots I think it would help when it comes time for big game. If a kid, or adult for that matter, is struggling on outside shots in basketball they need some easy layups to get back in rhythm.

 

[JLS]

Her biggest hurdle right now is mentally engaging in the shot, despite the fact she is likely stressed as hell about wounding another animal.

“Controlled Process Shooting” would be a good book to start with.

 

[elkduds]

Wounding and losing game has made a lot of former hunters. It is clear what you want for her. Does she want to keep hunting? @ 18 she knows the answer to that. If so, then go @ her speed as she rebuilds the confidence needed for shooting @ game. Lots of practice w no pressure and plenty of encouragement. Celebration of even the smallest success. 3D as a transition from targets to game. How does she feel about small game hunting? . If she is trying to overcome her aversion to wounding because it is important to you, that will be more difficult than wanting to because it is important to her. Good luck, enjoy your time outdoors w your daughter.

Youth Hunting: The Difference Between Boys and Girls

How do you get your kids into the outdoors? It's a crucial part of teaching and raising our children to understand the importance of time outside.

sportsmensnation.com

 

[88man]

missing is a part of shooting and failure a building block of success. My advice Practice Practice Practice and have fun hunting & shooting the confidence will come with greater learning of all the different shooting techniques and positions and routines

 

[JLS]

missing is a part of shooting and failure a building block of success. My advice Practice Practice Practice and have fun hunting & shooting the confidence will come with greater learning of all the different shooting techniques and positions and routines

It’s not about position and routines. It’s about the shot process. It doesn’t improve by repeating failure, it improves by learning how to do it correctly.

 

[88man]

It’s not about position and routines. It’s about the shot process. It doesn’t improve by repeating failure, it improves by learning how to do it correctly.

I am not being critical> The concept and thoughts, anxiety of doing something "correctly" kills confidence. When you were a kid and played wiffleball did you do it correctly? You played the game and had fun. Correctly is a process and if a youth is having issues with confidence fun & familiarity need to be a big part of the foundation to get to the " correct way" see I don't even like the word correctly

 

[JLS]

I am not being critical> The concept and thoughts, anxiety of doing something "correctly" kills confidence. When you were a kid and played wiffleball did you do it correctly? You played the game and had fun. Correctly is a process and if a youth is having issues with confidence fun & familiarity need to be a big part of the foundation to get to the " correct way" see I don't even like the word correctly

Motor learning is about how to do physical processes correctly to improve performance.

Wouldn’t a kid have more fun playing waffle ball if they learned the correct mechanics to swing a bat correctly, or throw a ball correctly? A controlled shot process is no different. There is a correct way to do it.

If you don’t have a correct and repeatable shot process, you’ll fail under stress. Not exactly a confidence builder.

 

[buckbull]

I'm no sports psychologist, (I do coach a lot of youth sports) but I'd say she needs some easy victories and maybe some practice under pressure. Can you do some kind of small game or bird hunting so it's not as big of an achievement if she gets one? If you get her feeling more relaxed while connecting on some shots I think it would help when it comes time for big game. If a kid, or adult for that matter, is struggling on outside shots in basketball they need some easy layups to get back in rhythm.

Yeah, I was going to suggest to go squirrel hunting if that's something you can do in your area.

 

[JLS]

To expand a little bit more on this, there certainly is a psychological component, but there is also a distinct physical and mental component.

My guess is this young lady probably couldn’t even tell you what her mind was focused on during the shot process. If she could, I’d bet $100 her mind is wrapped around the anxiety of crippling another deer. The only thing her mind can, and should be focused on is the shot process itself

Which then brings us back to the mental and physical component of a repeatable shot process. If she doesn’t have that, then she doesn’t have an anchor to drive back to under a time of stress and anxiety. In addition, she doesn’t know exactly what to practice during fun times like squirrel shooting.

Practice doesn’t make perfect, and if you’re pro practicing and improper technique, you’re just reaffirming it and that’s what you’ll default to under stress. Which, in the long run does her no good to improve either her shot process or her confidence. She hast to rebuild her shot process, or build it in the first place, before she can have the confidence to do it under stress.

 

[Addicting]

I’m no one more qualified than the next.

Instinctual & natural point of aim shooting helps confidence. Practice where she can close her eyes on target open them and still be on target then shoot. Don’t focus on little groups, min of deer is good enough.

It teaches form and a relaxed tension in the weapon. If the weapon is still on target both are good. If it isn’t the shooter is torquing / forcing the weapon somehow.

I am OCD about reloading and chase tiny groups for confidence in the load and weapon. However, when afield as soon as the cross hair is where I want it I shoot. I don’t focus on the spot ont he spot on a animal. I know the bullet will go where it was pointed. I’ve even bought full size paper targets to help my wife. As long as the shot was in a lethal area she was congratulated. 1-3 shots and that was a whole session. When she shot her antelope she 10 ringed it without really thinking. It was all instinct no different that what we do in the military.

 

[Pucky Freak]

Sports psychologist is very niche - I personally don’t know any.

I have terrible buck fever and am like 0/7 on mature bucks, wanted to disclose that up front.

What has helped me execute better is practice, practice, practice a repeatable process. At my best I do execute well - I have many shots on game in the last few years where I drove tacks.

For archery I have shot set up and execution steps 1-10 on a 10” x 10” card, and read, rehearse, and follow for each shot. In the heat of the moment on game I am more likely to follow my muscle memory.

Re:OP I’d suggest backing off high-stakes situations for a while and build some confidence back on small game. Maybe prairie dogs or squirrels, relaxed and zero pressure. Get some traction back on fundamentals and build your way back to big game.

Three years ago I had four consecutive archery shots on deer: miss, wound, miss, wound. It was very discouraging but I worked through it. Last year I was 3/4 on archery deer shots with the fourth being a miscalculation on distance.

 

[Dougfirtree]

Is she picking up on your stress? Worth some thought, just in case. I'd be so pissed at that elk guide...

 

[JLS]

For archery I have shot set up and execution steps 1-10 on a 10” x 10” card, and read, rehearse, and follow for each shot. In the heat of the moment on game I am more likely to follow my muscle memory.

This is good advice. She has target panic.

Working on form, natural point of aim, field situations, etc is great. But at the end of the day you HAVE to have a repeatable shot process to work through under stress.

Full disclaimer, the author of the book I recommended is a friend of mine. His son is a national archery tournament winner as a teenager. We teach these principles, and they simply work. We took a 20 year SWAT sniper and made him better with this.

It’s amazing to watch the difference in folks when this all clicks.

 

[Addicting]

The Solo Targets System

You don’t need to stand you can just order the skins. They will last for a lot of shooting.

I made 2x2 frame legs and a 2x4 flat across the top at the spine. I then hung a 12x16” steel target behind the kill zone. When she hears the steel report we counted it a dead critter.

I would position the target at various ranges and angles. Then she was introduced to it set up and had to range it get in a shooting position and shoot. As real as it can get without something dying.

Here is the thread I did with pics. You could easily adapt this to archery with foam board.

Solo targets

Just posting this out there as a review to anyone considering purchasing from solotargets.com. They have a good product but thier customer service sucks. The site is legit and I ordered a Pronghorn target to get the wife ready for this year. My card showed up as a purchase out of Hong Kong...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[Hunter4Life78]

I wonder if it's simply going back to the basics. We've all had our confidence shaken and nothing will shake confidence more than a wounded critter getting away. I've been on my hands looking for blood from a rifle shot plenty of times on snow free ground.
Make it fun. Dad go to the dollar store get some balloons birthday party size balloons. Blow up em big. Tack em plywood Start shooting them yourself. Have her call out a color. Then you miss. Miss until she hits. Have her shoot you call out her color. Do this a few sessions,next session use smaller balloons.

The balloons will do several things. One they aren't something we shoot at regularly it's different and hopefully that takes away some pressure, balloons make people happy, it's an instant result you hit one its gone no questions asked.

When her confidence has been built back up. Then I would say get the guide's business card tack that up, do this so the writing isn't visible. And have her shoot that. Show her what it was and let her know it's in the past, you love her very much, you're proud of who she is no matter what, give her a hug, then go to Dairy Queen and get you both some ice cream. I mean hey who doesn't like ice cream.

I'm not a sports psychologist in any way shape or form. I have stayed in a Holiday Inn once or twice..

 

[rwc101]

Shot o' whiskey.