WARNING: This article is about mental preparation.
Yesterday Badlands Bud and I were teaching a shooting school and something came up that I'd like to elaborate on. "The Timer is Nothing but a Start Signal"
While we use the timer to determine the time it takes to shoot a stage for compiling scores (or to measure improvement during practice), worrying about that during the match is counter-productive to putting in your best effort. As a shooter, you have no control over the final results. They are determined by a comparison of how you shot vs. everyone else in the match. The only thing that you have control over is yourself and your performance. You can not determine how others shoot. So don't worry about it!
The "nothing but a start signal" is in reference to your approach for each stage. Many of the shooters that have the skills to win their category, or win a match, will visualize each stage. Essentially, that means they build a program for their subconscious mind. Visualizing each shot, each transition, each movement required to efficiently shoot the stage. It's really the creation of a choreographed set of movements. This is no different from a computer programmer writing a piece of logic to perform a specific task, only the languages are different.
A computer programmer will code in a language that the computer can interpret. A shooter has to do the same thing with their subconscious. That language is visualization and practice.
You see, the subconscious mind processes input far faster than the conscious mind. The subconscious is also capable of processing multiple inputs at once while the conscious is not. In order to shoot your best, the entire stage run needs to be done in the subconscious.
Once you've programmed your subconscious for the stage run by repetitively visualizing the stage, including each movement, sight picture for each shot, recoil impulse for each shot, etc., you're ready to shoot. Much like double-clicking an icon will launch of computer program, the beep of the timer then serves as the start command for running that program.
Just like a computer program, you need "built-in responses" for errors that occur. For example, not hitting a target. When that happens, the built in response should be tighter focus on the sight picture so that the error isn't compounded by further errors.
If you visualized in sufficient detail and have a high level of awareness while shooting, you'll know the state of your sights for each shot. You'll recognize if they weren't on a target and be able to make the necessary corrections without thought, and without the conscious auditory input of not hearing a clang. Once you start thinking, or engaging your consciousness, you react slower. The subconscious reacts far faster.
Think about it this way. When you drive a car, you do so now without thinking about it. You turn the wheel to respond to the road and obstacles that may suddenly appear (e.g.. a cat darts out into the road). This wasn't always the case. When learning to drive, it required a great deal of conscious thought to respond to the road, traffic signals, etc. You are able to do this because you have programmed your subconscious in how to deal with the unexpected through practice and repetition. This is exactly what can happen when you shoot a stage.
This brings up another point. During one of the exercises in the class yesterday, a student made a distinct pause after short-stroking his pistol (he didn't get the hammer all the way to full cock). He then recovered and continued. The pause was due to his practice habits. It turns out that, when practicing, he would stop his run after a mistake like that and start the drill over. Doing so trained his subconscious that stopping and starting over is the correct response to that error. Instead, if he changed his practice a little to continue on and recover from the error, then he'll be better prepared for when that happens during a stage run at a match.
Proper programming of your subconscious through practice and visualization will better prepare you for match conditions. The beep of the timer is nothing more than the start signal to run that subconscious program.
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