Relaxation techniques

[Lenin64]

I'm on my school's Air Rifle Team, and tbh, I'm not that great a shot. 2 competitions have come, and I wasn't able to go to either. I could be much better, but for one thing: my hands shake. Really badly. I don't know if it's because I'm nervous, or just have nervous energy, or if I just can;t keep a steady hand, but the shaking really throws off my aim.By the end of my session, my hands are going like crazy, trembling. I've tried everything recommended to me- deep breathing, better support for my arm so it has a better base (standing position on this one, but shaking is inevitable for anyone there), etc. but nothing works. So, do any of you, my fellow TIFers, have anything that could help prevent my hands from shaking too much?

[highlanders]

Search about the Jacobson relaxation technique on internet. It is a relaxation in which you tense your muscles very hardly for a few seconds, then let go, and your muscles will relax after that.

[meol]

An there are also the clicḫ̩̉̉ techniques. Before starting to concentrate, imagine yourself walking away from there, after shooting successfully. Eat some chocolate a couple of minutes before shooting.

[Errdoth]

Daily Regimine:

 

6.00 TF2

 

9.00 CS:S gg

 

13.00 Battlefield

 

19.00 Crysis

 

 

 

You'll get calmer every day!

[RebelAssassin]

ive been told that looking at grass for 30 seconds will calm you down slightly as green is a calming colour. I was told this by my COD4 clan leader who is a US marine 8-)

[Xewleer]

I always understood some good old fashioned deep breaths and imagining your target as the person you most despise is pretty good.

 

 

 

Also, I think of dilbert cartoons. that helps my nervousness.

[venomai]

Look into meditation. There are a variety of techniques including a few that have already been mentioned in this thread.

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

It's called essential tremor, here is some more info:

 

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/essent ... or/DS00367

[nine naked men]

I always understood some good old fashioned deep breaths and imagining your target as the person you most despise is pretty good.

 

 

 

Also, I think of dilbert cartoons. that helps my nervousness.

 

 

 

Yes, but they'd probably put him to sleep at the same time. :roll:

 

 

 

So, have you tried clenching your fists tightly for a few seconds, then letting go?

[IGoddessI]

Different kinds of meditation can teach you stillness.

[Lenin64]

I always understood some good old fashioned deep breaths and imagining your target as the person you most despise is pretty good.

 

 

 

Also, I think of dilbert cartoons. that helps my nervousness.

 

 

 

Yes, but they'd probably put him to sleep at the same time. :roll:

 

 

 

So, have you tried clenching your fists tightly for a few seconds, then letting go?

 

Lol, Dilbert's pretty good.

 

 

 

All excellent suggestions, especially the grass one, but I might look a little odd staring at it :D I'll probably try some meditation or the tense-and-relax things. i can't have any choclate though; no sugar for at least half an hour before shooting :? I'll post again on thursday after practice, what worked and what didn't.

[pryomancer]

Diazepam \

[Bxpprod]

Having been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, I was given a number of techniques to use by psychologists and psychiatrists. The tablets they had me on worked pretty well.

 

 

 

But, now that I'm off the drugs:-

 

- Exercise (walks ftw)

 

- Going for coffee (I'm friends with a few of the barristas at Gloria Jenes)

 

- Shoot 'Em Up games (macabre of me right?)

 

- Metal music (I love Melodic Death Metal)

 

- Writing blogs

 

 

 

Yew.

[Lenin64]

Having been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, I was given a number of techniques to use by psychologists and psychiatrists. The tablets they had me on worked pretty well.

 

 

 

But, now that I'm off the drugs:-

 

- Exercise (walks ftw)

 

- Going for coffee (I'm friends with a few of the barristas at Gloria Jenes)

 

- Shoot 'Em Up games (macabre of me right?)

 

- Metal music (I love Melodic Death Metal)

 

- Writing blogs

 

 

 

Yew.

 

These are probably good for the long-term, but not within a few minutes or half an hour or so. Plus, our facilities don't have any way for me to do these things (except maybe the metal, if I bring an iPod or something). Tomorrow I'll try what i think will work best.

[dorcus1]

If you just have too much nervous energy, jog at a fast pace for 5 to 10 minutes. The trick here is to burn off your nervous energy, but not get too tired.

 

 

 

Aside from that, be cheerful. Expect nothing. Don't expect to do well, and don't expect to fail. Think of the competition as a game. It's just a game and doesn't have any cosmic importance, so the results don't really matter.

 

 

 

Hope that helps.

[dacona]

well, what i always do if i need to relax is think about nothing.

 

 

 

just listen to you're breathing and try not to think of anything.

 

 

 

works for me!!!

[megakiller32]

Also, I think of dilbert cartoons. that helps my nervousness.

 

'The buisness world sure is funny.'

 

 

 

 

 

...Well sometimes its funny.

[Deiophobus]

i'll try some of the things here, but meditation just doesn't work for me.

 

 

 

When they say "clear your mind", they lose me. I don't have ADD or anything, i just can't stop thinking.

 

 

 

 

 

I think Errdoth's method is best.

[rushrock]

Drink some tea and free-draw. Get more sleep. Make sure you're plenty warm when you go into a competition. Meditate/relax.

 

 

 

Hope they help.

[Lenin64]

Well, today I was unable to try the green thing (couldn;t find anything I could take in the building, so grass wasn't a real option) but I tried the Jacobson thing with my hands. Kinda helped I think. But I slapped myself mentally, because someone who had been on the team, but graduated, was there today to help us with technique, and as it turns out, that was my major problem :wall: My strap for prone and kneeling was too loose, my scope was too far away so i had to reposition my rifle each time, etc. I shot much better than usual, though incidentally, when I thought of scoring my targets and the next one being a 10, it was :thumbsup:

 

 

 

I was doing much better, and that's when catastrophe struck. My gun began to run out of air, pushing my shots down. When I noticed, I went to get it re-filled, but the tank was broken somehow so that it appeared alright, but wouldn't fill at all. So I could only "dry shoot" my standing and kneeling targets, going through the motions to build muscle memory. So because of the air problem, I ended up only shooting a 60 for prone, but if it had been full, I'm sure it would have been much better. So Captain says that during the break he'll try and figure out how to either fix the broken air tanks (we had several lol) or just buy some new ones. So my main weakness ended up being technique, but I'm sure the small steps I took for relaxing helped. So thanks to all who posted, I'll keep trying more as the year wears on, so I want to keep the thread open for new ideas. [/u][/i]

[Zonorhc]

If your hands are shaking at an inopportune time such as when using projectile weapons, for the love of god find something to brace them against. Works for me, because sometimes I have that problem as well, like when I'm trying to play pool after a few hours at SCA.

[Lenin64]

If your hands are shaking at an inopportune time such as when using projectile weapons, for the love of god find something to brace them against. Works for me, because sometimes I have that problem as well, like when I'm trying to play pool after a few hours at SCA.

 

Well, that's the thing: there isn;t anything to support them against. perhaps I should "accidentally" shoot when I tremble and "accidentally" hit someone shooting next to me...Maybe then I'll get some supports.

[Zonorhc]

If your hands are shaking at an inopportune time such as when using projectile weapons, for the love of god find something to brace them against. Works for me, because sometimes I have that problem as well, like when I'm trying to play pool after a few hours at SCA.

 

Well, that's the thing: there isn;t anything to support them against. perhaps I should "accidentally" shoot when I tremble and "accidentally" hit someone shooting next to me...Maybe then I'll get some supports.

 

 

 

Ah. I was under the impression that air rifle shooting was the same setup as target shooting, where you lay on the ground.

[Lenin64]

That's part of it. There's also kneeling and standing, stanbding is where it hurts me most with the shaking, but my prone is actually pretty good.