The Paradox of Shooting # 2

Would you agree that:

If we think about an 8, we get an 8...

If we think about a 10, we get... an 8... or at least we don't get a 10... That always fascinated me. Why doesn't it work this way, even though we're supposedly thinking "positively"?

So I kept thinking about it, and now, I THINK, I can explain why. Or at lease, share my thoughts, and you're welcome to share yours.

I usually teach my students how the brain works. Firstly, it does not distinguish where information comes from. Whether you see something, hear it, or imagine it, the brain processes it as real. That's why it is so important to choose the right words when talking to yourself. Secondly, the brain does not process negatives, the "don'ts". Or in other, more correct words, it tends to activate the image or concept we're trying to negate.

The classic example used by psychologists is: Don't think about a pink elephant.

Or let's go even further:

Don't think about a clown speaking French in an elevator.

What did you just think of?

When we tell ourselves, "Don't shoot an 8," the brain hears only "shoot an 8." It immediately creates a mental image of an 8. Your attention is directed towards the very thing you're trying to avoid. Under pressure, attention strongly influences behaviour.

But somehow, when we positively tell ourselves, "Shoot a 10" (because I doubt anyone has ever told themselves, "Don't shoot a 10" 😉), it still doesn't work.

Do you want to know why?

Here, you have the opposite problem.

The desired outcome is clear, but the instruction is incomplete.

The brain knows what you want, but not how to produce it.

A score is not a motor command.

The body cannot execute "10".

The body can execute:

• Focus on the front sight.

• Maintain grip pressure.

• Increase trigger pressure smoothly.

• Follow through.

Those are executable instructions.

Thinking about a 10 is wishful thinking.

Thinking about how to shoot a 10 is PROGRAMMING.

The first thought describes the result.

The second thought describes the behaviour that produces the result.

That's why elite shooters often appear almost indifferent to score during execution. Their minds are occupied by process, not wishes.

The harder you try to get a 10, the less likely you are to shoot one.

But the more precisely you focus on the process that creates a 10, the more 10s appear as a by-product.

That is a much deeper lesson than "positive thinking". It is the difference between wanting a result and programming a performance.

You don't shoot 10s by trying harder to shoot 10s. You shoot 10s by getting better at doing the things that produce them. I think this sentence is what my 2 posts about paradoxes of shooting are about.