# First target jitters



## ccwilder3 (Sep 13, 2003)

I have shot in four tournaments this year and lost all four on the first target or first end. How do you fellows deal with nerves on the first target. As Pro's does the fact that you shoot a lot of tournaments take care of the problem or do you have mental or breathing exercises that help. Is Voodoo or live animal sacrifice a viable option? I'm getting desperate here.


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## Mathewsju (Jan 19, 2008)

Well I tried a lamb once but that didn't seem to help...maybe a calf will prove more fruitful lol.

On a serious note its just something you need to get used to. Personally outdoor is much easier for me to shoot without nerves. The main thing is that you just focus on yourself, nobody is really concerned with how you shoot but you so just relax. Also remember that you have done this plenty of times so it should be easy.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk


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## ccwilder3 (Sep 13, 2003)

Note to self "take fatted calf to next tournament" 

Do you think an 11 year old Lab would work. LOL

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping there was a magic bullet. Its hard not to just walk away when you know you are already out of the tournament.


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## cc46 (Jan 22, 2005)

Well familiarity and practising the first end helps. Lots of shooters get nerves at the first end...they look around at who's there and get dis-shevled. Self talk and discipline help. What you do in practise happens in tournaments...be it joking around or concentration on the shot. A lot of shooters, train like mad then on the touranment day they shoot most of the official practise ends and then take a "quiet break" and go thru their shot sequence in their minds and skip that last practise end. Try that. 
Ignor the rest, get into YOUR shot and do it, and tell yourself thats what I do!


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## ccwilder3 (Sep 13, 2003)

cc46 said:


> Well familiarity and practising the first end helps. Lots of shooters get nerves at the first end...they look around at who's there and get dis-shevled. Self talk and discipline help. What you do in practise happens in tournaments...be it joking around or concentration on the shot. A lot of shooters, train like mad then on the touranment day they shoot most of the official practise ends and then take a "quiet break" and go thru their shot sequence in their minds and skip that last practise end. Try that.
> Ignor the rest, get into YOUR shot and do it, and tell yourself thats what I do!



Thank you cc46. I will take that approach in the next tournament.


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## blueglide1 (Jun 29, 2006)

Its the mental excersize of shutting out the fear of losing in the first end.You have to quit worrying about missing the first five shots.Put something else in your head to think about,develope a mantra and repeat it over and over again.Shutting out the other thoughts.A good thing to keep your mind occupide with something else is to mentally repeating your shot sequence over and over.Once you get to the X ring just tell yourself mentally AIM,AIM,AIM untill the shot goes off.I have to admit I have the same problem,I have to have my mind occupide with this to alleviate the fear of missing on the first end,also when I get to the last end I have to do the same thing for fear of blowing the last end ,after all that work I put in to shoot a good score.The middle ends between the first and last Im calm as can be.Its just something people struggle with,and I feel for ya buddy,I go through the same thing every time,except outside tournaments. Hope you can get a handle on this problem,and I hope my suggestions help. Don Ward


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## Lien2 (Aug 4, 2005)

blueglide1 said:


> Its the mental excersize of shutting out the fear of losing in the first end.You have to quit worrying about missing the first five shots.Put something else in your head to think about,develope a mantra and repeat it over and over again.Shutting out the other thoughts.A good thing to keep your mind occupide with something else is to mentally repeating your shot sequence over and over.Once you get to the X ring just tell yourself mentally AIM,AIM,AIM untill the shot goes off.I have to admit I have the same problem,I have to have my mind occupide with this to alleviate the fear of missing on the first end,also when I get to the last end I have to do the same thing for fear of blowing the last end ,after all that work I put in to shoot a good score.The middle ends between the first and last Im calm as can be.Its just something people struggle with,and I feel for ya buddy,I go through the same thing every time,except outside tournaments. Hope you can get a handle on this problem,and I hope my suggestions help. Don Ward


Good advice. 
I remember a couple years ago when I shot Vegas for the first time. First 2 ends of warm up, 5 x's and 1 10, shot was going off butter smooth, I was ready. "THIS WILL BE YOUR FIRST OFFICIAL SCORING END" came over the speakers.......and I comletely fell apart. My wife was sitting 20' away and she said she could see me shaking.
Practice and confidence will get you there.
Good luck!


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## ccwilder3 (Sep 13, 2003)

blueglide1 said:


> Its the mental excersize of shutting out the fear of losing in the first end.You have to quit worrying about missing the first five shots.Put something else in your head to think about,develope a mantra and repeat it over and over again.Shutting out the other thoughts.A good thing to keep your mind occupide with something else is to mentally repeating your shot sequence over and over.Once you get to the X ring just tell yourself mentally AIM,AIM,AIM untill the shot goes off.I have to admit I have the same problem,I have to have my mind occupide with this to alleviate the fear of missing on the first end,also when I get to the last end I have to do the same thing for fear of blowing the last end ,after all that work I put in to shoot a good score.The middle ends between the first and last Im calm as can be.Its just something people struggle with,and I feel for ya buddy,I go through the same thing every time,except outside tournaments. Hope you can get a handle on this problem,and I hope my suggestions help. Don Ward


Thanks Don. I will try the mental shot sequence thing. I'm also going to try to shoot in as many tournaments as I can, even if I"m not that interested in that particular tournament.

I want to shoot well in the state field championship. That is the tournament that my whole year is aimed at. Every thing else is just preparation for it.


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