Will it Make the Boat Go Faster?

[Centercut]

This is an idea I got from a book recommended to me by my wife when I told her last Summer that I wanted to do better at EBR type competitions (EBR, RMAC, PAC and similar). I did "just OK" at EBR2018, and had just returned from RMAC2019, where I didn't do that well at all...

The book is called Will it Make the Boat Go Faster? by Ben Hunt-Davis and Harriet Beveridge. Its about the British rowing team winning Gold at the 2000 Olympics. They hadn't even won a race in the Olympics for many years, let alone a medal, and were totally discouraged. So they took an entirely new attitude to training and preparing. If what they were doing, both as a Team and personally, didn't benefit the speed of the boat, they discarded that practice. Only things that actually contributed to their overall success were retained. So the question they asked for each and everything that they did regarding rowing that boat was "will it make the boat go faster?" And they won Gold!

I think you can see how this can be applied to shooting, and preparing for competition at all levels. As one example, the gun is tuned, so I'm done shooting groups. It doesn't do anything for me to shoot better scores at 100 yards. I'm shooting targets, shooting for score, and the windier the better... Use your imagination, I'm sure we can come up with many other examples.

 

[sonny]

Great recommendation/idea that theory works in many disciplines + to you Mike

 

[FredAZ]

I never understood "shooting groups" as practice anyway.

I like to take individual shots so I can clearly see where each one goes.

Something like this [borrowed photo] shooting a sight-in target.

But that begs a question -- I shoot at the intersecting lines to have an exact center location to judge my shot against.

But I see most people posting pictures like this where they "guess" at the center. Why?

 

[tibor]

mind is a power full asset.

 

[davecole]

Living in NE Oklahoma if you can’t shoot in the wind, stay home and play video games...

I get together with my FT shooting buddies and practice in conditions which we have experienced or may experience. 

Where we find this very beneficial is when we going hunting on the high plains for prairie dogs where wind is a constant variable. 

 

[Guest]

I like situational training. Waiting for and going out to find terrain and wind that resembles conditions that I've done poorly in, or may resemble an upcoming course. I've also spent more time exercising by hiking 10-20 miles every weekend. The bigger matches will have your attention for 8 or more hours, 2-3 days at a time. Physical endurance is an often overlooked portion of shooting well.

 

[Motorhead]

Have had a personal Mantra for years that has helped immensely in my years of competitive sports .....

While copying is the most sincere form of flattery & with equal equipment and even training will get you on the same level as those you wish to compete with and hopefully beat.

But ... in reality it has no advantages meaning that you may or may not have the success's you seek being just equal to the competition .



IF YOU WISH TO BETTER YOUR CHANCES at Winning ... research and do self R&D and figure out stuff others are NOT doing and approach the issues of an advantage from an indirect path paying greater attention to details than the other guys won't / can't or are unaware of ... be it equipment, set up, details that may seem small all cumulatively add up.



Scott S

 

[pbike257]

Will it make the boat go faster?

Sometimes the fastest boat tires before the finish line.

Remember this too as you search for extreme accuracy in your benchrest airgun competitions of which now I also compete. I have been competing in Benchrest since 1995, centerfire, rimfire, group, score, short and medium range. It is a very competitive sport and ultimately its about extreme accuracy over the course of the match. You can have a really nice target that scores high and wins that relay, but if your next target is a train wreck, you are no closer to the win at the end of the day. What I do is to stay as consistent as hell. I am not known for shooting the smallest group of the day... but I shoot zero big ones. the other thing is something i heard once... well many times now. It came out of a early 1990's movie where Robert Duvall told this young kid that in order to win the race first you have to finish the race. What i got from that is that although we search for extreme accuracy we don't want to jeopardize our rifle's function in the meantime. On any given day you should be able to look at the conditions and say, "I can win, if I average such and such score per target today"... because it's not about going out there and shooting a world record score, it's about going out there and beating all the other guys on the line that day. If you Shoot winning averages on every target and your rifle doesn't fail... You'll be in the top at the end of the day.

Pbike