Sheepdog Tip of the Day, Before Combat tip 298
The DI [drill instructor] came by and yelled, "Hell, boy, you's flinchin'. All you gotta do is stop flinchin'." Great advice, coach, but how? With this kind of advice, the young trainee is returning to the firing line trying to figure out what flinching is and how to stop doing it. The coach is feeling good that he did his job and sorted out another one. But what advice did he really give the student? What picture has he left in the student's mind toward fixing the problem and becoming a better shot? Now we fully appreciate that DIs don't have much time to spend with each trainee, but he could have answered the question "how" with only a few more words: "Hell, boy, you's flinchin'. What you gotta do is keep the upper body relaxed, focus totally on the front sight and your sight alignment, and press the trigger with a steady increase of pressure until the rifle fires. Focus on the front sight and alignment from front to rear." Okay, so it's more than a few more words. But you can see the picture that has now been established in the student's mind. And it's this picture that will influence his next group of shots.
Linda K. Miller and Keith Cunningham, Secrets of Mental Marksmanship
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