Recently, I had the honor of having lunch with Brian DeMott, master class competitor and former PSCA shooter. I had reached out to Brian after observing him shoot on a couple of different occasions noting how confident he appeared as he prepared for each shot and how smoothly he executed each pair.
I introduced him to this blog and asked if he would like to get together to talk about how he applied mental skills in his shooting. Just a few days later, we found ourselves sharing lunch at the Farmer’s Market Restaurant in Raleigh. I had prepared a list of “interview questions”, but as it turns out, I never even pulled them out as we launched into a two-hour conversation covering everything from the challenges and heartache of taking care of aging parents (Brian is just a few years younger than I, so we have had similar experiences) to how to master mental skills in sport! What a great session! I learned a lot!
I can’t possibly cover all of the topics thoroughly in a single blog post, but will try to touch on some of the highlights today.
Brian started off by telling me that he is a believer in the power of building a strong self-image. He has been positively influenced by the work of Lanny Bassham. If you are not familiar with Lanny, he is an accomplished Olympic gold and silver medalist in rifle shooting and developer of the “Mental Management System”. In my earlier post on foundational reading in sport mental skills development, I had included Lanny’s book “With Winning in Mind” as one of a very select group of books that are must reads for anyone interested in the mental skills and enhanced performance. Here is a link to that post in case you missed it:
If you have not read this book, please consider it.
In addition to the book, Brian had also invested in Lanny’s six-CD set covering mental management for shooting sports. He has used the information from the CD’s for 5 years now. He credits development of a self-image as a shooter that shoots in the mid-90’s with his ability to do so! As Brian told me, it is a form of the “fake it till you make it” approach in which you teach your sub-conscious the type of performer you want to be – and then work to fulfill that image. Lanny’s mental management system includes such elements as goal setting, using positive affirmations, and positive self-talk.
Lanny no longer offers the 6-CD set on his website:
However, I was able to locate and purchase one from E-bay. Lanny does offer a single 60-minute CD directed specifically to sporting clays shooters. After I complete the 6-CD set, I may try that one as well.
Lanny also authored another book titled “Feedom Flight – the Origins of Mental Power”. I had read this one early on in my own quest for understanding mental skills. Brian also has a personal copy. One of the key points in this book is how important visualization is to performance. I won’t ruin the plot of the book for those of you who want to read it.
Use of visualization is important. As discussed before in this post, the brain lights up in the same areas regardless of whether you are actually performing a task or visualizing performing the same task. Studies have shown repeatedly that you can improve your execution of a task simply be visualizing it in great details. This was a timely topic of discussion as Brian is in recovery from a surgical procedure resulting from a non-sport related accident to his arm. All of his practice is currently being done via mental exercises including visualization. Brian also indicated that mental visualization is his primary means of practice even when healthy! It is interesting to have read the studies, but even more interesting to hear that someone actually applies these techniques as their primary method of practice – and has the success to back them up as effective! Brian is very confident that when he has healed from his surgery, he will return to shooting at the same level as before.
Brian also credits his previous life as a rock climber with helping him grow his mental strength – especially when it comes to learning to push through barriers.
When I commented on how confident Brian appeared in the box, he mentioned that comes from having a plan. He stated further that having a bad plan is still better than having no plan at all! Then once you have the plan, you have to execute it like a surgeon. Once you initiate the incision (or start a move on a clay target), there is no second guessing.
Using mastery skills in rock climbing helped him to develop mastery skills in sporting clays as well. Brian suggested that anyone can use positive skills from other aspects of their life and use those to develop confidence in a new area. For example, say you are an accomplished public speaker, you can use that positive experience to help you develop the confidence and competence to break clays under pressure or on a big stage.
Another comment that Brian made that I found intriguing was that all performers deal with the same mental flaws, whether they are a master class or e-class competitor, it is simply a matter of learning how to manage those flaws through the mental game.
We also had a fascinating discussion on how we tend to “regress to the mean” – meaning that we tend to shoot what we think we should shoot. As an example, I had a “lights-out” performance one day on the course where I killed 50 targets in a row and was well on my way to breaking 90 in competition, until it was brought to my attention – after which I dropped 13 targets on the last 4 stations to get back to my “expected average”. Brian relayed an analogy from his days of playing baseball. It seems that the distance to the outfield fence really had no bearing on how long good hitters could hit the ball. They would all hit to the warning track regardless of whether the fence was at 320 feet or 400 feet. In their minds, they were capable of hitting to the track no matter what. Never mind that when the fence was 320 feet, they should have been slamming every ball out of the park – but still couldn’t get it over the fence.
In a similar vein, we discussed how framing can make a difference in our performance. I had confessed that I was really struggling with dropping one or both birds in the last pair – a textbook case of losing focus. Brian told me that is a very common occurrence. As you work through each pair, there is a tendency to try to replicate the previous pair instead of treating each target separately. In fact, each target is not identical to the one before it, and you really must react to the target instead of assuming exactly how the target will fly. This tendency increases as the shooter gets more and more antsy from being in the box so long – the brain wants to get that last pair over with and be out of the box! One suggestion Brian had was to frame the 4 pairs differently by breaking them down into two groups – so shoot the first 2 or three pairs as a group – and then shoot the remaining pairs as a group like starting the station over again. He suggested you could do the same with an entire match. Instead of viewing the round as 100 birds (which can be a little intimidating), view it as 10 sets of 10 birds. Certainly, it is easier to hit 9/10 birds, than it is to hit 90/100 – but hit those 9/10 birds, and then repeat, and before you know it, you will be breaking 90!
As far as practice goes, Brian teaches his students that there is a difference between practice and training. You have probably heard the phrase that you want to have perfect practice, but in Brian’s view, what you really want to have is perfect training. In practice you should have the freedom to develop skills, try new techniques, work on issues to resolve them. Once you have your skills developed, then you want to hone them in perfect training during which you perform them just as you will in competition. So next time you head out to shoot a “practice round”, think about whether or not you are really going out to practice or train!
Finally, Brian talked a little about the importance of taking care of yourself during competition. He related a story in which he came up just short in a major shoot at a place he had not shot before. One of the other top pro’s told him afterwards that he would have won the event had he ridden a cart instead of walking the course. Brian tends to like to walk but because he was not familiar with the course, had underestimated the distance between stations and the terrain and had simply run out of gas in the tank. In a similar light, he also suggests trying to preview the course if you are able so you can select those 2 or 3 stations that will require additional planning. Knowing which ones you really need to focus on in advance can help to avoid spending excess mental energy on every station.
Well, I looked first at my watch, and then the plate in front of me. What was once the biggest piece of flounder I had ever seen
was pretty much gone, and two hours had elapsed. My brain was full! Brian and I agreed to head our separate ways after what was an extremely enjoyable conversation.
Look for Brian to return to the sporting clays courses in July. In the meantime, he is offering lessons to all levels of shooters. Feel free to contact him:
And here are the amazon links to Lanny’s books:
One final note. Just as all of us are not one dimensional and only focused on shooting clays, I have since learned that Brian has another passion. He is a proud to be an honorary member of The Blue Knights Law Enforcement motorcycle club. (BKNC2) Raleigh NC 2 chapter. He has ridden with these brothers for 14 years and currently holds the post of Sergeant at Arms. This organization supports officer’s killed in the line of duty and raises funds supporting the families of law enforcement.
