Simulating Stress

My problem is practice does not make perfect. And I can not duplicate or induce the stress/reaction.

But when the time comes to react it seems to happen perfect for me. And I do not say that to brag. Something just changes in me the milsec it's suppose to happen. I would love to practice at or near that level all the time.

This is not only in the shooting sports and arts. But in other sports and hobby's. Not to mention daily life.

Just the other day at work a 40' air hose blew the chuck off. I caught it by the tip as if it was a massive bull whip in two steps. My coworkers fell out! The big lug can move. It just happens. Or the classic Jesus Brake Marker on a bike or in a car. The right things seem to happen without thinking.

It's funny,,, Take yesterday. Wife and I went to the range. Seemed like a wonderful way to send out 2010. I also wanted to qualify the trigger jobs on her 60 Pro and my 686P and finish them out. ( all went well ) And I could barley hit the side of a barn on paper. The wife was having the same issue with her 60 Pro and HS 103. And I could only get about 1.5' groups with my CZ-52 and 686P 4" at 100 yards. Most times I can kill a milk jug on that berm.

I to wish I could find the secret to were I need to be. To make it work. :cool:
 
>>I to wish I could find the secret to were I need to be. To make it work.<<

I thought so too at one point. I used to be into fairly advanced self hypnosis - the real thing, and was able to do some pretty odd bodily control stuff. I figured I could probably find a way to trigger "overdrive" on command...but I also decided to "look before I leaped". I started reading about the effects of various psychoactive drugs, and realized that whatever is triggering "overdrive" is potent enough to make crack cocaine look like watered down coffee.

:eek:

So much for THAT idea.

Point being: this is nothing to screw around with. Use it when you absolutely need it, no other choice, DO NOT try and trigger it. Heart attacks and/or insanity lie down that road.

Some speculate that it's what killed Bruce Lee...he was talking about this stuff and Gods know he was into "max possible performance".

The best you can do is understand it in advance so that if you're new to it and it happens to you the first time, you won't freak out. A few cops who've led an otherwise boring life have hit it for the first time in a shootout and wondered *** was "wrong" when shells came out in slo-mo and they couldn't feel the gun's recoil...whoops.
 
Also, if you want to experience stress when life or death is on the line, take up hunting. I have felt more stress immediately after taking a shot than I ever felt in LE.
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True.

Try walking up to your dog on point knowing that any second the air is going to be full of Chukar partridge. Or Sage Grouse. Or, well, you get the point.

Try not feeling stress when a flock of mallards is approaching your decoys and you know they're coming right in. Or a flock of Canadas.

Or many situations in deer hunting, as Marty mentioned.

Also, it's been pointed out by shooters like Ayoob, that just shooting in front of other people adds mental stress. Formal or informal competition---like a dueling tree. Use a timer. Lots of things add a little stress.

No, I'm not saying it's the equivilent of the real thing. Just makes things a little tougher.:cool:
 
Yeah, IDPA looks like its the route I'm going. Hopefully in a month or so I will be ready to start competing. I have to get a new holster and another magazine first.
 
we do the same thing with a computer. Ever had to do something calculation-intensive like a huge database sort, or a monster of a video game, and you shut down your web browser or other stuff to make more memory and CPU cycles available
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Great analogy Jim, never thoguht of it that way.

Currently when we do our Practical Weapons Qual we run very fast in place for two minutes to raise the heart rate and all our quals have a fairly short time limit which adds a wee bit more stress, it’s better than nothing.
 
So I was wondering if there are anything specific you guys do to simulate the stress and adrenaline of a self defense situation while doing drills?
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Sure many ways!

Wear a dog collar (the kind that shocks) and have your shooting buddy use it on you now and then as you shoot.

Or if you shoot alone, get a cloths pin and attach it to some tender part of your anatomy and shoot while in pain.

Or do your shooting while near a hornets nest which may or many not get real agitated by all that noise.

Or, if that is not you cup of tea... just do 30 pushups or sit ups or do bag work for a few minutes and then draw and shoot at close range IDPA/IPSC targets while being timed.

Actually there are lots of stress testers. Just go to an IDPA match and enter. It does give you some stress.

Deaf
 
May I bring up the sport of "Chess Boxing".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing
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It's alternating rounds of boxing and chess. The idea being, competitive chess while high on adrenaline. If chess boxing can become a competitive sport, then so can target shooting and boxing. In fact, I don't see why we don't have this already. Learning to fight unarmed has monumental applications to self defense. I propose 1 round of boxing followed by 1 stage of IDPA and alternate for 5 rounds.
 
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