When you are working with teenagers things easily goes up and down. Yesterday i had a very good shooter (personal best 629,7 and 17 years old) getting frustraded in practice. So he came to me and asked for advice. My first question was: “What is it that does not work? and the first answer: “Everything”. Typical teenager answer i would say. I started to ask: “How is the stability and the things you worked with last week?” “Not working so well”, was the answer.
Since i knew the atlethe shot well just a couple of days ago and for a while i asked the atlethe. “How did you do the past 10 times you shot when it comes to stability and so on?” “It has been good”, was the atlethe’s answer.
Many coaches might start to do something with the rifle og position. This can be good but it can also lead out to a lot of frustration and more searching. I believed in this situation i needed to calm down the atlethe instead and think logical before doing something. So i said, “The technice do not dissapear just like that. This is just a day that is not working. Remember that yesterday in gymtime you did something that you had never done (canooing for 5km) and i guess you are not relaxing as normal in your back and maybe shoulders too. Because of this things feel different. It is also normal after starting the season that after a while with techincal training that “results” get a bit lower. This is becasue you are focusing on the techince instead of focus on the target. And you are doing the right thing. Focusing on the target comes later in the season. Just relax and it will all come back, no worries at all over one session.”
It will of course be interesting to see how it goes, but i am sure that after this one session there is nothing to worry about. However, as a coach it can be smart to keep an extra eye on it so it do not escelate. We never know if something happend to the rifle of course. This can also make it a bit “spooky” for the atlethe in the search of the optimal shot