#1 Shooting Sports Psychologist
Keep your focus steady when every shot counts
If you shoot well in training but struggle to repeat those scores in competition, technique may not be the only issue. Nerves, overthinking, and score pressure can change your focus and execution. Our shooting psychologist helps you train the mental side of performance.
1-on-1
sessions built for you
24 Hour
response time to new enquiries
WEBCAM
sessions possible
Sessions
at times that suit you
Build focus and shoot with greater consistency
Strong range sessions don’t always lead to great results. Score awareness, pressure, and frustration after a missed shot can interrupt your routine. You may rush, hesitate, hold too long, or start checking parts of your technique that usually happen without much thought.
When that pattern continues, it can affect your confidence and make each shot feel harder than the last. Our shooting sports psychologist can help you manage pressure, reset after a miss, and direct your attention towards the actions that support steadier execution.
Strengthen the mental skills behind better shooting
Sports shooting demands concentration, composure, and repeatable execution. Whether you compete in rifle, pistol, shotgun, clay target, or another shooting discipline, mental training can help you use the technique you’ve already developed.
Commit fully to each shot
Doubt can disrupt a routine you’ve repeated hundreds of times. Learn to trust your preparation, stay with your chosen cues, and execute each shot without forcing, rushing, or making unnecessary late corrections.
Manage score awareness
Thinking about your total, placing, or qualifying standard can pull your attention away from execution. Develop routines to keep the outcome in the background and return your full attention to executing the shot in front of you.
Reset after a miss
One missed shot can lead to frustration, technical analysis, and fear of repeating the result. Build a reset routine that helps you respond, regain your focus, and approach the next shot on its own terms.
Maintain your focus
Multiple rounds, waiting periods, changing conditions, and score updates can drain concentration. Develop routines that help you manage your attention and energy from the opening series to the final shot.
Perform consistently
Trials, qualification rounds, and representative events can make every point feel more important. Train your attention so you can respond to the demands of the event while staying committed to your process.
Handle nerves before shooting
Your thoughts and muscle tension may change while you wait to begin. Learn to recognise these reactions and follow a pre-shoot routine that prepares your body and attention to perform, even when some nerves are still present.
Meet the psychologists who’ll help you stay composed on the shooting line
Competition nerves, selection pressure, inconsistent scores, and difficulty recovering after a miss can affect shooters at any level. We help you work on the mental demands behind those moments, with sessions linked to your discipline, routines, and performance goals.
Brian Langsworth
Michelle Pain
Harley de Vos
David Barracosa
Gareth J Mole
Madalyn Incognito
Darren Godwin
Alexandra Mapstone
James Kneller
Lauren Bischoff
Chris Pomfret
Ready to work with a shooting sports psychologist?
Complete the form below
Tell us about your shooting discipline, competition level, goals, and the situations affecting your performance in the New Enquiries Form below. We’ll review your enquiry and aim to respond within 24 hours.
Schedule a call with Tara or Lizzie
One of our New Enquiries Officers will contact you to discuss what you want help with. They’ll answer your questions, explain the available Monthly Options and fees, and outline how the sessions work.
Get matched with the right sport psychologist
We’ll consider your discipline, goals, performance concerns, location, time zone, and session preferences. We’ll then recommend a sports psychologist and arrange your Kick Start Session.
Start your 1-on-1 sessions
Your Mental Toughness Training will focus on the situations affecting your shooting. You’ll develop mental routines, test them during range sessions, and review how they affect your performance.
Trust your shot process when pressure starts to build
When a placing, qualification standard, or team selection depends on the result, you may start thinking about the outcome instead of the actions behind the shot. Our shooting sport psychologist helps you train where to place your attention before and during competition.
Recover before one missed shot affects the rest of your match
You may keep thinking about a miss long after you see the score. You may replay what happened, search for a technical cause, or become overly cautious on the next shot because you’re worried about repeating the same mistake under pressure.
Carrying that reaction forward can turn one error into a run of lower scores. Our shooting sports psychologist helps you build a repeatable response between shots, so you can take what you need from the last attempt and return your attention to the next one.
Contact us to start building your mental edge
Work on the mental side of shooting so you can manage nerves and maintain focus. Complete the form below to learn how we can support your performance in training and competition.
FAQs our shooting sports psychologist receives
How can sports psychology help improve my shooting?
It helps you manage the thoughts, emotions, and physical responses that influence each shot. It can address competition nerves, lapses in concentration, hesitation, frustration, confidence, and pressure around scores or selection.
Sessions focus on the situations that affect your performance. You might work on preparation, attention control, routines, self-talk, emotional regulation, or your response to mistakes.
You then apply these strategies during range sessions and competitions. This gives you repeated opportunities to test them, review what happened, and adjust your approach.
What happens during the first session?
The first session explores your background, goals, current routines, and the moments that affect your shooting. You don’t need to know the cause before you attend.
One of our practitioners may ask about training, competitions, confidence, concentration, coaching, recent results, and life outside the sport. Psychology considers how your thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and physical responses interact.
Together, you’ll identify where to begin and what to practise between appointments. The session should help you understand the mental side of your current performance rather than give you broad motivational advice.
How can I recover faster after a bad shot?
Start by giving the previous shot a defined ending. A short routine can help you recognise your reaction, take any useful information from the result, and refocus on the next action.
This doesn’t mean ignoring mistakes. You can review technical concerns at an appropriate time without analysing every movement while you compete.
The aim is to prevent one miss from affecting the next series. You learn how to release frustration, return to your process, and approach each attempt as a separate task.
Why do I shoot well in training but struggle in competitions?
Competition changes what you notice and how you respond. Scores, spectators, rankings, selection outcomes, and other athletes can draw your attention away from the process you follow during training.
Your technical skill may remain the same, but pressure can affect your timing, breathing, muscle tension, decision-making, and commitment. Mental performance work helps identify which parts change when the result matters.
You can then recreate some of those demands during training. Rehearsing under scoring, time, and consequence-based conditions helps your competition routine feel more familiar.
How long will it take to improve my mental game?
The timeframe depends on your goals, current habits, competition schedule, and how often you practise between sessions. Some athletes notice useful changes early, while established patterns may require more time.
Mental strategies need repetition. Using a routine once in a low-pressure range session doesn’t mean it will immediately feel automatic during a major event.
You and your practitioner can review progress through behaviours you can observe. These might include following your routine more consistently, recovering sooner after mistakes, or maintaining attention for longer periods.
Can I attend online, and how much do sessions cost?
Yes, we can conduct sessions through webcam, which allows athletes to attend from different locations and time zones. This accessibility can also reduce travel around work, school, training, and competition.
Fees depend on the available Monthly Options and the level of support you choose. A New Enquiries Officer will explain the costs and session format before you book your Kick Start Session.
If you prefer in-person appointments, ask what options the team currently offers in your area. You can also discuss session timing, frequency, privacy, and any other concerns during the initial call.
Can I stop feeling nervous before an important shoot?
You may not remove every nerve, but you can change how you respond to them. A pre-shot routine can direct your attention towards your breathing, set-up, visual focus, and chosen performance cues.
Some athletes say, “I need calmness in my mind,” or ask how to “create a calmness” before they shoot. Trying to force yourself to feel relaxed can add more pressure. You can perform well while still feeling nervous.
You’ll learn how to notice tension without letting it control your execution. Regular rehearsal makes this response more familiar when you face a match, final, trial, or selection event.
Do I need to compete at an elite level to benefit?
Not at all. Athletes can work on focus, confidence, pressure, and consistency at club, state, national, or international level. You only need a performance goal that matters to you.
Competitive shooters may face different pressures depending on their experience and discipline. Someone entering a first club match won’t need the same support as an Olympic athlete preparing for an ISSF event.
The work can also account for differences between rifle, pistol, shotgun, and archery. Each discipline involves its own timings, routines, competition formats, and sources of pressure.
What's the difference between a registered practitioner and a mental coach?
A registered practitioner completes formal education, supervised training, and registration requirements. These standards govern ethics, confidentiality, professional conduct, and the limits of their work.
A mental coach may have valuable sporting experience or performance training, but the title doesn’t always require psychological qualifications or registration. Training and oversight can therefore vary considerably.
Ask about qualifications, registration, shooting experience, and how the practitioner approaches each session. They should explain how their work relates to your goals without promising a particular score, placing, or medal.
How do I choose the right shooting psychology support?
Look at the practioner’s qualifications, professional registration, shooting experience, session format, and approach to performance. Ask how they’d connect the sessions with your discipline, routines, competition schedule, and goals.
Sport shooting psychologists may use different programmes and methods to address focus, confidence, emotional control, and performance under pressure. Compare how each psychologist adapts their approach to the individual rather than applying the same process to every shooter.
Ask how they structure sessions, measure progress, and help you apply what you learn on the range. Don’t assume that elite-level methods will automatically suit your experience, challenges, or preferred way of working.
