When an entry-level shooter decides to work with me, I can almost always count on his or her open mind and eagerness to listen. That's because from their perspective of "why did that just happen," they have little or no experience to fall back on. X's and 0's are a complete mystery. That's OK of course, and very much understandable. Underway enthusiastically, instruction is received and implemented with little if any resistance. Predictably, student comprehension and progress accelerate rapidly. Here's a common, subtle difference with a more experienced shooter in a lesson. XXXXXX. We're off to a good start, yes? My student's thinking, "Darn right we are! I smoked those targets!" ...
It is interesting, and completely understandable, that the X or 0 holds so much of our attention. And why not? That’s what counts, right?Well, yes it does. And, if we are serious about the next target breaking, why we got that X also counts.A few years back, Denise and her husband George traveled a fair distance to work with me. After the handshakes, we sat down and I went through the preliminaries with them as I do all my students. Not long after, we began on the River Bend skeet range to instill the set-up and swing basics. George had the slower, more methodical swing, thus achieved more consistency and success. Denise was the newer, less experienced shooter. A take charge lady with ...
In December 2015, I wrote a Tip titled "T&T." Tempo and timing–tempo of the swing and timing of the trigger pull. I’d like to re-visit that Tip and expand on it. Why? Because patiently building the correct swing speed is nothing less than vital to increasing our X count and our consistency.From the T&T Tip: ".....synchronizing of the muzzle and target creates a swing with precision, putting the muzzle on the right line and at just the right speed. Tempo - matching gun speed to bird speed - is the purest form of gun control, putting the muzzle into the right place at just the right time."It is difficult for me to remember a student who arrived with too little gun speed. ...
Last month we briefly talked about tournament pressure and our role in that pressure. As a sporting clays instructor, it's my job to find a solution to this pressure, so let's take a closer look at the problem. It's natural to point our finger at the distractions around us and say, "there's the problem, right there." I believe – and countless studies have proven – the pressure and stress we feel in the tournament box is self-generated. Truth is, tournament stress comes more from what we're thinking and feeling and not from what we believe is distracting us. The reality is, the distraction isn't the noisy crowd behind us; the complaining shooter in front of us; the rain; the ...