The Consistency Blueprint — Part II
The Mental Game Starts Before the First Shot
Four tractor trailers pull up to a vacant building site carrying twenty-one tons of lumber, supplies and tools.
Great.
Now where’s the blueprint? What’s Step 1?
Good questions, yes?
Everywhere we go, we’re told the Mental Game comes later, right after shooting skill development gets a foothold.
Sorry, that’s backwards.
Here’s why.
With all my students, the Mental Game starts at our first handshake. We take the time to make absolutely sure my student is mentally prepared long before the first shell goes into a chamber…not after.
Seated in the clubhouse, we discuss specific student goals, followed by an eye dominance and gun fit check to resolve any issues we find indoors, not after shooting starts.
Next comes the most important preparation step: very specifically going over where I want my student to have all of their attention BEFORE a shell goes into a chamber.
This preparation follows our blueprint to make absolutely sure my student’s mind and attention are in the right place well BEFORE a call for the show bird.
That matters. A lot.
Time and time again, when the shooting starts, this preparation dramatically accelerates my students’ progress.
Consistency begins with understanding, not guesswork.
It's one of the reasons I wrote Take Your Best Shot, To The Target and Beyond The Target. I've always believed that good instruction should make the complicated simple and easy to understand. Consistency comes from understanding the mechanics of the swing.
A shooter who understands the blueprint is far better prepared to follow it.
When we arrive on Station One, my students are already mentally focused and prepared to learn the method and upcoming swing steps. With some guidelines provided, 100% of their attention is on correctly building the X swing steps…NOT on trying to break the target…the exact opposite of what we discussed in Part I.
Let’s talk about that.
What is it that every shooter and every student wants when the gun comes up?
To break the target, of course.
A silly question?
Nope, sorry, it isn’t.
As every shooter very quickly learns, trying harder to break the target works one, maybe two, out of ten times. Those one or two broken targets don’t prove the movement is dependable.
To successfully build an X swing…consistently…requires our truthful answer to two questions from Part I:
-
Did I execute the swing correctly—and do I know that I did?
-
Is the shooting method I’m using 100% dependable?
All our good intentions aside for a moment…measurable shooting improvement, X consistency and performance consistency require a confident yes to both questions.
Understandably, the vast majority of shooters fall prey to trying to break the bird instead of trying to build the correct swing steps that apply to that target.
Bringing us here…
Which comes first?
Learning when, where and how to execute the specific X swing steps?
Or keeping 100% of our attention on intentionally building those steps?
Good question.
Most will say we have to know the swing steps before we can focus on building them. There’s merit to that thought.
However, I recommend attention first.
Why?
Because once the shooting starts, the first few misses quickly distract the shooter. Attention immediately shifts from building the swing correctly to trying harder to break the bird.
And that takes us right back to where we started…hoping inconsistent movements will somehow deliver an X.
The harder we try to break the target, the farther our attention moves from the blueprint.
The swing steps disappear from our focus.
That is exactly why, with the shell in the chamber and the dependability of the shooting method already confirmed, we want our attention directly on building the exact steps that create consistent swings and consistent X’s.
This is also why our private sporting clays instruction is structured around two four-hour lessons over two days.
Whether a shooter is relatively new to the game or already competing in Master Class, the objective is the same: understand the steps, learn to execute them dependably and develop the ability to recognize and correct mistakes independently.
The real value isn't simply breaking more targets during a lesson. It's leaving with the knowledge and confidence to become your own coach long after our time together.
If I may, one final reminder.
Some will say the Paragon methods underestimate using our natural instincts to break targets.
Not true.
In all sports, if consistency is the goal, learning the basics must come before relying on instinct.
Only after our skills have been developed and honed to a reasonable degree of consistency can we then trust our instincts to help create the higher scores we all seek.
Consistency begins when our attention moves away from trying to break the target and onto correctly building the swing that breaks it.
Dan Schindler
Master Sporting Clays, Skeet, Trap and Wingshooting Instructor
Paragon School of Sporting
Explore the Paragon Shooting System™ | Discover Private Sporting Clays Instruction | Read Dan's Books
For more than three decades, Dan Schindler has challenged conventional thinking about clay target shooting, bringing clarity and structure to a sport too often taught through trial and error.
His internationally respected book, Take Your Best Shot, introduced a forward-thinking approach to shooting instruction, distinguished by its clarity, precision and practical application. His subsequent books, To The Target and Beyond The Target, continue that commitment to helping shooters understand not just what works, but why.
Designed for sporting clays, skeet, trap, and wingshooting enthusiasts, The Mental Game Audio (downloadable) helps shooters overcome frustration, inconsistency, and self-doubt by strengthening the most important shooting tool of all: the mind.
That same philosophy is the foundation of the Paragon Shooting System™ and Dan's private sporting clays instruction.
Through two private four-hour lessons over two days, shooters—from beginners to Master Class competitors—learn to develop dependable swing mechanics, recognize and correct their own mistakes, and build the confidence that comes from understanding their method.
The objective isn't simply to break more targets during a lesson.
It's to become your own coach and break more targets consistently long afterward.
Explore Dan's Books | Learn About Private Lessons
1 Shell. 1 Target. 1 X.™
Clarity. Consistency. Confidence.
Paragon School of Sporting