Journal   Have you ever wondered why you can shoot well at one event and not at another? You can shoot a competition every week and not perform at each shoot as you think you should.   Your practice seems up to par, but for some strange reason you can't seem to be consistently competitive at your shoots. One of the things that I tell new shooters that show an aptitude for competition is to keep a journal or, as some call it, a diary. Whatever you call it, it will help you to know why you shoot well at one venue and not at another, or at one time and not at another. There … [Read more...]

Mental Game   That's a term you'll read about in most sports psychology articles, it's where we try to learn how to have our minds help us do what we want to do.   In shooting, this is as—or more—important than the physical aspects of what we do. We have to focus only on what we're doing at that time and to 'stay in the moment'. Stay in the moment. That's where you are paying attention to the one thing you're doing at that time and not thinking about how you should be mowing the back 40 or how your mother-in-law is coming to stay with you for an extended period of … [Read more...]

New Shooters   Many times after we finish our shooting, we see a group of new shooters that seem to be struggling with the game they're trying to shoot.   You, as a more knowledgeable shooter, might just ask them if they would like some help. This is not a bad thing to do if it's done in a helpful and friendly manner. In fact, it shows that it's a friendly club and that you welcome new shooters. If you approach them in a helpful manner, they may even want to join your club. When I encounter struggling shooters I'll ask them if they need help understanding the principles … [Read more...]

Courtesy   We never shoot at another shooter’s target, it's common courtesy. We never take a gun that's not ours out of the rack unless we first ask the owner if we can—that's being courteous too. We, as shooters, are usually pretty courteous folk.   One of the discourteous things that many of us do is to talk while another shooter near us is shooting. Whether we're on the field with other shooters or behind the line, we need to be cognizant of those shooting and stay as quiet as we can so as to not, through our talking, cause that shooter to lose their focus and … [Read more...]

Henry Ford   Many years ago, Henry Ford was quoted as saying, "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."   I'm pretty sure he wasn't referring to the shooting sports when he made this statement, but with a little massaging it can, and in my opinion does, fit our sport. When we shoot, are we just having fun shooting with our friends or do we have a goal? Are we practicing, trying to hit the '10 ring' more often, trying to hit low 5 sooner or trying to hit that elusive rabbit? In other words, are we working on that part of our sport … [Read more...]