Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
Getting Into The Swing Of Things 101.....
She was pretty enough to make my tired old hormones pay attention. She was also struggling through her introduction to shotgunning at Range 8 at PGC. Her form looked good, but there was an almost imperceptible hesitation in her move just before she pressed the trigger. She didn't know she was pausing, and didn't believe me when I said so. Her male companion was shooting like a rifleman, and hitting enough to make him feel he was doing it right. Classic Testosterone Block.
I said to her,"Get mad at the clay, go after it". A try or two later, her first DESTROYED clay happened, and the smile on her face was my reward. A few more followed before the end of the round.
Last time I saw her, she told me she had hit 18/25 her most recent round with a rented 391. I expect to see her again, and if she keeps going after those clays, she'll keep getting better.
As those who know me know, I watch plenty of new and old shooters on the line. The mistakes tend to fall into categories like head lifting, stopping the swing, yanking the trigger, etc. And some of these are,IMO, connected.
Often, when the swing stops, the head lifts. Oft, the swing stops because the new shooter is trying to aim. And, we tend to lift our heads to see if we hit.
But, like when I take a new shooter on the wobble trap line and we shoot side by side, shooting, loading and calling for the bird quickly, the new shooter hits more because....
He(or she) is not stopping the swing, lifting the head, trying to aim, etc. He's pumped a bit, and trying to get those birds before they get out of range. He's not thinking, he's just shooting the thing.He's going AFTER it. He WANTS to destroy it.
Extra boost goes into the swing, lending inertia an assist. Stopping the swing gets less frequent, and so do the related problems like aiming, headlifting and so on. with better results, the confidence factor improves, and progress happens.
It's easy to see folks who get in the right mindset. They're leaning into the shot like David slinging Goliath, or one of our ancestors hurling a flinted javelin deep into an ibex. They have the same level of concentration as a good barn cat does at a hot mousehole. The whole body is focussed into making the shot. Martial Artists may call it focussing the Chi.
Shotgunning IS a Martial Art, if you haven't noticed.
And while these folks still do miss shots, they don't do it as often for the reasons I've listed.
Questions, comments, donations?....
She was pretty enough to make my tired old hormones pay attention. She was also struggling through her introduction to shotgunning at Range 8 at PGC. Her form looked good, but there was an almost imperceptible hesitation in her move just before she pressed the trigger. She didn't know she was pausing, and didn't believe me when I said so. Her male companion was shooting like a rifleman, and hitting enough to make him feel he was doing it right. Classic Testosterone Block.
I said to her,"Get mad at the clay, go after it". A try or two later, her first DESTROYED clay happened, and the smile on her face was my reward. A few more followed before the end of the round.
Last time I saw her, she told me she had hit 18/25 her most recent round with a rented 391. I expect to see her again, and if she keeps going after those clays, she'll keep getting better.
As those who know me know, I watch plenty of new and old shooters on the line. The mistakes tend to fall into categories like head lifting, stopping the swing, yanking the trigger, etc. And some of these are,IMO, connected.
Often, when the swing stops, the head lifts. Oft, the swing stops because the new shooter is trying to aim. And, we tend to lift our heads to see if we hit.
But, like when I take a new shooter on the wobble trap line and we shoot side by side, shooting, loading and calling for the bird quickly, the new shooter hits more because....
He(or she) is not stopping the swing, lifting the head, trying to aim, etc. He's pumped a bit, and trying to get those birds before they get out of range. He's not thinking, he's just shooting the thing.He's going AFTER it. He WANTS to destroy it.
Extra boost goes into the swing, lending inertia an assist. Stopping the swing gets less frequent, and so do the related problems like aiming, headlifting and so on. with better results, the confidence factor improves, and progress happens.
It's easy to see folks who get in the right mindset. They're leaning into the shot like David slinging Goliath, or one of our ancestors hurling a flinted javelin deep into an ibex. They have the same level of concentration as a good barn cat does at a hot mousehole. The whole body is focussed into making the shot. Martial Artists may call it focussing the Chi.
Shotgunning IS a Martial Art, if you haven't noticed.
And while these folks still do miss shots, they don't do it as often for the reasons I've listed.
Questions, comments, donations?....
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I really enjoy your writing.
