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Consistency One must have a consistent approach to all targets before one can expect consistency on any targets. The foundation for consistency is a sound Pre-shot routine. What one does in the setup physically and mentally determines the consistency of the results. The routine is personal and should be present any time one calls for a target. It doesn't matter what it is as long as it is simple and it helps you Focus your mind and body on what you are about to do. Make a plan and have trust in yourself that it is the correct plan. Don't call pull, until your plan is made, then go with it. Remember, it is more important to be Decisive than Correct. If the plan works, use it again for each of the next targets. If it doesn't, change it. Improved performance is based on remembering and duplicating the good shots and learning from the bad ones and forgetting them. A good round of clays is the Sum of all the shots both good and bad. The bad shots are just as much a part of the game as the good ones. If dwelt on, they will perpetuate themselves, if learned from and forgotten, they eliminate themselves. Remember only the good shots......if you remember the bad ones, unfortunately, you will see them again. Back to Article Directory Keeping Every Round as Good as the First (Larry Fry, Poway, CA) Invariably, the first round I shoot is my best (of the day). My scores will gradually drop off as I continue to shoot. I'm in excellent health. I shoot 2 3/4 dr., 1 1/8 oz, recoil doesn't bother me(at least not that I'm aware of). I don't feel as if I'm getting tired. I usually shoot in the mornings, not at the end of the day. I shoot skeet, 5 stand and sporting clays. The same phenomena occurs on all types of shooting except actual hunting. I don't notice this drop-off on live birds. At present, I do not shoot in competition because of this problem. Any thoughts? Sounds to me like you have done just about everything you can to improve your performance on clays. You shoot in the morning when you are fresh and you shoot light ammunition which doesn't kick, you have certainly been very observant of your results! This could however, be the problem! When a shooter becomes score or results oriented during his performance, the result is typically underachievement. The scenario goes something like this-(lets use a 10 station 100 target bird round of sporting for example) You begin shooting on station 1-4 excited about being there, having a good time and shooting the birds one at a time without a care in the world. All of a sudden you are on station 6 and you realize you have only missed 7 birds out of 50 and you have a great score going. On station 6-10, your shooting becomes erratic. You have lost your sense of rhythm or timing. The birds start hitting the ground whole. The X's you dreamed of turned into O's. The score you expected to shoot when you were on station 6 turned into a mirage. It seemed the harder you tried to break the birds the worse it got, and the birds on the last 1/2 of the course were easier than the ones on the first 1/2. You would normally break those types of birds easily--without even trying! But today you couldn't buy a target.--- Vicki and I see this a lot. Its called lack of staying in the present. When we talk to our students about the psychology of performance we stress how important it is to stay in the present. You can only control what you are doing now, you cannot control your total score. The total score is the sum of all the shots both good and bad. A good score is the result of staying in the present each and every time you called pull. When you were on stations 1-5, you shot each bird without expectation, as one bird. When you realized you had broken 43 out of the 1st 50 targets, you immediately doubled the score and thought WOW! I could shoot an 86 today! At that instant you left the present and went into the future. You stopped doing what you were doing when you shot 43 of the 1st 50. You began to think about your total score instead of the target you are shooting at that instant. You began to miss. Because you expected to shoot an 86, you began to count birds. Then you began to shoot not to miss instead of shooting to hit. What little confidence you have left in yourself as a shooter now vanishes like the rabbits you smoked on station 2. Your expectations have become your boundary. The reason you do not see the same result on live birds is that you are typically in the present because when a live bird flushes you are startled and you react to that bird. Rarely do you count live bids until the end of the day or until you get close to your limit. Your comment about not shooting competition because of this problem makes us even more sure of the answer. Ever wonder why people always shoot better in practice than in a tournament? The targets are the same-yet the scores are lower. When people shoot a tournament they overtry. They try to shoot a score instead of staying in the present and shooting each bird one at a time and letting the score be a reflection of their true ability. There are two things that improve performance - Enjoyment and learning. When you practice your goal needs to be to learn and enjoy. When you perform your goal must be to enjoy and learn. Back to Article Directory Have other questions on other issues? Visit our Clinic FAQs section or submit your own question.
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