Welcome. Nice to see you here. This article is dedicated to my mentors, Peter and Wendy Crabtree. They both served as esteemed instructors at the prestigious West London Shooting School, with Peter later assuming the role of NSCA Chief Instructor. I'd like to extend a special note to Wendy: any mis-telling is on me. I chose the name Ron, an alias for our story and student here. Ron agreed to my telling his story…I asked. This may touch a chord in your shooting.
I was visiting Wendy at the Meadows outside of Atlanta, enjoying the warm Georgia sun, chilled sweet tea, and good company, when Wendy's student, Ron, walked in. We shook hands, and Wendy and Ron asked if I'd like to observe the lesson. I volunteered to push buttons and pull targets and was grateful for the invite and guest privilege to observe.
Ron was a solid AA shooter who had attended the Nationals multiple times along with the US Open, posting respectable scores in many tournaments, just not recently.
Starting Ron on close and midrange targets, Wendy was observing, evaluating, and making mental notes quietly, as competent teachers do. I kept my distance, giving them space to work and talk. Assertive behind the trigger and perceptibly confident, Ron made short work of the targets. Wendy moved us back, and right on schedule, the misses appeared. To his credit, Ron didn't look surprised, acknowledging his presence here to learn why. After a few more targets and words of encouragement, she took us to the Meadow's Tower.
The trap machine was up about forty feet, throwing a dead-flat target. Ron was confident and in control. Targets were going down in succession. We moved back. XOOXXOOX. I knew we were approaching a short conference and waited for Wendy to choose that time. Back we went again. After two misses, Wendy took a time-out.
She politely asked Ron if he was having difficulty holding the target line. He thought he was, but he wasn't sure. She asked, does your sight picture—bird/barrel relationship—show any harmony, any connection? Again, he wasn't sure.
Wendy explained at the target launch; his gun was going from the MHP (muzzle hold point) directly to his lead picture. She asked if that was his intention, and after pondering a bit, Ron said yes.
She shared that Ron's coming up too far in front of the target was causing major muzzle speed irregularities and him losing the target line. She moved him closer and began the session again. She asked him to slow his swing down intentionally and spend some time with the bird so he could see and develop Wendy's "recommended" bird/barrel relationship. Smiling, Ron said he thought he was doing that, and this time he would make sure.
Wendy asked him to be “aware” of where his gun was actually pointing early in the swing and finish using her method. Ron did. X. That, he admitted, was not what he was used to seeing.
Wendy clarified that what he thought was happening in his swing wasn’t. Shooter perception and instructor reality were at work here. Ron settled in nicely and began to follow Wendy’s cues. His gun management improved immediately—consistency came on board—XXXXXX. Intentional, repeatable Xs.
Early in Ron’s lesson, Wendy and I watched his swing vary on almost every shot, explaining the inconsistent results at the target. Early in the swing, his gun wandered, never connected to the target. One swing came up behind the bird and swung through it. The next swing, he came up in front, pushed it, then hit the brakes to keep from getting “too far ahead.” This was all subtle, easy to miss if the shooter wasn’t looking for it. Though Wendy and I could see this, again, understandably, Ron didn’t. Once Ron got his swing under control—slowing it down so he could see what he was actually doing—swing duplication became easier and more apparent. Consistency and precision were both achieved in the shooting box and at the target.
Predictably, over a few short hours, Ron developed some commendable improvement in his form. Improvement he could take home and repeat. Back in the clubhouse, he was relieved. The mysterious inconsistencies had been revealed and successfully dealt with. He asked, “How’d I get myself into this mess?” Wendy smiled and said he'd over the last few years, taken a shortcut. Take the gun, go straight to the sight picture that would break the target. Unfortunately, it did. The hook was set, and the method reeled him in. Because it worked, he took a shortcut and lost swing control. While those “sometimes” Xs felt good and looked good (to him), his performances and scores inevitably and predictably went down.
At Paragon, we define consistency as: “Being able to execute the correct swing multiple times in a row.” Swing mistakes—unseen—typically elude the shooter, who assumes all is well in his swing. On the hunt for progress and higher scores, concentrating more on where he missed rather than why, our shooter is looking in the wrong place. Executing an inconsistent swing multiple times in a row costs us targets and makes consistency in the box and at the target impossible. Unintentionally now, cheating the basics takes us down a dead-end road… STOP - INCONSISTENCY AHEAD.
Knowing HOW to execute the swing correctly is a really good thing. Doing it multiple times in a row, reinforcing the method, makes it even better. Making it a HABIT…XXXXXXXX. And those Xs are intentional, leading to consistently higher scores.
Take the mystery out of missing targets and feathers with Dan Schindler's 3 excellent books: Take Your Best Shot, To The Target and Beyond The Target. These simple, easy-to-understand books are your road map to consistently and dependably shooting higher scores for decades to come. This invaluable resource is tailored for shooters of all skill levels and cherished by enthusiasts spanning 24 countries across the globe. Many shooters tell us they read Dan's books 3, 4 or 5 times and refer back to them when things go awry in their shooting. More information on the Paragon School of Sporting website and dozens of blog posts.
Thanks for joining us here. Be safe and I hope our paths cross out on the course.
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Dan Schindler is one of only 60 worldwide members of the Guild of Shooting Instructors (UK) and is one of the most highly respected Sporting Clays and Wingshooting Instructors in the US. Dan is an NSCA Level III Instructor (since 1995) and founded the Paragon School of Sporting with one goal in mind. Whether it be for the advanced competitor or providing the basics to the entry-level shooter, Paragon provides the simplest, most practical and most effective Instruction, Coaching and Mental Training for the Sporting Clays, Skeet, Trap & Wingshooting enthusiast. Dan Schindler helps shooters alleviate a lot of their frustration by taking the mystery out of breaking targets, calling their own misses, and making their own corrections. Lessons are fun, enlightening and our clients learn to shoot better in minutes!
Tired of being frustrated over missing targets or birds?
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Dan Schindler has had the privilege of working with thousands of shooters for the past 3+ decades. Helping them quickly move their game forward. Dan has Certified ~274+ Instructors • authored 3 Excellent Books • written thousands of articles and blog posts.
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Testimonials
"Folks fly from around the world to take lessons with Schindler at River Bend Sportsman’s Resort, his home course in Inman, South Carolina. Clients have included Bush staffers to NASCAR drivers to the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium. The approachable teacher has spent 25 years on “gentleman’s coaching” (with social and corporate shooters) and formal instruction (with individuals, groups, and competitors). Schindler has even certified more than 230 instructors using his handcrafted curriculum—a system that signaled his qualification as the first American admitted to the British Guild of Shooting Instructors... “Shooting, like golf, or anything like that, is a mental sport, and he has the mental game down so well.” To find out how he calibrated mind with metal, we head to Japan."
Excerpt from Gentleman’s Calling
Town Magazine
"Today goes down as one of my all-time favorites. Your teaching was exactly what I was looking for and you made me feel like a million bucks at the same time! Thank you for committing yourself to your craft for all of the years, you are outstanding at it!"
~ Jason Wilde, Wingshooting Student
"Recommended for shooters of all skill levels, Coaches, Instructors
and parents of youth shooters."
Schindler's books are written for shooters like you!
Take the mystery out of missing targets and feathers with Dan Schindler's simple, easy-to-understand books. They're your road map for consistently and dependably shooting higher scores.
Warning: Shooters from around the world tell us ...if you lend these 3 excellent books to your shooting buddies, you may never see the books again! Some say they'd give up their spouse before they give up these books.
Take Your Best Shot (Book I), 3rd Edition is THE Gold Standard Primer It's all about the fundamentals, a requirement for good shooting. This book is used by high school and college shooting teams, recreational and competitive shooters from around the world. Solid, valuable, concise information that has helped thousands of shooters shoot more consistently with higher scores.
To The Target (Book II) Builds on the steps outlined in Book I. Emphasises Gun Management skills when the trap fires, creating a consistent, reliable, trustworthy swing.
Beyond the Target (Book III) is for shooters of all levels, filled with valuable information, clay target truths. Entertaining and a culmination of 3 decades of Dan's life's work as a teacher, competitor, published writer, and much more.
Here's what Shooters, Coaches and Clay Shooting USA saying...
THE TRUSTED PRIMER
A Quarter of a Century and Counting
"Take Your Best Shot is the best clay and wingshooting shooting primer on the market that I have ever seen. The brilliance of its simplicity aids in getting across the correct messages for successful shooting for ANY clay/wingshooting shooter, let alone a new shooter."
Jacksonville University Sporting, Skeet & Trap Team
(Founding & Head Coach)
SCTP & ACUI Event and Divisional National Champions
Paragon Master Instructor
NSCA Instructor, Level III
NSSA Instructor, Level III
"Take Your Best Shot is the greatest publication ever written on how to increase X’s on a scorecard and put more game birds in a hunting vest. In plain language, Take Your Best Shot teaches the essential, non-negotiable basics for building shooting excellence. It should be a required text for every clay target shooter, Wingshooter, Coach, Instructor and parent of a youth shooter who is looking for a step-by-step shooting “system” that is easy to understand, repeatable and utterly dependable. Take Your Best Shot is not only the best, but the only book that provides this knowledge. Seriously – Take Your Best Shot is a must-have for every shotgunner."
Jeff Allen, Head Coach Carolina Clays
Paragon School of Sporting Professional Instructor
NSCA Level II Instructor
NSSA Skeet Instructor
NC State Scholastic Clay Target Program Advisor & Coach
NC Scholastic Clay Target Program Trap Director
“Few authors have tried to take the shooter on from the novice stage to serious competitor. “To The Target” does just that and it is one of the most innovative and important books yet published on the art of shooting clay targets.”
Clay Shooting USA
"This third volume in the Paragon school trilogy is the second best thing to booking a lesson with Schindler himself. Dan writes the way he coaches in person: respectfully, provocatively, humorously, and, most of all, effectively. His new book informs the Sporting Clays arts not only with a clear and proven blueprint for breaking (many) more targets but with great heart as well."
Wingshooting Editor: Sporting Clays Magazine