Step by planned step, do you know how to move your shooting forward? Performance and scores…measurable, noticeable improvement, in the box and on your scorecard? Is consistency replacing inconsistency? If not, you may wish to consider finding a competent coach to guide you. Keep in mind…when student improvement is the stated goal…the most important mission for all clay target instructors is to teach their students the required fundamentals. Why? So…after the lesson(s)… the student can continue to improve their game, on their own, at home, when their instructor isn’t standing behind them.  Wasn’t that the goal? The purpose of the lesson?

Not optional, this requires the instructor to help the shooter first learn a shooting process and then how to stay focused on that process. This process being a dependable shooting system that works consistently, 100% of the time, when assembled and executed correctly. This means how and where each shooting method being taught applies to each of the 3-Basic target presentations.

Shooters who are determined and tightly focused on breaking the target often stumble because their attention is “out there…” trying to break the bird. Whereas moving their attention to their process …to guiding their gun correctly…would serve them well. Following a miss…to those who then insist you are missing because you are not “trusting your instincts,” very sorry, but that’s false and, worse, only leads to more missing. Learning, specifically, HOW the process works and then applying/reinforcing it must come first. Before it can be trusted, regardless of endeavor, one must learn and become familiar with the successful process. If not, count on it, real improvement will be very hard to come by.  

In this case, for the sake of genuine improvement, the instructor must figure out specifically what’s not working and why. Then, provide the shooter with individual, step-by-step corrections…shooting methods and practice assignments…to ensure further consistency and improvement when standing alone on the shooter's home course.

Let’s talk about the process for improving.

PULL. The trap machine fires. A miss. Not where…why was the target missed? What was the mistake behind the muzzle? Your instructor must know this and then properly evaluate it. Just as importantly, did the set-up on the target contribute to the miss, the swing error? Why so specific here? Why do we have to know? So, we (student and instructor) will know exactly what to correct with the next shell in the gun. The X isn’t the goal here. Your learning how to correct your own miss is the goal here. To measurably improve your shooting.

PULL. Set-up and/or swing error corrected…X. X. X. X. Here’s even better news. Those targets were broken on purpose. Deliberately. If the student isn’t learning how to do this during his/her lesson, where will the improvement come from at home? 

Pull. X. Congratulations. Now, please, was that X an accident, or was it on purpose? If it was on purpose, then we’ll know exactly what to repeat with the next shell. XXXXXX. If, however, we’re not sure (not taught) why the target broke…same trap, same target…what is the plan for our next shell? If in fact, a mistake was made…a lucky break…will repeating that mistake break the next target??? Doubtful and why we have to know the correct process, the steps, and why our target just broke. In our game, hope is not a plan. If the student hasn’t learned how to do this during his/her lesson, where will the improvement come from at home?

Once seen and clearly explained to you, trust me, your inconsistencies will no longer be a mystery. In a paid lesson, those are your instructor’s obligations to you. To educate…to prepare you to continue improving on your home course, alone, with no instructor behind you. After safety, of course, that’s your instructor’s primary mission. Every shell, every target, every swing, every outcome.

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. 

We appreciate your time here and look forward to our next visit, when we’ll talk about our gear.  

Sign up for the Paragon Newsletter  Click Here

Please share the link with your fellow shooters. Thank you!

XXXX

About Dan Schindler

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?

Ready to move your shooting forward and shoot consistently higher scores?

"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."

Dan Schindler's Books

"Recommended for shooters of all skill levels, Coaches, Instructors

and parents of youth shooters."

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...

Take Your Best Shot (Book I), 3rd Edition

THE TRUSTED PRIMER

To The Target (Book II)

Beyond The Target (Book III)