First, let’s dispel the myth right up front. Worldwide, in every endeavor, be it music, arts, sports or business, skills are built, not inherited. In my experienced opinion, we all are born with the potential to excel at something. At 5 foot 1 inch tall, maybe you won’t excel in the NBA. But in our sport, age, height, weight, and gender are irrelevant to building sporting clays, skeet and trap skills. Every day, teachers like myself stand behind students and genuinely marvel at what is happening in front of them. And I do mean every day. There are legions of instructors and coaches who will attest to this. It is commonplace and the students behind the trigger are just like ...

For many of us, Sporting Clays – along with all the other clay target disciplines – is about hitting the target. The “not missing” part – that pretty much applies to all the shooting sports. The problems begin when we miss. Too often, and unfortunately, missing ends up being more than just a problem.  A miss becomes a distraction. A distraction that frustrates and usually discourages. All understandable. These emotions can be temporary, or worse, hang around for a while, predictably creating more missing and lowering scores. Years ago, mining my way to becoming an All American, yours truly has been there, done that. More times than I care to ...

There are set-up basics (pre-shot skills) – swing basics (gun management skills) – and scoring basics (performance skills). All are interlocked, very much dependent on the other in purposely building our Sporting Clays (& Trap & Skeet) game on a platform of dependability and confidence. What follows is a favorite topic of mine, previously discussed multiple times from various perspectives. It cannot be stated too many times. It’s a fundamental that can motivate a peak performance in the tournament shooting box. Shell by shell…target by target…this motivation tool is built on the range during training/practice. In my experienced opinion, grasping ...

As the Sporting Clays season is about to kick off, here are a few thoughts about how to start our new year, in the right direction. No, not my direction…what might be your best direction. Understandably, and rightfully so, a lot of attention is given to our equipment choices, making those choices a high priority. No arguments here, let’s make good choices. Right after that we’ll begin to polish our shooting, our methods and strategies, signing up for events we wish to attend. This is an intelligent, prudent approach. But is this what’s most important, the first question at the top of our to-do list? Those who climb the ladder to more consistency ...