When an entry-level shooter decides to work with me, I can almost always count on his or her open mind and eagerness to listen. That's because from their perspective of "why did that just happen," they have little or no experience to fall back on. X's and 0's are a complete mystery. That's OK of course, and very much understandable. Underway enthusiastically, instruction is received and implemented with little if any resistance. Predictably, student comprehension and progress accelerate rapidly. Here's a common, subtle difference with a more experienced shooter in a lesson. XXXXXX. We're off to a good start, yes? My student's thinking, "Darn right we are! I smoked those targets!" ...
Trust in the Shooting Box (continued) Second, assuming 1) we are experiencing some of this success…and 2) we are competing…there will come a time in which our attention should shift from executing the step-by-step swing components to trusting our swing without micromanaging it. When we were very young and first jumped on a bicycle, it all seemed so complicated…at that time. Not too long after, we didn’t have to think about it all…just jump on and voila, you’re Evel Knieval. This was the same step 1, step 2 process we’re discussing here. I write you about this 2-step process because yesterday I read an ...
Have you ever had an exciting ah ha moment with a Sporting Clays or Wingshooting teacher or a coach? Daniel Schindler’s third Sporting Clays Instruction and Wingshooting Book is soon to be published. It is filled with so many teaching stories and lessons learned from decades of wingshooting instructing and coaching. Some of the antics will make you LOL . . . and the information is priceless! For decades, Dan Schindler has continuously fine-tuned his sporting clays instruction training (wingshooting instruction too) and the speed his students move their game forward during lessons is amazing!
As I work with students of all skill levels, I’m frequently asked if I prefer gun up or gun down? My answer will depend on my student’s skill level and what types of shooting he participates in. Wingshooting, of course, we’ll start with gun down. Sporting Clays, I prefer gun up with certain caveats. If my student spends a lot of time in F.I.T.A.S.C. events, we’ll likely be working from the gun down position. From the starting position, gun up or down, what must remain constant is “muzzle control.” By that I mean, during the gun mount, the trigger hand must not disrupt what the fore-end hand is doing, which is guiding the gun. To best ...
In December 2015, I wrote a Tip titled "T&T." Tempo and timing–tempo of the swing and timing of the trigger pull. I’d like to re-visit that Tip and expand on it. Why? Because patiently building the correct swing speed is nothing less than vital to increasing our X count and our consistency.From the T&T Tip: ".....synchronizing of the muzzle and target creates a swing with precision, putting the muzzle on the right line and at just the right speed. Tempo - matching gun speed to bird speed - is the purest form of gun control, putting the muzzle into the right place at just the right time."It is difficult for me to remember a student who arrived with too little gun speed. ...