Common, I see this in lessons, competition, and while watching social shooters. Like leaving the house with the hot coffee pot still plugged in, it’s that important message in the shooting box we shouldn’t, but do forget.  

We step off the cart and Earl steps into the box. I’m holding the controller, my thumb on the button. Earl looks serious today as he evaluates the A and B trap, 2 challenging target presentations. After the show birds, preparation in place, he asks for the A trap and begins by only shooting singles. Earl shoots very well on the A trap. 5 singles = XXXXX. 5 good breaks. He then asks me for singles again, off trap B, which is another crafty presentation. What you see is not what you get. Kudos to the target setter. 5 singles from trap B = XXXXX. Another 5 solid breaks. So…5 singles from trap A, and 5 more singles from trap B = 10 X’s. Trap A and B, Earl’s established, he can break both target presentations. Reliably. This is not only good shooting, but consistent shooting.

Confidence secure, Earl asks to shoot a few report pairs…A, on report B. As Earl loads 2 shells, I detect a sense of tentativeness as he prepares for the pair. Pull. OX. OX? That was a surprise. OK…reloading. Pull. XO. Another surprise. Once more please…Pull. OX.

Time out. With single targets, Earl had 5 X’s on the A trap…and 5 more X’s on the B trap. 10 straight X’s. Now, with pairs, he’s 3 for 6 with the same traps, same target presentations. What up with that? It would be fair to say that Earl is making swing mistakes…that’s obvious. But why? Trap A and B singles, Earl owned this Field?

Long experience has shown that when 2 shells go into the gun, understandably, the mind can begin to multi-task for obvious reasons: we’re now facing not 1, but 2 targets.  Which brings us to this question: how many targets are there in a pair?  2, right? Well, if we’re a spectator, that would be right. We just saw 2 birds, count’em, one after the other. Here’s where I politely ask Earl this same question. He looks at me like I’ve got a third eye in my forehead! Naturally, he says 2…the DUH is visibly implied.

Maybe it’s time to discuss why this may be happening on his pairs because Earl ain’t sure! Suggestion in place, I’m back on the button as Earl steps in and reloads. The next 3 pairs…XXXXXX. Here’s what we discussed and how all this happened.

Knowing his first pair was coming, Earl put 2 shells into the gun. Looking down at those 2 shells, Earl was thinking about 2 targets…what to do on each. Thank goodness, because hope is not a plan! However, when the A trap fired, Earl shot that target with “some” of his attention on the A bird…AND, at the same time, some of his attention on the B bird….which had not been launched yet! With only 1 target in the air, his attention divided, Earl was very much thinking about 2 targets. OX.

Reloading, now Earl was remembering what just happened…OX. Focusing mainly on the A bird, which he knew he missed…Earl called Pull with most of his attention guess where? Right…on the A bird, which he broke. X. The B bird? That one he took for granted. Right on schedule…XO.

Third pair coming…Earl is not happy. He just missed the B bird. Reloaded…first target in the air…Earl is determined to break the B bird. With insufficient attention given to his first target, the A bird, his shot goes high and behind. OX.

After our brief discussion, Earl put 100% of his attention on the A bird…followed by putting 100% of his attention on the B bird. 3 times. 1 target…followed by another 1 target. Nothing special…nothing extra…just by putting ALL of his attention on the bird he was shooting at…1 target, individually, 6 times. XXXXXX.

How many birds in a pair? From the shooter’s standpoint, I’m suggesting the answer is 1. Pull…how many targets are we looking at? 1. At the trigger pull, how many shells will fire? 1. Do we have ALL our attention on that 1 bird? If not, we’re probably multitasking…and missing. Just when our wives and girlfriends told us multi-tasking was a good thing! And, unfortunately, after each miss, it’s that miss that is now holding most of our attention as we reload and call Pull again. No doubt, now we really want to break that bird. And sometimes we do…at the expense of missing our other target. Each time we do this, and reverse the hit / miss or miss / hit order, I call it a “flip flop.” And so the cycle goes.

Gun up, by focusing our attention on the previous miss, (or our 2nd target) unintentionally mind you, we’re setting ourselves up for missing more targets.

Smart planning will always be advantageous. However, once the gun is raised and the target called for, ALL of our undivided attention should be on the bird we’re shooting at. Intentionally. With determination…so we can finish our first shot correctly before the second bird enters our mind. When it does…it too will get 100% of our attention. 1 + 1 = XX!

Be safe and I hope to see you out on the course.