Patience

By: Paul Giambrone, III

Greetings everyone!

Wow, another year has flown by and we are already in 2012! I want to first thank all of my clients and supporters for all of their help over the years and helping 2011 be the best year that Giambrone Shooting Clinics could possibly have had. As most of you know, 2011 was a busy year for me. I finished college (for good this time), recently married, and my wife Suzanne and I just moved to the Dallas area! Whew! Our new address is:

1705 Woodstock Blvd
Apt #106
Arlington, TX 76006

We have been married just over a month now and moved to Arlington just a couple of weeks ago. Before we know it, another great skeet season will be in full swing! Thank you again to all of my supporters, friends, and family! We are looking forward to another fabulous year!

As we enter into 2012, I know that most shooters are very anxious for the tournaments to get here or for the spring time leagues to start… Keep in mind, patience is a virtue. Especially for the shooters who got a brand new shotgun for Christmas. I know that when we get something new, we want to go try it out right away! Patience. The worst thing a shooter can do when getting a new gun is to go straight out to the field before setting it up properly. What will generally happen is the gun will not be fit to them correctly, then they will shoot it poorly or not up to the expectations they had in mind. Why is that a big deal? Confidence. If you go out to the field without setting up the gun properly and have a poor day with the new gun, your confidence will be shaken up. All too often, we see shooters with a new gun go out to the field and leave the gun club with disappointment because of the score they posted or their performance in general was not up to par. If you take the time to setup the gun properly or have someone who is qualified set it up for you before going to the field for the first time, the results will be much better and will give you accurate feedback. Why is the feedback important? Well, if it you do not shoot it well, you may question the equipment. When in fact, most of the time, the equipment is not at fault; the equipment just isn’t setup properly. However, if it is setup properly, then you may have some form issues that might need to be addressed. Either way, it is a necessity to have the equipment setup properly to send you in the correct direction.

What about the shooters that have the same gun, but it’s been a while since they have shot with that particular gun? Or perhaps they had a couple of months off and took a break? First things first, always make sure that the gun still fits you properly. Starting to sound like a broken record, right? If your weight or physique has changed during the time, there is a good possibility the gun does not fit you the same. A good way to test if it still fits you properly is to pattern the gun and shoot some basic targets first such as low 7, and incomers on 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. If you are not centering these targets, your gun may not fit you properly. Sure, there could be a problem in the fundamentals as well, but let’s assume your fundamentals have not changed. So let me ask you, if you aren’t centering these targets, how do you think you will do on high 2 or 3? What about Low 5 and 6 or station 4? I don’t think things will work out too well or if you actually hit them, they may not be solid breaks. There are enough problems with these targets, we don’t need to make it any harder on ourselves and lose even more confidence. This is another reason why working the baseline and incoming targets are so important (Station 1, Low 2, Low 3, High 5, High 6, Station 7, Station 8). I am a firm believer in shooting these targets and getting very comfortable with these targets before practicing full rounds of skeet. It is what I do before shooting regular rounds at the beginning of the season. It is great walking onto the skeet field and having complete confidence in your ability to break these targets. Did you know that these targets represent 16-17 (depending on where you take your option) shots out of the 25? Almost 2/3 of the round is baseline and incoming shots!

The overall message here is to start slow and build confidence! That way by the time you are fully ready to get into a solid practice routine, your confidence is there to carry you a long way. A phrase that I have heard recently and really like is “start fast, finish strong.” If you can get off to a fast start in your overall skeet game by getting confidence built early, that will help you finish strong and help make your skeet year better. The start fast does not mean jump right into full rounds of skeet after taking some time off either… It means build that confidence early and often to carry you through the season.

If you have any questions or comments, please email me directly at info@gsclinics.com and visit breakmoretargets.com for more information! Please check the website for upcoming tournaments and clinics in your area and keep in mind that we have completed our move to Arlington, TX! GSC will be available to teach in the Dallas/Fort Worth area year round! Please call for lesson availability today! The first clinic of the 2012 season will be held in Winter Haven, FL followed by another clinic in Miami, FL (both are completely full). Next stop will be in Jacksonville, FL February 7-11 at the Jacksonville skeet and trap club. Also, the Fort Worth Skeet and Trap club will host a clinic February 16-19 in Fort Worth, TX. Please email or call me or the local organizer directly for more information about these clinics.

Tip of the month: Remember, when in doubt, always have patience and go back to the fundamentals. We did not go from crawling to a full sprint in one day so take it slow. If you try to rush, you’ll end up taking steps backwards instead of progressing forward. Practice those incoming and baseline targets and get your confidence up before moving to the more advanced shots on the field.