By: Paul Giambrone, III

Recently, I was teaching in Miami, FL, and we were sitting down at dinner one night talking about, well you guessed it, skeet shooting.  We were discussing the many different types of shooters out there.  There are competitive shooters, recreational shooters, and some shooters who just like to sharpen up those wing shooting skills.  At the competitive shooter level, there are also different types of shooters: from those who strive to win their league at their local club to those who battle it out at the major shoots throughout the summer wanting to be the best in the world.  Nothing is wrong with any one of these shooters, so where do you fall?  What are some of your personal shooting expectations?  Think about it for a moment.  Most shooters expect to hit every single target they shoot at.  Even the shooters who think they may not have this expectation, probably do.  When I see a lot of shooters miss a target or two, their entire body language changes.  They are upset over one or two missed targets, telling me their expectation is to never miss.  So, I’ll ask again: where are your expectations?

I come across all kinds of different shooters in my travels and some want to get to a certain class or shoot consistently within a range of scores.  I hear things like “I just want to be a solid B class shooter” or “I want to get to where my scores are consistently in the mid 90s” or “I want to make this All-American team.”  Let me tell you, as humans, once you achieve these goals, you’ll want more or you will start to think that is all you can accomplish, leaving you short of your potential.  Going back to my early days, I always said that I just wanted to get to that next class or break through the current plateau and get to the next…  Once I got to the next level, I always wanted more.  Let me ask you, what do you think shooters in my position would have for their expectations?  Never miss?  Win 80% of the shoots they attend?  Get high average leader in a gun or two?  I can only speak for myself, but none of these are expectations I set for myself.  My expectation of myself is to give each and every target that I shoot 100%; basically give each target my best shot.  That is all, nothing more.  Now do I have goals?  Sure, but I am not talking about goals.  I am talking about what I expect out of myself when I get on the skeet field to shoot.  I simply want to prepare and execute each shot on the field individually to the best of my ability.

Why don’t I set goals at individual shoots or to get to a class or keep my scores in a certain range?  When you do this, you are putting more pressure on yourself than necessary.  Goals are good, but when I was young, one of my coaches said it best: “Write your goals down on a piece of paper well before the season starts and store it away until the season is completed.”  It is good to have goals and have the desire to achieve those goals, but when you constantly remind yourself of those goals you are adding more and more pressure on yourself to try to achieve them rather than just letting it happen.  In other words, if you just focus on giving each target your best shot, and you do that perfectly, how can you be disappointed?  If you gave each target your 100% best shot, that means your did your job perfectly and could not have done it any better no matter what your “score” is.  Now, if you are giving it everything you have and you are consistently having issues with certain targets, there is a good chance that you are doing something wrong in your fundamentals.  That is where having a solid coach comes into play.

In late August of 2005, I was living in Louisiana and, as most of you know, Hurricane Katrina devastated my home state and the area where I lived.  Not to mention, I had suffered an ankle injury shortly after Katrina during the massive cleanup that had to take place.  So my family and I had a decision to make, were we going to go to the World Shoot or not that year?  We decided that we were going to go and just shoot and have no expectations.  However, that particular year I was straight in the 28 gauge at 900 and wanted to finish the year perfect.  So there was a small expectation that slipped its way in:  shoot 100s in the 28 gauge at the Mini and Main events.  With the exception of this, there were zero other expectations.  If you had to choose a gauge in which I was most nervous, which one would you pick?  Yes, the 28 gauge in both the Mini and Main World.  Why?  Because I set the expectation of finishing the year perfectly; this caused me to shoot nervous.  I did finish the year perfectly in the 28 gauge, but it wasn’t pretty.  All of the other gauges, I was as calm and relaxed as I could be because all I wanted to do was shoot to the best of my ability.  I wasn’t worried about championships, scores, nothing.  I just wanted to shoot my best.  That year, I shot a 400X400 at the Mini and a 549X550 at the World, and won both HOAs.  I truly believe that the success that I had at this particular shoot and all of the other shoots that I have been able to do well at is because I go to the shoots with no expectations, except to give each target everything I have got…

What is the moral of the story?  I am trying to get you to focus on each individual target that you are going to shoot and nothing else, especially score!  Once shooters become focused on their scores, they are no longer focused on the next target.  They are now focused on their score or the outcome.  Let me tell you this, your performance has absolutely nothing to do with your score.  I know you are in shock, so I am going to say it again.  Your performance has absolutely nothing to do with your score!  How is that possible?  Your performance should be based on whether you gave each and every target 100% of your attention and everything you had.  If you don’t give a shot 100%, then those are the shots you can improve on.  If you gave 100% on the shot and still missed it, how could you have done anything better?  I understand that most shooters have fundamentals they need to work on, but you are missing the point if you are thinking about fundamentals.  What I am getting at is this: you gave it the best you could have possibly given it at that time with your current setup and equipment, so how could you ask for anything better at that time?  Simply: you can’t.  So, base your performance on how well you prepared and executed each shot, not on your score.  Give each and every target all that you have got and make that your expectation for 2012…

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 GSC has completed its move to Arlington, TX!  GSC will be available to teach in the Dallas/Fort Worth area all year-round!  Please call for lesson availability today!  Tulsa Gun Club will host a clinic following its St. Patrick’s Day shoot March 19-20 in Tulsa, OK.  Blue Rock Gun Club in Little Rock, AR will host a clinic March 21-23 and Greater Houston Gun Club will host another clinic March 27-30 in Houston, TX.  Please email or call me or the local organizer directly for more information about these clinics.

Tip of the month:           When you go practice, it is OK to have certain things you want to work on to improve your game.  However, it should never be to shoot a certain score.  If you are going to practice 50 or 100 targets simulating a tournament, simply focus on giving each and every shot 100% of your attention.   Put your emphasis on giving each and every shot 100% and work on doing that each and every time.  Forget about your score.  If your performance is not where you would like, it might be time for a tune up from your coach.