By: Paul Giambrone, III

“How’d you shoot today?” someone asks, “Shot well, thank you!” my response.  “So you got ‘em?”  They ask.  “No, shot a 99.” I say.  “A 99?!?!?! What happened???” they say with a strange look on their face.  That is the typical response that I usually get when I shoot less than a 100 straight after stating I shot well.  Why is it that shooters automatically think that their performance is strictly based on score??  Well gee Paul that is how we shot that morning, right?  That is how we are judged!  The scoreboard is a trap for most shooters and those are the shooters that get so caught up in their SCORE they forget how they actually performed that day.  I understand we need to be “graded” or “measured” against other shooters to determine our winner for the event, the winner for classes, and the concurrent winners  for the day and that is done by the score they shot… but I honestly don’t care about score, I worry about my actual performance.

I was at the Dallas Gun Club about 2 years ago shooting in a tournament and I was having a particularly good “feeling” weekend and my scores were pretty accurate as to how I was shooting.  On Thursday, we had a 4X50 event in which I won an event, placed in the top three in all of the others and won the HOA with a 200X200.  The victories for the day were very nice and my score reflected a great day and was an accurate description of how I shot that particular day and I felt really great about my shooting.  I had not had that much confidence in myself for some time.  In 2010, I switched to the high-rib MAX skeet gun and I was still getting used to some of the new looks, but this weekend, everything seemed to be clicking.  As I went into Friday’s event, I shot a 100 in the 12 gauge and went a couple of boxes in the shoot-off before missing.  I didn’t win the event or place in the top 3, but I still felt really good about my shooting because I was executing all of my shots exactly like I wanted (keep that phrase in mind).  On Saturday, still feeling really great about my shooting, and at the end of the day, my confidence was just as high as it was the day before.  However, I shot a pair of 99s.  Even though I had missed 2 targets that day, my confidence was still soaring high.  At the end of the day, someone had walked up to me and we had the exact conversation I mentioned in the opening paragraph.  The person was completely surprised that I said I had shot really well and felt really good about my shooting, but didn’t break 100s.  The reason I felt really well is very simple.  The 2 targets that didn’t break that day must’ve been metal targets… just kidding!  Actually, the 2 targets that I missed, I would have shot the exact same way, it just wasn’t my day.  What I am getting at is I did everything mentally correct, prepared for the station and executed the shots exactly how I prepared, but the targets just didn’t break.

Remember, this is the year where I had just switched to the new gun so my eyes and brain were still getting used to everything so something like this is expected with new equipment.  It is also expected because we are HUMAN!  We are going to miss some targets just because!  With this in mind, remember what I said earlier about how I was executing my shots exactly like I wanted?  I felt the same way at the end of the day Saturday even though the “score” didn’t reflect how I felt about my performance.  I carried this attitude into Sunday shooting the .410 and went on to pulverize every single target that day.  This was my first 100 in the .410 for the year in 2010.  Earlier in the year, there were a couple of times going into the .410 being 300 or 400 straight, but didn’t end up with a perfect score or a perfect performance.  This particular weekend, I felt that I had made 400 perfect shots, even though my score reflected only 398 good shots.  My point being that the score rarely reflects your actual performance!  Some days we will shoot poorly, but score great.  I can think of several occasions where I lined up and left a little early but was able to “bleed off the lead” in order to get the target to break.  That isn’t a perfect shot, but it got the job done.  I have also had times where I did everything I wanted to do (like the example above) and not shot a perfect score.  The moral of the story is stick to how you performed in your mental preparation and execution; forget about the score.

After this happened to me, I decided that I would continue to keep this attitude of grading myself on my actual performance and not my score.  I went on to shoot a 400X400 at the Mini World that year and shot one of my better World Shoots, winning two titles.  I carried this mentality through the 2011 shooting season and had my most consistent year that I ever had.  I sincerely believe that the consistency in my scores last year were because of this concept.  I never got upset or disappointed with my score just because it didn’t reflect how I actually shot and believe me there were several tempting moments.  One of those was again in Dallas at the Pan-American last year.  I shot a stout 97 in the 28 gauge.  The score had some of my squad-mates watching me to make sure that I was ok…  They didn’t realize that there was only 1 shot that I was upset with myself over, the other 2, I prepared and executed the shot as to what I thought was best, the targets just didn’t break.  After missing the same target twice, I reviewed my hold point and look point and realized that I had made a mistake.  There was a depth perception problem going on and I didn’t pick up on it right away.  Once I fixed the problem, no more worries, blasted the back 50.  In the past, I would have gotten worried or concerned because of the “score,” but today was different.  I felt great, even though I had shot the worst score in the 28 gauge that I had shot in 4 years.  What was the result of keeping myself focused on my performance rather than my score?  I shot one of the most perfect 100 straights I had ever shot in the .410 the next day.  I was glad to have my father there watching as he said, “That 100 was one of your best ever.  Not just the .410, but all of your 100s.”  I firmly believe the reason I shot that well was because I kept my confidence up because I realized my performance had been perfect and did not let the score affect my confidence.

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 is now in the DFW area!  GSC will be available to teach in the Dallas/Fort Worth area all year-round!  Please call for lesson availability today!

Tip of the month:      Remember that everyone has a bad round, a bad event, a bad day, or even a bad weekend.  When you review that event, day, or weekend, forget about the score and check out how you were mentally.  Were you preparing and executing your shots like you would on a good day or were you doing something different (i.e. trying to figure out what is wrong instead of focusing on your normal game plan)?  The bad days come from getting out of our normal routine and focusing on other things (like your scores) besides your next shot.