By: Paul Giambrone, III

Here we are in February already and time has gotten away from me and it has done so very quickly!  I apologize for the delay between articles, but as most of you know, my wife and I were very blessed to find a home towards the end of this past year and we have been getting settled in…then adding the holiday visits on top of all of that, phew!  Time really got away from me!  But here we are, back in the saddle, ready to buckle down for the upcoming season and boy I couldn’t be more fired up!  There are several different things going on in all of our lives and now is the time of the year where we have gotten past all of the holidays and we are getting with our shooting podnahs (Cajun for ‘partners’) discussing the upcoming season.  For most of us, that season will begin in the next few weeks with our first tournament or at least start some serious practice.  There might be some of us going through some equipment changes or fundamental changes going into next season as well.  Let’s dive in and take a look at some of these subjects more closely and how to properly prepare ourselves for the upcoming season.

I wrote an article a couple of years ago about the importance of shooting with the same squad as you go to your different tournaments.  Since writing that article, I have been able to shoot with the same group of people the last 2 seasons and it has paid huge dividends in my game.  The importance of surrounding yourselves with shooters you are comfortable with cannot be put into words.  Through my travels in giving lessons to shooters, a common topic that I coach about is having a solid pre-shot routine and focusing very hard on executing each shot while shooting on the station.  During the discussion, more times than not, shooters will have something distract them in their routine (another article topic in the past-“Distractions”).  I have said several times that when a distraction comes into play simply stop, reset, acquire your focus again, then proceed to give the next target all you’ve got!  However, when shooting with a squad you are not familiar with, shooters have said “well I don’t want to interrupt the pace” or “I feel like I am slowing everyone down” and things like that.  Are you in that boat?  You wouldn’t be if you had a regular squad who was standing behind you 110% wishing that you would reset so you can smoke that next High 2 or Low 6.  Personally, I reset probably more than most, but still do not break the rule that is set in place by the NSSA.  Without diving too deep into the rules, we basically have 10 seconds per shot, which is an eternity, as long as you are fully prepared when walking on the station.  I have never seen a referee get on a shooter for taking the gun down because something distracted them for a second or two.  Now, if you are doing this each and every station, there are other issues going on.  I could go on for a very long time about this, but the main point is that when you are setting your shoot schedule with your podnahs, try to schedule as many shoots as you can with shooters you are comfortable with so we can take this major distraction (feeling like you are slowing the squad down) out of the equation!

Speaking of which, what is a good first tournament to shoot?  For the larger shoots, the Blaser tournament down in San Antonio is the first major shoot for the year (#11 in the Top 100) and it is shot at the largest facility in the country (National Shooting Complex).  That is a great first shoot and is the “kick-off” to the season for some.  Personally, my season starts later in the year because I have my normal routine and list of shoots that I want to attend.  Let’s stay focused on you though and discuss what a good first shoot is.  Let’s think to college football for a second, (GO SEC!!!), most of the time, bigger schools like to schedule an “easy” opponent for the first game.  Why is that?  They want to establish some confidence and knock the dust off so to speak.  Why not do the same thing in our tournament schedule?  For years, my father and I would like to shoot a semi-small shoot just to get the jitters out of our system.  I would love the opportunity for that now, but my schedule just does not allow it so I have to do some extra mental training exercises to help.  The last couple of years, the first tournament that I shoot has created some extra nervous jitters that I have had to deal with.  I have the confidence to deal with them, but best case scenario, I would like the opportunity to shoot a smaller shoot first to help overcome these jitters when going to the first major shoot.  Let’s face it, if we show up at our local club for a tournament compared to Nationals for the World Shoot, which environment is going to create more of these jitters?  Duh!  That is why it is best to open up with a smaller event to help settle these nerves so when you go to your first “major” event for the year, you aren’t shooting your first tournament and your first major tournament at the same time.

Last but certainly not least, the off season is usually the best time to try “new” things whether it’s technique or equipment.  Let’s start with equipment.  Equipment usually does a couple of things for us and one is good and bad at the same time.  We sometimes think that the new gun or the new glasses are going to be the cure to all of our problems and we don’t have to work hard anymore (very bad thing).  What usually happens is we tend to quit thinking so much and just focus on targets and shoot (very good thing).  This is the reason why most of the time when you get the new gun or glasses your scores go up for a short term then come back to where they were.  Once the feeling of the new gun is over, then you go back to your normal thinking and over analyzing and you find yourself right back to where you started.  On the flip side, assuming you do not change your mental attitude or technique, you may notice a slight decrease in your scores…this is perfectly normal!  I started shooting my Kolar MAX skeet gun in March of 2010 and it took over 6 months to get fully used to the gun even though it had pretty much the same weight and feel as my previous gun!  This year, I am switching to Pilla lenses and frames, and while my vision has improved with them, it is still going to take some time to get adjusted to the different look!  The point here is when you do get the new equipment, keep everything the same (mental preparation, execution and your fundamentals) and give your body time to get used to the changes.  The same thing can be said when you make changes to your fundamentals or your form.  When you take a lesson, most of the time the scores are going to go down in the short term because you are so focused on all of these changes.  However, in the long run, your scores will go up higher than before because it takes time for your brain to get used to the changes you have made.  In closing, most of my clients talk to me about consistency and how badly they want consistency.  The definition of consistency doesn’t include the words change or variable.  With that in mind, when you do make NECESSARY changes to improve your game, stick with them and keep doing them!  It will benefit you in the long run to make changes only when necessary and trust in a coach to supply you with the best changes to improve your game.

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:      Make a statement in your game for 2013.  Go in shooting with consistent squad-mates, get your warm up shoot in before your first major, and stick with your equipment and fundamental changes (if any).  If you seek consistency, create things around you that are the same (such as your squad-mates), and stick with your equipment and fundamental changes you may have made over the off-season.  Remember, it takes time for our brains to adjust to the change, so give it the necessary time to take effect.