By: Paul Giambrone, III

Before diving into skeet shooting, I figured we should first determine what consistency actually means.  According to Google, the definition of consistency goes something like this “(n). The achievement of a level of performance that does not vary greatly in quality over time.”  In simple terms, I define consistency as doing the same thing over and over again with little variance.  As I travel across the globe, a common topic I hear amongst my clients is the word consistency.  When I am interviewing my clients, I ask them what their goals are for the day and what long term goals they have.  About 75-80% of them have the word consistency in one or both of their answers.  Remember the definition, it means to do the same thing over and over time and time again with little variance.  In skeet shooting, it starts with having some kind of routine that you go through before, during and after shooting.  Yes, practice is included in this drill.  If you do not start doing this in practice, how do you expect it to carry over to your tournaments?  We are going to discuss what we should be doing before we shoot, while we are shooting, and once we are done shooting.

First off, before we shoot there should be some kind of a routine.  Actually, before we even get to the gun club there should be routine.  Things like waking up at least 2 hours before your first event to make sure we are fully awake and alert.  Not to mention, get a good breakfast in before your first event (especially the 9:00 flight).  Does that mean order pancakes, waffles, eggs, and a dessert along with a full cup of coffee?  NO!  What it means is to get the HEALTHY nutrients in your system and get your day started off correctly.  I like to get a lot of proteins and some carbs in my system before I shoot in the morning.  I generally eat about an hour and a half before my morning flight.  This gives me plenty of time to eat and start digestion to get all of the nutrients in my system to where I am fully alert.  Shooters with blood sugar issues need to keep a close eye on having the proper nutrients in their system to prevent any kind of blood sugar crash or spike while they are on the field.  I also like to avoid caffeine on shooting days because our natural adrenaline should be enough and I do want any external forces getting me too pumped to where I cannot keep my cool.  So make sure we are awake two hours prior to shooting and get in a good breakfast…Now on to getting to the gun club.

I like to get to the club at least 30-40 minutes prior to shooting time to allow myself to find my zone and get acclimated to the field and conditions.  One of the first things I like to do is decide what color lenses I should wear that day for the given conditions and give my eyes at least 20 minutes to get used to the color chosen.  Next on the list is getting all of your gear together and ready to go (shooting bag, ammo, gun, etc).  Have everything ready to go that way there is no stress once the field becomes available.  No last minute scrambling to find your ear plugs or figure out if you have the correct tubes in or not.  Lastly, I like to watch the last round of the squad shooting in front of us before taking the field.  This is to get my eyes used to the target speeds for the event.  This is crucial; making sure that our eyes are fully alert and are ready to really stare at the targets once we take the field.  This also gives our squad time to decide if we like the way the targets are set.  If not, we have plenty of time to call the field mechanic over to make sure we get them set properly.  Keep in mind, while getting ready and watching targets, keep noise to a minimum to not disrupt the squad that is shooting.  Our voices, car engines and music carry further than we think…so let’s show some respect to the shooters in front of us.  Which brings me to my next point.  When taking the field, be sure to let the other squad gather their things and leave the field before invading the field.  Keep in mind the squads on the next field(s) as well.  They might be shooting a High 2 or High 3 or a Low 5 or Low 6 when taking the field.  Show etiquette and do not get in their peripheral vision when taking the field.

Almost there to station 1, but before going to station 1, walk stations 2-6 to determine all of your hold points and take a glance at your look points (this will come into play later).  Also, once you are on the field, you have the right to look at a few targets to verify they are set correctly.  Our squad has someone on station 1, station 7 and station 4.  The ones on 1 & 7 are to check if the high and low house targets are flying over the center stake or not and the shooter on 4 is checking the speeds.  The targets should be crossing the center stake at just about the same time.  If necessary, call a mechanic to fix the targets.  So, by now, we have all of our equipment ready to go, our squad mates are with us, referee on hand and our squad is now ready to start.  This is a time consuming process, but we do not overstay our welcome.  We know that shoot management has a tight schedule to keep so we make up for it by going straight from station 8 to station 1 at the end of each box.  We are also very efficient once on the station and stay well within the 10 second rule.  Here we go off to station 1!

Station 1, lead off shooter, always look at least one high house and/or pair to get an idea of where the targets are flying before calling pull.  This allows everyone to get fully ready, including yourself (lead off shooter).  Here is where the routine starts on the field for me.  When my lead off guy is shooting, I have already visualized the station exactly how I expect things to unfold, and now (while he is shooting) I am verifying my hold points and looks points.  Once they have been confirmed and my lead off shooter is finished, I step on the station and execute the plan I just put together and visualized.  The things I visualized and reviewed before I stepped on the station were my foot position, hold point, look point, break point and my sight pictures.  I take it to an extreme and actually visualize the actual presentation that I will see behind the gun when shooting.  Yes, I do all of this work before I step on the station.  This is why I am able to create and take consistent shots on the field because my preparation is the same every single time I shoot!  No, it does not vary, I do not let things distract me to prevent me from doing my routine, I do this every time.  The key is having some kind of a routine to help you stay in your zone.  So, I prepared off the station, I executed on the station, now what?  You can do a brief review of what happened on the station to determine if there are any tweaks you need to make to your hold point or look point or if the shots felt perfect.  If the shots felt perfect, then excellent!  Change nothing and execute it three more times for the following rounds to come.  Keep the review very brief and then relax a bit.  Bob Palmer calls this entering your “sub-zone” where you are still focused on the field, but not 100%.  I use this time to either visualize something to calm my adrenaline surge (if it is too strong) or maybe visualize something to get a little extra surge (if I am feeling flat).  Usually I need something to help keep me a little calm, but this is not the case for all shooters.  Some shooters need some extra adrenaline to help prevent them from going through the motions.  This is fine too.  The key is finding your zone and doing whatever it takes to stay there.  Your goal is to do this each and every time before you enter the station, execute on the station, then enter your sub-zone off the station.  No variation, no change, this is the mental routine.

Now that we have finished our event, now what?  This time is crucial to get away from the “clubhouse talk” and the gun club itself.  What do I mean?  First, define clubhouse talk.  The clubhouse talk is the negativity you hear in every single clubhouse across America.  “I missed six Low 6’s today and I can’t figure out what happened.”  Those are the negatives we hear.  Those negatives lead to all of the other negatives about how shooters missed their shots.  Instead, we should be saying “Fred, great shot on that pair on 2!  The high house went straight up and the low house went straight down.  Terrific!”  That is the positive talk we should hear, but we don’t.  Another important reason to get away is rest.  Trying to mentally execute 100 shots perfectly is very fatiguing… Not really physically, but more mentally tiring.  I usually like to go back to my hotel between events and get away from everyone and everything to allow myself to rest.  This way when I go back to the club for the 2nd event and/or shoot-offs, I will be well rested and ready to go just like the morning.  This is why just about every top shooter leaves the gun club between events.  It is not because they are trying to be snobby, it’s because they need the rest and want to stay away from all of the negatives.

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:      Find a routine that works for you.  Play with it and see if you need to be at the club a little earlier than 30 minutes for example.  Try different shades of lenses to help you see better.  But most importantly, find a routine that works and stick with it.  Even if it means you had a bad day…  Chances are, if you had a bad day, you weren’t executing your mental routine properly.  Lastly, I never said it would be easy to do, but if you want the consistency, you have to work this hard at it.  It will not be easy, however, if you do this every time, breaking targets will be a lot easier and more fun!