Trapisms

Posted On: 08-14-2024

Here a few short statements one can use to coach kids and help them throughout their shooting careers.

Pick a plan and stick with it

Stop blaming your gun

If it fits – wear it

Feel the pressure of the comb on your cheek

Don’t over concentrate

Control your breathing

Dismount your gun on a slow pull or broken bird

Keep calm

Trap don’t fly backwards

Beat the target, not your competitors

Sweep your emotions, mood and thoughts aside

Turn stress negatives into stress positives

Develop a winning attitude

Work to build your own game plan and strategy

Learn to dig in when things get tough

Learn to think your way through competition – station by station

Approximately 65% of your targets will be soft away targets – Bank on those!

Approximately 35% of your targets are hard crossing targets – Win with these!

Learn to get out of your own way

Find your balance point

Feet first then the target

There are not 25 targets – just one target – only one

Each target is history

Wax on Wax off

Sand the floor

Paint the fence

Do or do not – There is no try

It’s OK to lose to an opponent.  It’s never OK to lose to fear

“Pull” with authority, aggressiveness, but no movement

“Play your own game” all the time

Targets do not fly straight – they bend

In your setup visualize three basic angled targets

You can be positive or negative on the trap line, but never both

Positive demeanor + focus = higher scores

Disconnect mood and attitude from scores

“I can do it”

Take time to relax between rounds

Set goals

Learn from shooting

Shoot from your eye, not your mind

Each shooting session requires a goal

Learn to break one target at a time

Think of hits, not misses

Make every single shot count – every time

Set realistic score goals

Shoot with those that can beat you

Identify how you breathe when you are shooting well

There is no such thing as a straight away target

Visualize yourself breaking each target

Stop thinking – It’s time to shoot

Take the time when changing station to think about consistency

No emotion is the key to unlocking higher scores

Never shake your head or twitch your face with unsatisfied expressions

Discouragement encourages discouragement

Speaking out-loud to yourself in the negative is counter-productive

Psychologically treat a missed target as if it never happened

Silence is golden

Be professional

Be prepared

Try to keep the rhythm going

Being disruptive ruins your game

Keep to yourself during the match save conversation for afterwards

Confidence is trust

The best is yet to come

Ignore disruptions

Don’t expect to try something once and make it work – it might take a 1,000 targets

Experimentation means scores will drop

Experimentation is critical if you wish to become a competitive shooter

Apprehension of missing targets causes missed targets

Competition is where you put all you have learned on auto-pilot

Poor scores – examine your shoes

Get behind your gun, perfect your techniques, think positive, focus and shot to win

If you don’t walk off the line in a sweat, you are not shooting trap

COMMITMENT, PERSISTENCE, DISCIPLINE

Try More + Fail More = Win More

Give yourself a chance to fail before you win

Find the zone when shooting

Emotions mislead

Your mind is willing to wage war with you and it will likely win

You be the one that breaks the target and stops the chain reaction

Persistence + Patience = Accomplishment

Don’t try to learn trap too fast