Learning is Hard

Posted On: 07-01-2025

I have been working with youth and adult shooters for many years.  I am always humbled by how much distress I cause those I am trying to help but of course my intentions are good.  So, what if I put the shoe on the other foot and became the pupil instead of the teacher or more to the point what if I simply follow what I teach.

I have been shooting a lot of trap targets lately and not doing so well.  Eighteen is Ok, but 20, 21 is my norm and while I recognize both age and eyesight have begun to work in opposite directions with regard to my shooting, I find myself stepping back to evaluate why “I” miss and what I tell youth shooters to help them.

Let me start with footwork.  All of us at the trap academy go out of our way to share what we feel is good footwork.  We square up, we make sure we have good motion, and we understand how our footwork is in relation to our ability to rotate and move to targets.  After a day of drilling the kids to make that adjustments we often find them at the end of the day reverting to the way they stood when they arrived at the camp.  So now consider me and how I address the line and my footwork – really, what footwork!  Honestly, I too step up to the line and I noticed I pay little if any attention to my footwork.  That I assure you is not because I have great footwork, but perhaps I might (or will) shoot better if I paid more attention. 

Next up is my mount.  I have always felt my check weld was strong and my eyes aligned well.  I teach that once we get the gun mounted, we need to ghost the barrel and the bead completely.   I think I do a good job of this, but I notice when I miss a hard left target I may be pulling away from the stock.  So honestly if someone was behind me and said, “hey keep your head down”, I would try harder to do so, but really this like many things is not so easy to simply instill and learn.  The mind plays tricks on us so I need to do more gun mounts at home just like I tell everyone and that too will make me better.

Finally, one of the most difficult things I have been working on is soft focus.  It seems so easy to simply release your eyes to the distance and call pull but try it and it is not easy at all!  I find to see the target is tough and I often jump at the target because my mind does not fully understand how to do a soft focus.  Don’t get me wrong I understand the concept and have taught it for years but now in my senior years I find this is indeed really hard to learn. 

So back to my humbling statement in the first paragraph about causing distress.  I GET IT!  Just the simple addition of making sure I move to soft focus prior to calling pull has me missing targets, and it will continue until I practice, practice, practice.  To all who coach, consider what you say and how well you can reinforce the concept by personal weathering through changes.  It goes along way when you say to someone that what I ask you to try will be difficult because I too have struggled with that change.  Be positive and practice what you preach.