By Philip Bourjaily

To shoot clay targets well, you have to think only of the next bird.

A short attention span is my weak spot as a shooter, as it is for a lot of people.  I’ll be doing fine, running a round of skeet or trap, or a smoking a station at sporting clays, when some little, nagging thought pops into my mind, just long enough to wreck my straight or leave me with yet another 9x10 at a station I could have run easily.  If you try to suppress those nagging thoughts, they come back at the worst possible time, just as you pull the trigger.

Instructor Gil Ash, who I wrote about last week, taught me a simple trick.  So far, it has worked wonders.  “You can’t suppress  a thought,” he told me. “That’s like trying not to think of elephants for a minute. Instead,  you have think about it, process it and move past it.” I’ve heard this from Ash and others before. This time, though, Ash told me to deal with random thoughts by telling myself: “That’s really interesting. I’ll think about that right after I break these next targets.”  For me it works perfectly:  it acknowledges the thought, then effectively pigeonholes it in a corner of my mind long enough for me to focus on the task at hand. I pass this tip along here in hopes of helping others like me.

Last week I put Ash’s advice to a tough test. We shot sporting clays, and the foursome ahead of us had left the ground littered with once-fired AAs. For a reloader , it was like walking on money. As I stepped into the cage, the thoughts started: “How many are there? Is that one crushed too badly to reload?

I wonder if there are more in the long grass?” Then I would tell myself: “I’ll think about those hulls after I shoot these targets.”  I shot a good enough score to beat my friends and
pocketed a couple hundred once fired AAs. A day of shooting doesn’t get much better than that.

*         *            *

Online editor Nate Matthews (seen elsewhere on this site doing some ATV wrestling in Canada) sent me this video along with a note: “This thing would f*** you up":

At a rate of fire of 56 paintballs per second it surely would, unless I was in one of these.

Comments (13)

from ingebrigtsen wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

hmm a handy little kercher with a portable reservoir and batterypack should take care of that tank for ya:P paint some flames on the lil tank..
And there is a midtrick the bushido archers use to become one with the target thats great for consentration.. learn it and it will seve u well when shooting fast too..

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from 2Poppa wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

Thoughts are like birds,they fly by, but I never allow them to roost.

Now where was I?

ommmmmmmmmm ...

+3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from buck hunter 17 wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

HOLY CRAP i want one of them. where can i get one. that would SUCK to get hit by.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from FloridaHunter1226 wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

That deffinitely looks like it would hurt... but that is the main reason why a lot of people miss their targets... distractions.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Ralph the Rifleman wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

My thoughts beat me up when still-hunting, or on the stand, waiting for game....a small "crack" or shuffle of leaves and my mind starts to kick-in. It's tough to concentrate when waiting on the animal to come into view!

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Del in KS wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

Phil,

I gave up trap because get bored easily and I can't keep my mind from wandering while waiting my turn to shoot. Suddenly I'd be reliving last fall's dove shoot. Next thing you know the other four guys are looking at me with an annoyed expression.
The paintball mini looks like a solution to a problem that does not exist.

+4 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from ishawooa wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

In trap shooting I am a lot like Del except I mull over the easy shot I just missed. In a couple minutes the squad is stareing at me also. I realize one should give the miss a couple seconds thought and move ahead but it seems that I have to mentally replay it about six times. I do the same thing with live birds. There are some elderly shooters who rarely miss and I believe part of the success is that they are totally focused on what they are doing. I watch my kid shoot and he usually hits but when he misses he just waits on the next bird for a new beginning. He was trained and I was not. He got a distal tibia fracture from his YZ450F crash day before yesterday so will not be shooting for a few days.

+3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Ralph the Rifleman wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

OH MAN..that's a wicked paint ball-Machine gun! Smack a group of routies with pepper-balls for extreme pain compliance!

+3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Big O wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

When are they going to start production on those "BAD BOYS" ! As we are now "a kinder gentler, ISLAMIC nation"(his words NOT mine). The military could use them with pepper balls for crowed control.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from ggmack wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

i have done that hunting. I'll see how heavy he is after he is dead, I'll count points after he is on ground.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from jbird wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

Great video! That thing would be awesome to go paintballing with, little pricey on ammo, but awesome!

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Zermoid wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

I'm assuming that minigun runs on a compressor or a huge cylinder of CO2! Cool toy for those REALLY into paintball games!

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from libertyfirst wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

"A mind trick for a simple mind". As I've gotten older my mind seems to wander more than any time in my life. I have to work to concentrate on the subject at hand all the time. Little distractions always seem to creep in and disrupt what I'm doing. Maybe this tip will help. Thank you!

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

Post a Comment

 

All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

from Del in KS wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

Phil,

I gave up trap because get bored easily and I can't keep my mind from wandering while waiting my turn to shoot. Suddenly I'd be reliving last fall's dove shoot. Next thing you know the other four guys are looking at me with an annoyed expression.
The paintball mini looks like a solution to a problem that does not exist.

+4 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from 2Poppa wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

Thoughts are like birds,they fly by, but I never allow them to roost.

Now where was I?

ommmmmmmmmm ...

+3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from ishawooa wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

In trap shooting I am a lot like Del except I mull over the easy shot I just missed. In a couple minutes the squad is stareing at me also. I realize one should give the miss a couple seconds thought and move ahead but it seems that I have to mentally replay it about six times. I do the same thing with live birds. There are some elderly shooters who rarely miss and I believe part of the success is that they are totally focused on what they are doing. I watch my kid shoot and he usually hits but when he misses he just waits on the next bird for a new beginning. He was trained and I was not. He got a distal tibia fracture from his YZ450F crash day before yesterday so will not be shooting for a few days.

+3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Ralph the Rifleman wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

OH MAN..that's a wicked paint ball-Machine gun! Smack a group of routies with pepper-balls for extreme pain compliance!

+3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from ingebrigtsen wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

hmm a handy little kercher with a portable reservoir and batterypack should take care of that tank for ya:P paint some flames on the lil tank..
And there is a midtrick the bushido archers use to become one with the target thats great for consentration.. learn it and it will seve u well when shooting fast too..

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from buck hunter 17 wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

HOLY CRAP i want one of them. where can i get one. that would SUCK to get hit by.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from FloridaHunter1226 wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

That deffinitely looks like it would hurt... but that is the main reason why a lot of people miss their targets... distractions.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Ralph the Rifleman wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

My thoughts beat me up when still-hunting, or on the stand, waiting for game....a small "crack" or shuffle of leaves and my mind starts to kick-in. It's tough to concentrate when waiting on the animal to come into view!

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Big O wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

When are they going to start production on those "BAD BOYS" ! As we are now "a kinder gentler, ISLAMIC nation"(his words NOT mine). The military could use them with pepper balls for crowed control.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from ggmack wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

i have done that hunting. I'll see how heavy he is after he is dead, I'll count points after he is on ground.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from jbird wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

Great video! That thing would be awesome to go paintballing with, little pricey on ammo, but awesome!

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Zermoid wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

I'm assuming that minigun runs on a compressor or a huge cylinder of CO2! Cool toy for those REALLY into paintball games!

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from libertyfirst wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago

"A mind trick for a simple mind". As I've gotten older my mind seems to wander more than any time in my life. I have to work to concentrate on the subject at hand all the time. Little distractions always seem to creep in and disrupt what I'm doing. Maybe this tip will help. Thank you!

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

Post a Comment

 

All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.