Gil: Welcome to the Coaching Hour, September 2021. Tonight, I’ve got several topics that I want to go through. Vicki and I are beginning to do some practice before going to Nationals. And I want to go through what I learned in my first practice session about running out of runway.
Then we’re going to talk about quiet eye and how to use it in shooting. There’s a thread in the forum that Doug and several other of you have been on about preshot routine and timing and quiet eye. Doug’s on tonight. Jack’s gonna hop on at 8:15.
I want to go over how I use the quiet eye when I shoot and the timing involved. And then I’ll just open it up for conversation and comment. So, if any of you have anything to add, or have any questions about how any of us are using quiet eye, please speak up. Mention your first name and I will call on you.
When we get through that segment, I’ve got a new challenge vertical move that I want to share with you. I discovered it when I was shooting with Bailey Glenewinkel. After coaching her on skeet, we always go do sporting because she likes it so much. It was a very shocking movement. I used it again on myself the next morning, and I showed it to Doss the next afternoon. It was amazing what results they have.
Also, I shot 100 birds last weekend on solo pull, and I want to share with you what I learned about doing solo pull with a two-second delay and the sequencing that I did. It took about 10 or 12 birds to get used to it, but I want to share with you the sequencing that I did.
That’s going to take two hours, so I might as well get started on the first one. [Chuckles] I have several other topics prepared. It’s just gonna take that long.
Gil: It’s about the runway. In order to be consistent, in order to be able to replicate and correct a shot, you got to have time to match the speed and finish the shot.
It’s been extremely really hot here, with very little wind. It’s great fishing weather, but not great shooting weather. The first time Vicki and I went to shoot about a week ago we were both struggling with our timing and our sequencing. Vicki is struggling because she finally got the eye and her retina closed up and she’s beginning to have to train her brain to do what we’ve been talking about doing for the past two years. And it’s a little frustrating for her because it’s not quite as easy to get it to make it happen as we had all hoped. But she’s working her way through that and getting better.
I noticed that it not working for her has shortened her temper slightly. [Laughter] I’m having to be a little bit more subtle with my encouragement and shooting tips.
Our first time out was okay, but we were a little rusty on timing. We each shot about four boxes. And personally, I was having difficulty stabilizing the shot. I really couldn’t put my finger on what was really happening. I mean I was breaking the birds – not as normal high percentage that I would have on the targets we were shooting on our practice field. But I was breaking the targets.
I noticed that it just wasn’t as stable as I had remembered it being. I finally saw it a few times on a really quick chandelle. I’d hit it twice and I’d miss it twice and I’d hit it once and I’d miss it. And I finally realized that I was having difficulty stabilizing the shot, and in the third box, I realized the target was collapsing to the lead as I took the shot.
While I was hitting 75 percent, I just wasn’t comfortable. And I was noticing that I was getting tense as the shot came together. It finally dawned on me that I wasn’t finishing the shot like I normally do. “Finishing” meaning staying in the gun with the bird, making sure that the picture is stable.
It didn’t dawn on me until halfway through the third, or right at the beginning of the fourth box that this was caused by syncing up with the target too late and too close in the breakpoint, which makes everything speed up, especially at the end of the shot.
It was really masquerading as other things. And I just passed it off as “Well, I’m just rusty. I just need to shoot more.” But once I realized that I was hooking up with the target, too late for me to get in sync and finish the shot each time. That’s why I felt rushed at the end of all shots.
So once I realized I needed to be hooked up sooner in the flight path of the target, then I can make things slow down. My terminology on this was I was “running out of runway.” And once I figured that out and got synced up to the target sooner by moving my hold point back closer to the trap or slowing my move down excruciatingly slow, the last box went really well.
I taught skeet the next day and did not shoot. I visited with Dr. French that night about “running out of runway” and he was shocked and amazed at how the image of running out of runway clicked in his brain. It became a correction priming word to use to either move the hold point back or slow the move down, get the bird and the gun hooked up sooner.
I have to tell you that it was hard for me to put my thumb on why everything was so panicked at the end. I kept my nose on the bird. The normal mistake for me is coming to the stock too early and taking my nose off the bird. But man, I was bleeding out my ears and eyeballs trying to keep my nose on that target the whole way. And regardless of what I did to emphasize nose on the target and face on the stock, everything seemed to speed up at the end as opposed to slow down.
I’m sure this comes from the amount of work we’ve been doing. We’ve had an incredible, incredible year of coaching. Just about everywhere we’ve been we’ve been full and had to add a day or an instructor. We’re seeing a lot of shooters that we haven’t seen in two or three years. And quite a few of them have been going to the shooter coaches and have come back to us and said “we can’t see the way they see; we can’t do what they do.”
That’s not to say they can’t teach you something. It’s just that most of their words come from what they would do if they were having the same problem in their game – as opposed to “I’ve seen about 3000 people in this situation. And the majority of the time people react better to trying to do this and seeing it this way.”
So, as a couple of them have said, “you’ve gotten a whole lot smarter over the last two and a half years.” We’ve seen a big influx back to us. And our website’s done really well.
We’ve got maybe another year or two to do this and then we’re gonna have to do it on a much more limited basis and Brian’s gonna pick up the ball and run with it.
Brian has turned into an absolutely incredible coach. I heard Becky talking to a guy today that’s coming back after two months for another two days of coaching. And she said, “Well, there’s gonna be two coaches, and I’m not sure you’re going to be able to get Brian. You may have to settle for Gil.” [Chuckles]
So Brian is starting to make his way into the coaching field. And I have to tell you, just to sit back and listen to him and watch him coach is a pleasure. I think Doss said it best two or three years ago, after he had Brian for a day at the Advance Class. He said “you know, I normally call and want to have a lesson with Gil or Vicki. Now all I want is just to shoot with an Ash.”
So, son, you have arrived. And now Becky is having to tell people they may have to settle for me if you’re too busy. Congratulations on that.
Anyway, the running out of runway thing really helped me. It helped me in my next two practices, which I’ll get to hopefully a little later in the hour. But especially in beginning of your year after you’ve had a long layoff, if you’re going back to start shooting, hooking up to the bird a little sooner gives your brain a little bit longer to match the speed, get the line and send the shot. And it sure makes things slow down at the end.
Again, my main correction if things aren’t slow is to keep my nose on the bird. I was doing a good job of that. I just was hooking up to the bird late and wasn’t giving my brain enough runway to match the speed and slow the bird down.
Gil: So, moving right along: quiet eye and how we use it.
I mentioned quiet eye several times when I was talking about competing at Nationals last year and how it allowed for me to have a quiet time in the middle of the battle before each pair, to just gain my composure and get centered and relaxed.
And I noticed there was a thread on the forum about quiet eye and how we use it and the sequencing of events leading up to calling “pull.” So, I talked to Jack Flesher, who has several things that he wants to share about it.
I know Doug Erck is on tonight. Doug had several posts on that. He asked me about the sequencing of events. If any of you have anything to add on this, please feel free to jump on in here. I want to begin to go through what I’ve written and then I’m sure we’ll have a discussion after this is over.
When I began to train last year and now this year, I was amazed at how my eyes would move erratically as I was getting ready to go into the cage and shoot my pairs, or single targets when I was training. Last year and this year too, it was only when I began to make them be still that I realized how they wanted to really move a lot.
When I finally made them stop moving and be still in the first breakpoint, I discovered that I became more calm and attentive and relaxed in my hands and shoulders – something that not many people remember about quiet eye. In Joan Vickers’ accounts of what she studied, the important point I think was when the eyes are quiet, you’re thinking about nothing.
I know that in talking about this previously, Rick Carter has said the same thing. He’s not able to be on with us tonight. But he said, “I’m thinking about absolutely nothing.” And I think if Jack’s able to join us, he’ll echo what I’ve said.
Doug, when you’re trying to implement quiet eye, are you thinking about visualizing what you’re about to do? Are you thinking about nothing?
Doug: Well, so, I’m a little bit confused about a couple of things. Last month, we talked about emptying the brain in the breakpoint until the body relaxes. And I call that “the pause.” I don’t know if that’s the right word for it, but I call that “the pause.”
So, I’m thinking about “quiet eye” versus “eyes still” versus “the pause.” I understand “eyes still in the focal point.” And I’m beginning to trust the preload as the heart of my routine. And I’ve just started playing with the pause.
For me, a good rhythm and routine is important to be slow and in sequence, but don’t dilly-dally. And I think Dean last month talked about taking a little less time in between pairs so junk wouldn’t get in the way. I have trouble with that, also.
So, I have a question about emptying my brain of all thought right after I run the preload. It seems counterintuitive, because you’re asking me to completely clean out my brain and get rid of the thing I just put in there to go to when I go call “pull.”
I’m not sure if there’s a question in there somewhere or not, but you know. So, I run my preload. And then I go to the breakpoint one, and I’m quiet and I empty my brain, including the preload, right? Then I go to my focal point, eyes still, call “pull.”
Do I have all that in the right sequence?
Gil: You do. And each one of you is going to change the sequence a little bit. Writing down what I was about to go through today, I began to realize that when I’m in that zone, whether it’s teaching or competing, when I’m in that zone, my conscious plan has to be taken care of before I ever load the gun.
I got to know what it’s gonna look like. I got to know where I want it to happen and how I want it to come together before I even load the gun, so that when I get in the cage and I load the gun, that’s the last time I have to look at the gun. I don’t have to see it any other time.
Once I’ve loaded the gun, I visit breakpoint one and see the shot. I look at the break at the second shot. And then I go back to the breakpoint on the first target. And I’m just sitting there with my shoulders forward. Knees bent, just looking at it, making my eyes be still. And I’m not thinking of anything; I’m just making my eyes be still. Because if you don’t make your eyes be still, they’re going to be wandering all over everywhere.
So, I’m in breakpoint one. Okay, but understand, the biggest difference I think in what I do and what you’re describing is that my visual program of how each shot is going to come together happens when I see the pair and I commit to how I’m gonna do it. It happens long before I load the gun. I already know what’s gonna happen.
I mean, I already know how I’m gonna shoot it, what’s gonna come together. And so, once I get into the cage to shoot my four pair, I get in the cage. I check my feet based on looking at each breakpoint. I’ve dropped two shells in the gun, look at the focal point, bird to the first breakpoint, pick up the second bird, second breakpoint. Challenge the first bird, stroll-catch the second bird. I’m ready.
At that point in time, I don’t need to look at the gun. All I have to do is put my eyes in the first breakpoint and just keep them still. I want them to be still.
I was shocked at how much I was moving my eyes, because pressure will make several things happen to you. It will increase your heart rate, shorten your breathing. It will make your moves jerky. And it’ll make your eyes jump all over the sky.
Now, what I’ve learned for me is I can eliminate all of those by making sure my breathing is deep. Deep breath as I’m looking at the breakpoint, relax. Once my eyes are still and I know they’re still, I’m thinking about nothing.
I start closing the gun. My eyes go to the trap or the entry point of the target. My brain sets the gun, once the gun is still, I release the gun, I call “pull,” I match the speed. I see the second bird, I match the speed, I send it and the shot’s over. And it’s that sequence for me.
Doug: So, your eyes go and close the gun. Your eyes go to the trap or your focal point. Your eyes have to be still again a second time. So that’s the visual circuitry and not the process circuitry?
Gil: Yes, and because you came from still eyes, when you move your eyes to the focal point, they’re going to be still as your hands set the gun. Hands still, eyes still, release the gun, call “pull,” see the second one, stroll-catch, match speed, send the shot.
For me, I find it really easy if my eyes and my hands are still in the first breakpoint. And even if it’s a general area because of the speed of the target, I’m going to find something to put my eyes on to keep them from moving. Otherwise, what are they gonna do? They’re gonna move.
I’m telling you they’re going to move, because your eyes are not made to be still. But if you can make them be still, your brain’s going to be calm, your body’s gonna go to neutral. Once you know they’re still, as you start to close the gun, put them on the trap or the entry point, set the gun.
Once the gun’s set, the movement of the gun is part of my routine. I don’t have to think “Okay, move the gun.” As I go from the first breakpoint, still eyes, as I start to close the gun, my eyes go the trap. I set the gun. Once it’s set for a beat, I release the gun, I call “pull,” I match the speed, I send it. The other bird’s in the air. I see it, I stroll-catch it, I send it. Then the shot’s over.
At that point in time, as I eject the shells out of the gun, before I put the other shells in the gun, I’ll go first shot, second shot. Load the gun. Look at the first breakpoint. Still eyes. Once they’re still, as I begin to close the gun, my eyes go to the trap, I set the gun, I release it, I call “pull.” It comes out, I stabilize it. I take the shot and the second shot happens just like in the first pair.
I open the gun and I briefly play what I saw in breaking those birds. Not a lot of detail. Just a confirmation of what I just saw. If the birds broke, I repeat it. If the birds didn’t break, that’s when I stop and remember more detail about what I saw and I make a correction at that point in time.
Then I replay the correction. Still eyes. The gun’s already loaded. I don’t have to look at the gun anymore; it’s already loaded. Still eyes.
Once my eyes are still, as I begin to close the gun, my eyes go the trap, I set the gun. Once it’s set, I release it slowly. As I call “pull,” the bird comes out, I match speed, kill that one, see the other one. It’s coming, match speed, send it, kill that one. Open the gun.
Something occurred to me as I was reviewing some of the pairs that I’ve shot in getting ready this year and some of the pairs that I shot last year… when I saw the pairs, the three times I was in my zone, there was no doubt in my mind what I was gonna do to these birds. Instantly. I mean, instantly.
I was so committed to what I was going to do. Because I was committed to challenging the first bird on every pair, all I had to do was figure out where I needed to break the first bird to kill the second bird and give myself a priming word command for the second bird.
Now, if I was the first shooter, that was done hopefully because I got to see somebody else shoot it. If I didn’t get to see somebody else shoot it. There was no panic. I was in control of the first two pair. “Let’s go up. Let’s look at them.”
Bob: I read Joan Vickers a little differently. And I don’t disagree, you could use it the way you do. But the two things that stood out in looking at her research was that the focal point was the place of action start.
In golf, that was the ball. And in our game, for me, it’s the visual pickup point. And that’s where I make sure I have about two seconds of just quiet relaxed eyes, which primes my circuitry, calms my left brain so it doesn’t talk and keeps the right brain more active.
But the second half of quiet eye is the bounce of the eyes around different factors of information. It didn’t occur in the people who use quiet eye well in several different sports that she studied.
I don’t disagree, you can use it the way you do. But I think the key thing is to have those two seconds of quiet eye to calm things down. But I used it in the focal point. I visualize the breakpoints. The hold point is in there, I close the gun, my eyes go to the visual pickup point. It’s two seconds there.
When I see people not use about two seconds (it could be a little bit more, but rarely a little less) they don’t tend to react appropriately to the first primer of target movement. So I do use it differently.
Gil: Well, yes, you do. Because to me, the most important part of the shot is the last 10 percent of it. It’s important to see the bird, but my point of action is when the gun starts moving before I call “pull.” That’s my point of action. And that’s when everything’s getting ready to roll.
Now, you can say I was using quiet eye in the breakpoint and at the trap, because I’m quiet in the breakpoint to get my eyes to be still. As I begin to close the gun, my eyes are in the focal point. I set the gun. I release the gun. So my eyes are in the focal point for one and a half to two seconds anyway. You understand?
Okay, so I’m using the quiet eye in the breakpoint to make my eyes be still. Because I’m telling you, how many times have I corrected you guys that are on the call tonight when you missed the target?
I said “you moved your eyes,” and you’re like, “How the hell do you know I’m moving my eyes?” Because the gun’s moving. And Bob, you know as a coach, so many people when they’re getting ready to call “pull,” their gun’s moving. If their gun’s moving, their eyes are moving.
Bob: The gun, or there’s a slight change in the head movement. It’s one of the two.
Gil: So, what I’ve found in my own personal experience is to keep my eyes from being overactive, because they will be because of the situation I’m in (it’s normal) is make them be still.
And then I go from still to, as I begin to close the gun, my eyes are on the trap, I set the gun. Once I know it’s set, I release the gun, I call “pull,” and everything is crystal clear and in slow motion.
Bob: I just think there’s two parts, which is fine. But the final part just before you call “pull,” it’s still that one and a half to two seconds quiet, where you’re going to see things happen, the target appearing.
Gil: My eyes are automatically stone still, when I go from my quiet eye out in the horizon where the first bird is gonna break.
It’s so much easier for me to go from still eyes in the break point to still eyes in the focal point, releasing the gun and just keeping my nose on the bird. It just makes everything happen so much easier for me.
And as I was saying earlier, my visual process takes place when I’m analyzing the targets, and I’m finding my breakpoint on the first bird, my pickup point on the second bird, and my breakpoint on the second bird. My visual process has already been done. It’s already been done. I’ve seen it. I know how it’s going to come together. I don’t have to think about that again in that detail.
Now, if I’m the first shooter, it’s a little bit different, but not that much. I asked where the first trap is, where it’s landing, etc. If it’s a report pair, I ask the trapper not to pull the second bird until I call for it. And so, I’m watching it, I’m saying “pull, here it comes. Right there is where I want to break it, okay?” Pull, I see it there.
At that point in time, any more visualization that I go through is apt to confuse my brain or give it doubt. I have enough confidence to know I can make that shot; I’ve made it 10,000 times. I’ve seen a second bird like that 10,000 times. I’m ready.
At that point in time, I might look for it – if it’s a true pair, I might ask for another show pair so I can just confirm everything. And my eyes are still. “Pull.” Boom… boom… Okay, we’re ready. Then I’m gonna load the gun. At that point, I’m looking at my breakpoints to make sure my foot position’s right. And then I settle in to the first breakpoint and my eyes are still. And I stay there.
Once I know they’re still, as I close the gun, my eyes go to the focal point. I set the gun. Once the gun is set, I release the gun. My eyes have been still for over a second at that point in time. As I release the gun, I call “pull” and my nose is on the bird and everything happens in slow motion.
So, I guess you could say I was using quiet eye in two different places.
Bob: Yeah, and then maybe at that point that helps you to have that left bounce in your eyes as you track the target, which is very possible. You’ve got a set point you’re going to if you already zeroed in on it.
Gil: Oh, yeah. The thing is, I go from “still eyes” to “still eyes in the focal point” because I came from still eyes in the breakpoint.
And to me, the key is having your eyes still when you call “pull,” and knowing what the last 10 to 15 percent of each shot is already going to look like. So, the brain is programmed to give you what you’ve asked it to give you.
Bob: I think you just established a way to do that which is [eminently] acceptable. It’s the way you do it. I don’t do it that way. But I understand it.
Gil: Yeah. Doug, does that make sense to you?
Doug: It does, thanks. And what I really got out of that was that “still eyes in the focal point” is easier because I’m going to do still eyes in the quiet eye period in the breakpoint. So that makes perfect sense to me and answers that question.
Then the other thing that I was thinking of when you guys were talking is that you said, “Well, your preload actually happens before you get in the cage.” And I was preloading maybe in the middle of my routine or the beginning of the routine.
You helped me understand that you got a preload, you got a target inventory, you know what it’s gonna look like. My brain is gonna know what it’s gonna look like whether I tell it that it’s gonna do that five seconds before I call “pull” or a minute before I call “pull.”
My brain already knows. And it’s gonna pull that from long-term memory and go “I got this.” Your job is to just have quiet eye.
Gil: And I have to tell you that my determination on the first bird of the pair, unless it’s an extremely different circumstance (and there are a few exceptions) challenging the first bird makes it really easy for me to know what I’m going to do on the first bird.
I’ve done it so much and I don’t have to visualize how I want that to come together. Because it’s an automatic process. That gun sets where it’s supposed to set. Once it’s set, I release it. I call “pull” and my nose is on that bird. And when they come together, the gun just almost goes off by itself.
I mean, it just is one of those things, you know? All I have to do then is look for the second bird and match the speed. It’s pretty simple. But I found myself recently when I’ve been shooting some pairs making the determination and doing the visual program long before I got in the position to shoot and loaded the gun. I already knew what it was gonna be. I just already knew.
Now, I’ve got a pretty deep inventory of moves and shots, you understand. But being able to make your mind up that far in advance and eliminate any doubt about what you’re going to do is a big deal.
Doug: Yeah. Okay, thanks.
Gil: It’s a big, big deal. So let me finish what I’ve written and then we’ll discuss this a little bit more.
The important thing when I am looking at the first breakpoint, making my eyes be still, I’m thinking of nothing. Absolutely nothing. Be still. Hands are still, eyes are still, my plan and visual on both targets are already done.
This enabled me to have a quiet gaze at the trap or entry point of the target, every scene, every time, allowing me to see and pick up the target more easily and consistently. When you’re under pressure (and Bob, you need to comment on this, if you will) it affects your breathing, your heartbeat, and so many things, especially your eye movement and your convergence consistency. Quiet eye allows me to have a quiet time and relax before I call “pull” each time.
Would you agree that pressure affects your breathing, your heartbeat and so many other things, especially your eye movements, and the consistency of your eye convergence?
Bob: Yes, I would. And the brainwaves start getting faster, too, under those circumstances.
You made a good point, which is you’re trying, you’ve made an effort, you’ve trained to not think about anything when you’ve done the quiet eye just before you call “pull.” And I would urge people to, when you have a thought at that point, go ahead and call “pull.” Watch what happens. Because you’ll find out how important it is to have that empty mind at that moment. You’ve got to be convinced or its terrible.
Gil: It’s butt-ugly, let me tell you. And so, maybe I’ve taken it a step further from the hockey player and golfer and basketball free-throw shooter that Joan studied. It’s a little bit different game than our game.
Our game goes from still to deliberate action. In golf, the hole is still. In free-throw shooting, the basket is still. The hockey goalie, not so much. But things are coming at him, not going away. So, it’s a little bit different reflex.
But to me, beginning, making my body be quiet and still before I go to the focal point, which is critical, has certainly helped me dramatically. It gives me a time to relax before I call “pull.” It just makes my eyes be still before I address the target, which is huge in calming my body and breathing.
And I can’t emphasize enough, all the thinking has to be done prior to getting in the box. All the planning, all the visualization, the only time I would use detailed visualization in the box is in the case of a miss. Then I’m going to visualize what happened and make my mind up what the correction’s going to be.
I step back, I make the correction, I believe the correction. All right. I load the gun. Now I’m back in my original sequence, because I already know what the change is going to be. I’ve already visualized what the change is going to be. I know where it’s going to happen. I go back to that first breakpoint. And it just settles me down.
To me, it’s the same thing as controlling your pace between pairs and controlling your pace between the stations. It’s just another way for you to maintain control of your brain and maintain control of what you’re about to do. It’s amazing for me.
Any more questions on quiet eye? Doug, did we answer your question?
Doug: Yes, that was perfect. Thank you.
Gil: Anybody have anything to add?
Grant: One of the fundamentals I understood of quiet eye, particularly right before you call “pull” is it enables the peripheral part of your vision to pick up the movement better than if your eyes are moving around. Is that correct?
Gil: That is 100 percent correct.
Grant: Okay, so when you’re talking about kind of a two-part quiet eye, if you’re looking at the breakpoint, that’s not about seeing the target; that’s just about imprinting that place in your mind?
Gil: No, it really isn’t about that, either. It’s just about keeping my eyes still and my hands relaxed.
I want to begin the shot (i.e., closing of the gun and addressing the bird) in the same physiological position every single time. I’ve found that, at least in my instance, stopping and looking at the first breakpoint – and it doesn’t matter if there’s no clouds there. I may look at the clouds just to the right of the first breakpoint. I just want my eyes to be still.
I didn’t realize until I started training last year how much my eyes were moving. And then I had to concentrate when I went to the focal point and the hold point to make my eyes be still. But if my eyes are still and I make them be still before I start closing the gun, I go from still quiet eyes and soft hands to closing the gun, and my eyes are on the trap.
I release the gun, I call “pull” and my eyes are on that bird just as sharp and easy as they can be. But I’m not having to make myself be still in the focal point because for me being still in the focal point comes from being still out there in my quiet eye time.
That makes sense, Grant?
Grant: It makes perfect sense. I got it. I’ve actually been doing what you’re talking about and had never really thought about it this way. But you’re right, it does. It creates some calmness and relaxation before you get to the start of a shot.
Gil: Yeah. And like Bob said, his quiet eye is when he goes to the focal point. Well, if he’s having to make his eyes be quiet in the focal point, that’s one more thought in his process.
For me, the way I’ve done it, I’ve done it so much. And I do this almost every time when I have to demo a shot, especially a very difficult shot with a gun that doesn’t even come close to fitting me.
I’ll stay right there in that breakpoint and be still until I know I’m relaxed. Let me back up. The key here is the gun’s already loaded. You have to look at the gun to make sure the shells go in the hole. Are you going to be thinking about the gun when you’re trying to feel around there and get them in the hole? Look at the gun, drop the shells in.
At that point in time, you don’t need to see the gun ever again until you open it and catch the shells and reload them. Once the gun’s loaded, that’s my trigger to go to that first breakpoint or that area and keep my eyes still. Make them be still. Once you know they’re still, your hands and shoulders will relax automatically. And as you begin to close the gun, that’s a signal for your eyes to go to the focal point, the gun to set. Once the gun’s set, you release the gun and call “pull” and the shots just happened.
So, there’s no need in trying to visualize anything when you’re looking at the first breakpoint because when you’re trying to visualize what’s going to happen, the first breakpoint might get in the way. You already determined that. You already know what you’re going to do. You’ve practiced it enough. You’ve trained it enough. You already know what you’re going to do.
If you don’t believe it, you haven’t trained it enough. Or you’re not stubborn enough. And Vicki’s gonna talk about being stubborn next month.
Vicki: Dadgummit! [Laughs] I’m probably pretty much AA in that department.
[Laughter]
Gil: So anyway, I don’t think we’ve heard the last of this. Because as you guys begin to implement this in the next month, I would certainly like it if you would get on the forum and talk about your experiences with the quiet eye in the first breakpoint, soft hands, relaxed shoulders.
As you start closing the gun, you go to the focal point. And for me that sequence going from quiet eyes in the breakpoint to quiet eyes in the focal point has been automatized. It just happens. I don’t have to think about it.
I will tell you this. Twice in the last practice session that we had, we were shooting a screaming left-to-right quartering bird that was about 10 yards immediately to our left. And I mean it was screaming. And I was set, and I turned my head way around where I can see it and I started the gun way low. I started moving that gun and I called “pull” and my eyes stayed on that plate until that target came out. It just was an automatic response. The brain put them together and the brain pulled the trigger.
I hit the bird. But the two times I was the most uncomfortable, my eyes jumped the bird because the bird was coming out so fast and I was so close to it. If I’d been 25 yards away from it, it would have been a lot slower and a lot easier to hit. But because the trap was to my left and behind about two steps from where we were shooting to my left 10 yards and behind about two yards, it was a strain for me to get around there and see it.
I was messing with another move that I’m going to talk to you about here in just a minute. And it absolutely worked phenomenally. But it’s just very obvious when your eyes move when you’re used to having your eyes specifically still in the focal point. It’s very, very obvious and it’s an easy correction to pick up.
It’s also, as far as I’m concerned, much easier going from still eyes in the breakpoint to, as you close the gun still eyes in the focal point, you set the gun, you release the gun, you call “pull” and the shot just comes together.
So I’m anxious to hear your results when you get out there, because I know you’re all gonna try this. Either write something on the forum, or call me or email me. I just got a text from Jack. He’s not gonna be able to be on tonight. But I was able to make my way through it without him. So y’all tell him he wasn’t missed. [Chuckles]
Gil: I want to go through one more thing with you. One more really big point that I’ve learned in the last week and a half. I want to set up a shot for you.
I’ve been coaching Bailey Glenewinkel on skeet, and she’s making phenomenal progress. Her last shoot, she shot 96 in the doubles, 100 in the 12 gauge, 99 in the 20, 97 in the 28, and 98 in the 410. So she’s coming along remarkably well. I’ll have her on one night to share some of the things that I’ve done with her.
I saw something that she did and I asked her to repeat it. On a driving target from just to the left of center, say, 10 yards to the left of center and the target was screaming up to the one o’clock position.
And as you all know, in some instances with those targets, it’s difficult to get the gun high enough above that target to be on line. And it’s the exact same thing on a right-to-left rising target that’s going to 11 o’clock. If it’s going to 9:30 or 10 o’clock, not so much. But when it starts getting up there, closer to noon, on both sides of noon, it’s in some instances damn near impossible to get that gun all the way up to the one o’clock or 11 o’clock line.
And she had trouble with this target. She kept missing it at two o’clock, at 2:30, at 1:30. Her brain just couldn’t understand the concept of getting a lot closer to 12 o’clock on that bird.
On a complete lark I asked her, “Okay, look at your breakpoint. Imagine a line coming straight down at the ground from the breakpoint. You see that line? All right, I want you to start your gun on that line, 25-yard vertical hold point, eyes to the left on the trap. And I want you to give it a six-inch challenge move straight up.”
“Okay.” When she said “pull,” that gun was already moving and she said “pull” and kept her eyes on that bird. And when she pulled the trigger, she smoked the target. I said “you need to do that again.”
“Why?” she asked. I said, “because I want to see what you did again. I want to watch it. Do it again.”
And, guys, I have to tell you what the brain can do on that particular target whether it’s a one o’clock or 11 o’clock shot that is absolutely screaming.
Doss and I did it the next afternoon at 40 and 50 yards. You are so relaxed when you shoot this bird. It’s a vertical line. The gun makes a vertical line on a bird that’s just slightly to the right of vertical, and as they come together, it’s almost a natural convergence at the top with the gun above the line, above the bird exactly on the one o’clock line.
And as we went through using this on six to eight other birds, if she didn’t make that vertical move, if she came back over closer to the trap and tried to make a more…not vertical and not horizontal, but a “tweener” move, and follow the line of the bird.
Invariably, she missed that bird at the two o’clock position, or at the 10 o’clock position, if it was going at 11 o’clock. It was harder for her brain to push the gun up on the line when she was trying to mirror the line, as opposed to letting the lines converge.
It appeared to me, because I took her gun no I had my gun with me, I shot it the way she was shooting it. And I started playing with it, and I could swing the gun over toward the trap. And invariably, if I got closer to the line of the bird and tried to just stay in front of it and outrun it, I would miss it to the right or to the left. I wouldn’t get the gun high enough.
And all I had to do was bring the gun out like a plumb bob underneath the breakpoint, and start it at the 25-yard line vertically and challenge it with a six-inch move with your nose either to the left or the right looking at the target – you are already moving. When the target came out, the gun just miraculously went above the target. And the thing was when the line was right. I pulled the trigger and it smoked.
Bob: I agree with you. I’ve done the same thing with people who I felt could not see the actual line of the target. And they tried to go up the line that the target was running on. But when they came up vertical, they could see the target coming in at 11 to 11:30 or 12 to 12:30. And they could not see the line the other way at all.
And you’re right in this high right, high left – but they never hit the line as well as they came straight up. I’ve done the same thing. I agree with you.
Gil: And I want you all to try this, the rest of this month until we talk next month. Just find a driving bird and I dare you to put all the spring the trap’s got on it. It will not make any difference. I did it with Doss the next day. And I did it with him before I almost had a heatstroke two days ago.
I had the claybot cranked up to full spring, international spring. So, a 140-yard target. He started that gun up and I said “Let’s look at it one more time just so you see where the top is.” I pulled that target and he said “Whew, that was going way up there.”
25-yard line based on the breakpoint, now. Come on. Six-inch challenge. Just directly under the breakpoint, and he’s looking to his left.
And he closes the gun, sets the gun, releases the gun, calls “pull.” It just went up and he looked at me and said “it’s as easy on that target as it was on the ones we were doing the Greater Houston yesterday.” I said “Yeah, I know. It’s scary, isn’t it?” And he said “Yeah, let’s try it the other way.” Mm-mm. I don’t know what it is, but it’s not quite as easy that way.
Now, I used the same thing when I was shooting the quartering target that I was describing a while ago that was 10 yards left and two yards behind. I started the gun, probably three feet below the line. I soft-mounted, turned my head, and before I call “pull,” when I released the gun rather than releasing it horizontally, I began to release it with a slight vertical in it. And when I call “pull” and the bird came to the gun it was almost the same illusion. The line got straight and I pulled the trigger.
Dean: I’m not familiar with that term “driving bird.”
Gil: It’s driving straight up.
Brian: It’s like a teal.
Gil: Yes, but it’s not a straight up and down teal. If the trap is 10 yards to the left of center and it’s throwing a bird to one o’clock or if it’s 10 yards to the right of center, and it’s throwing a bird to 11 o’clock with lots of spring.
Dean: Gotcha.
Gil: If you try to run up that line with that bird, you’re gonna miss it horizontally, because for some reason it’s hard for the brain to get the gun high enough to be on the line.
But if you’ll just come out wherever you’re going to break the bird and just drop a plumb bob down to the ground, come up to the 25-yard line vertically and look at the trap. Start the gun moving, call “pull,” and it’s…
Dean: So it’s just converging lines.
Gil: It’s a challenge converge, but it’s vertical line versus the driving, quartering line. It’s a straight converge. You could call it a challenge converge.
Dean: Gotcha.
Gil: But the key is the hold point. The hold point has to be direct. It has to be more below the breakpoints than more over towards the trap. Because if you try to follow that vertical line, you’re going to miss it to the right or the left almost every time.
I haven’t figured out why it’s that way. But dude, let me tell you, it sure takes the sting out of that rising quartering bird. It’s just hauling ass, especially on the first bird of a pair. Because you’re so relaxed when you shoot the bird, because it’s the six-inch move, the gun’s are already moving up. You just call “pull,” you just push it on up there.
And the way you know when to pull the trigger is the line’s straight. Whenever you know the bird and gun are on a straight line, send it. And you don’t chip them when you do this.
Bob: Gil, I used that technique a year ago in Globe, Arizona. And they threw a screaming teal out of the valley. And everything in the background had a two o’clock line. The target line was one o’clock, and it was the only way I could stay on the one o’clock line.
Gil: I will tell you this; I shot it a lot out at Greater Houston with Doss and with Bailey, experimenting. And what I came away from that was the same when I shot with Bailey and the same when I shot with Doss out at Greater was, you see it, you figured out where you’re gonna break it, and drop the plumb bob straight down from it. And that’s where you are.
You turn your head and put your nose on that trap and you start that gun moving up, when you call “pull,” it just goes up and when the line’s straight, pull the trigger. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s coming from the left or coming from the right. Which is another big deal.
Typically, a right-to-left rising target, that’s going to 11 o’clock. It’s a tough target for a right-handed shooter because we’ve been trying to run with the line. If the gun’s ahead of the bird, you’re running with the bird on that line, you already occluded the target. But this way, the target’s never occluded. If you’re right-handed and it’s the left-to-right rising bird at one o’clock, you never have to occlude the target. But doing it this way, because they’re intersecting lines, the target’s never occluded. I wanted to share that with you.
If you guys are going to be shooting in the next 30 days, if you’re at a place where you can set this up, set it up. I’m curious to know what your feedback is.
I’ve got five more things to talk about. But it’s after nine o’clock and my wife has given me the cut sign on her throat. So I’m excited to share some of the things with you, but we’re gonna cut it off at an hour tonight.
Grant, Doug, Bob, everybody, thank you for participating tonight. These are some earth-shattering monumental things for me. And I’m gonna continue to go out and train and shoot pairs. And I’ll be more than happy to share what I learn with you along the way. So that said, you guys, if you’re going to Nationals, get your training in.
We had a cold front come through here just about an hour ago. And tomorrow, the high’s gonna be 83 instead of 105. And I almost had a heatstroke two days ago. I had to sit down and Vicki had to cool me down, and put me in the truck, turn the air conditioner on and point all the vents at me. I was really lucky that I caught it when I did. I feel great now and I’ve got plenty of electrolytes back in me. The pack is back, as they say.
So with that, I’m going to say goodnight. I’m going to toddle on off to home and you guys, do your practice, get hydrated and get ahead on your sleep. We’ll talk to you next month. Good night, everybody.
