In traveling around the country, Gil and I see people who are afraid to take a lesson, but they want to get better. When asked why they won’t take a lesson their comment is, “I’m afraid you will screw me up!”
They are right. The last thing anyone should expect is to leave a shooting lesson shooting better!
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? I don’t know about you, but where I live, technical expertise is always preceded by experience. We find that people who are afraid to change believe that if they just keep doing the same thing they will get better. Sounds like the definition of insanity to me. You should leave a lesson with the understanding of what’s wrong and how to fix it. Then it is up to you to practice what you have learned enough to build confidence and trust in your new move so that it can become part of your game. Then you get better!
An experienced instructor understands that a shooter’s problem is rarely with a target’s incorrect lead. Lead, however, is the first place everyone goes – kind of like a shadetree mechanic who changes the spark plugs on a car that needs a transmission overhaul. It is more often than not one of three things that is the problem.
They are, in order of frequency and importance:
1. Focus on the front of the target
2. Tempo – Moving the gun with the speed of the target.
3. Gun mount – Mounting the gun correctly to the face.
It is more important to know why you missed it than where. We even tell our students it is irrelevant where you miss. The only way you get more consistent is to understand why.
In studying and teaching the mental part of this game it has become clear to both of us that successful people, regardless of skill, all have one thing in common – they all have a greater tolerance for failure and setback. They embrace change and learn from failure.
If you want to get better, take a lesson from an experienced instructor who deals with why you missed, not only where. Find an instructor who can communicate with you the things you need to change to shoot better.
