Our game is far from easy.  There are so many little things that we have to remember and do consistently if we want to perform to our potential, and it’s easy to let a couple of them slip away. But shooting well and consistently is the sum of those small steps and details, and until you master them, you won’t shoot as well as you could.

I’ve got many students who are highly intelligent, successful business people who fail to remember all these details.  But they surely can, because they manage and lead businesses that require far more attention to details than shooting ever does.  The difference is that they worked to build their business IQ and they haven’t yet done so in their shooting careers.

Every time you walk up to a station, you must figure out your stance, your look point, your break point, and hold point.  You must analyze the bird’s angle, distance, speed, and time frame and let that determine which style of mount you will use.  You choose where you will insert the gun relative to the clay, and what detail you will focus on as you pull the trigger.  And all of that is contingent on the method you are going to use to break that bird.

Regardless of your technique, you will have to do all those little things consistently to be consistent yourself, and that means doing it consciously until it becomes second nature.  Even then, we all have a few things that never become second nature and you have to pay attention to them even decades later.

When I was a kid, I developed a habit of leaning too far forward and crawling forward on the stock, probably to accommodate stocks that did not fit perfectly and my lack of awareness of the error.   I’ve worked consciously to fix that, but even now I sometimes catch myself doing it.

Another example: I don’t often check my feet and mount my gun to check my hold points very often, but if step into the box and realize that I’m going to be out of position for the second shot, I will consciously review my setup. Usually it’s second nature for me, but I can’t get complacent about it.

Trust me, if you forget a couple of those details, you’re going to struggle. It’s especially bad when you have a high degree of confidence that you can hit a bird, because you get too comfortable or lazy and don’t pay attention.  You lose focus, and a target you usually smash keeps right on flying.  You might get lucky and break 6X8 on an easy pair, but if you want to win you have to break every one of them.

So how do you remember all these things? Here are some approaches that have helped me and my students.

• Use your practice to build your routine, including the checklist of all the details you must remember. It takes work and concentration, but over time the steps will become ingrained. We still must be aware of them so we can go back to the basics when we’re struggling, but the more you practice the process, the better off you’ll be.  Too often, we practice shooting a target instead of practicing the things that allow us to hit the target.  There is a difference.
• In the same vein, make your goals based on the process, not the results. Instead of saying you want to shoot 90 percent, make it your goal to do all the small things that allow you to shoot 90 percent.  In your next competition, tell yourself you’re going to make a conscious plan at every station, or more specifically, that you’re going to work to make sure you have optimal hold points and break zones for every target.  Those will help you progress far more than aiming for a specific score.
• All of this is part of controlling what you can control and letting go of the things you can’t. When I compete, I want to go out and do everything I can control and know how to do. If I do that, I’m going to get reasonably good results. If you can convince yourself that your goal is to do what you’re supposed to do every time and hit every shot you can, you’re going to be happier than if you don’t shoot the score you wanted, or if you shoot that score and someone beats you.
• It doesn’t take a lot of time to jot down a few notes after every lesson, competition, or practice session, and many people find that writing things down helps them to remember details.  Over time, trends in your shooting will emerge and you’ll identify the details you might be forgetting.  For example, are you constantly finding yourself off-balance on the second shot of a pair? Maybe you need to work harder to remind yourself to get your feet in proper position.  Many people find that writing things down helps them to remember details.
• Keeping perspective. If you don’t think you can remember all these things, think about what you have to remember every day to succeed in your career or everyday life.  You didn’t start out knowing everything about your job but over time, some things became second nature to you.  I’m sure accountants would say that it’s easier to pull together a balance sheet after doing it every day for five years, or that mechanics can perform routine maintenance a lot faster with a little experience.  Why wouldn’t shooting be any different?  And the stakes are far lower in shooting than they are in your career.
• An added bonus to working on your planning and set up is that it becomes a way to quiet your mind and chase away the self-doubt that can ruin your score. Our conscious mind can focus on only one thing at a time, so as we’re preparing to shoot we should be filling our conscious with positive steps to ensure success.  Ideally, by the time you have run through your checklist, your mind is clear and all you have to do is remember to look at the bird and shoot it.  Do that every time you step into the cage and you’ve built a solid routine.

If you take away anything from this discussion, remember that shooting well and consistently is the sum of doing several things every time.  If you forget a couple, then you are likely to drop a few birds that you should have hit.  If you forget several, you’re in for a tough day.  But if you can make these fundamental steps an entrenched part of your game, you’re on your way to more consistency, and greater success.  Your confidence outside the box will continue to improve as you get better at implementing these details.