I have been on a long and winding trail for the past year. I hope what I
have learned can be of help to my fellow shooters. I have sought the best
and most sought after shooting teachers in the world with no thought to
cost. My sole objective was to achieve light-speed improvement with the
theory that I can spend the same money over five years learning by burning
ammo, or I can become a master class shooter in a year following the
hard-won knowledge of world-class performers.
I began with Bobby Jack Krugerand. A former national champion, multi-state
champion, perennial All-American, world FITASC runner-up, Bobby Jack had
proven over and over again that he knew his stuff. In my first lesson, I
shot over 400 shells at ten different stations at Bobby Jack’s home club.
I shot each target or target pair until my arms were sore and Bobby Jack
said, “Ok, I think you’re gettin it.” Some times I didn’t think “I got
it,” but we moved on anyway. Bobby Jack said two things during that
lesson. “ALWAYS keep the barrel in front of the target,” and “The only
thing that matters is where that barrel is when you pull the trigger.” I
liked this simple philosophy, perhaps because it fit my simple mind. At
any rate, I thought I was shooting better at the end of the lesson,
although I could barely lift my left arm.
Bobby Jack sternly instructed me at the end of the lesson, “shoot at least
1,000 shells a week, and practice what I told you. Oh, that will be $300.”
Well, I tried for a few weeks, but I really never got more than 600 in one
week because my boss seemed to think I needed to come in to work every so
often. There was one big improvement. My biceps were getting bigger and
harder. However, my shooting didn’t seem to be improving that much. After
about eight weeks, I decided I wasn’t having much fun and maybe this
method was a little too “simple”. I decided what I needed was a more
mental approach.
So, I set up a lesson with Daniel Schfindland, PHD, author of several
shooting books, NSCA level XI instructor, and world renowned expert in
mind control. Dr. Schfindland would not agree to a shooting lesson until I
bought all of his books. He said, “You MUST prepare yourself to have the
right mental attitude before you begin MY instruction, and you vill like
it.” So I spent $450 on books and read them in a couple of weeks. There
was At the Target, Approaching the Target, Past the Target, Be the Target,
and his best seller, How Do You Feel About the Target? Finally, the
fateful day came, and I got to actually shoot under the maestro’s
tutelage. As I prepared to shoot the first target, the good doctor said,
“How do you feel? Do you feel positive? Do you really want to shoot this
target? Also, have you chosen wisely your sight point, pick up point,
insertion point and firing point?” I said, “I think so.” “That’s not
positive enough. You have to know your points, know how you feel, know you
will succeed and know that you can trust what you know.
So, I proceeded to shoot fifty targets. It took about three and a half
hours to finish the fifty. Before I could shoot each target, I had to go
through a check list of preparation. I felt like a pilot getting ready to
take of from O’Hare Field. By the time I finished, I felt like I was going
through forty-seven points of preparation. At the last station, he added
one more thing to the list. “After you go through your mental check list,
then make your mind go blank. Think about nothing at all.” I honestly
tried to make my mind go blank, but I kept thinking, “Is my pick up point
right, where is my insertion point again, am I positive or do I just think
I am positive?” By the end of the lesson, I couldn’t hit the ground. Not
to worry, Dr. Schfindland assured me, “It just takes a little time. You
must overcome all of your negative thinking that you have been doing all
of your life. That will be $300.”
For the next four months, I tried not to be negative, but I was shooting
consistently about thirty percent worse. I told Dr. Schfindland my results
over the telephone, and he quickly responded, “Your trouble is that you’re
keeping score. That is a very negative thing to do. Forget the score;
think positively and soon good things will happen.”
It was probably a very negative thing to do, but I wanted to keep score,
and at tournaments they pretty much insisted on it. So, I moved on to
another All-American, former national, former world champion, Dan Barlisle.
Dan had another approach to say the least. Relax, don’t muddle your mind
with details, and shoot naturally, free and easy. I felt liberated, free
at last to become the shooter that I knew was somewhere within me. Besides
staying relaxed, Dan did push one other little teeny thing. “I won’t
change your method of acquiring the lead if you don’t want to, BUT. .
“What, what is it. You can tell me,” I blurted out. “Well,” he kind of
grimaced and looked like he was pondering if I could handle the secret to
life, “you might try to pull away from those longer targets.” “You think
that would help”, I said like a school boy in second grade. Then he
proceeded to teach me the intricacies of the PULL AWAY method. By the end
of the lesson, I was shooting everything with pull away. There was just
one little problem. When I missed, and oh brother I missed plenty, I
wasn’t sure if I had pulled away too fast or too slow.
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I asked Dan about this, and he explained carefully, “It will come with
experience. Keep practicing, pulling away from those targets not too fast
and not too slow. One day it will feel right, and you will be in the zone,
pulling away perfectly. Oh, that will be $300.”
Okay, by now you are way ahead of me. I tried the pull away for a couple
of months, but sometimes I pulled away so fast I was shooting other
people’s targets on the next field. I also developed a wonderful flinch as
I tried to pull away “just right” and pull the trigger at the right
moment.
Next stop the big GB. For the infidels, that is George Bigdeed,
multi-world champion, and believed by many to be the greatest sporting
shooter of our time. Of course I had to go to jolly old England to get a
lesson from King George. George was a fun loving, happy go lucky guy, but
that was at the pub where I met him. When we got to the gun club, his mood
changed. “Are you ready to have a go Yank?” I said, “Listen George, I’m
from Texas, and we really don’t consider ourselves Yanks.” “Of course,
okay Yank what we’re going to do is shoot each station; winner takes
twenty quid.” “Wow, you expect me to shoot against you, and for money,” I
gulped. “Look Yank, you’ll never be better than a blighter if you don’t
learn to shoot under pressure,” he explained with a stern look.
Well to make a longer story short, Big George kicked my blighter ass at
every station. He insisted on taking the “quid” at each station. I didn’t
know how much twenty quid or one quid was. But, helpful George showed me
how much it was using the U.S. currency I had. After I ran out of money,
he said we were through with the “pressure part of the lesson.” Then he
explained that, “You haven’t got a daft camel’s idea of how to lead a
target.” “You’ve got to swing through the bloody thing.” He further
explained, “You’re making it way too hard. All you have to do is come from
behind the target and, as the barrels swing through the bad boy, pull the
trigger. It’s quite simple really. I don’t know why you Yanks make it so
hard.” I asked George, “How fast do you swing through the target?” George
kind of rolled his eyes like, “When will these juvenile questions end?” He
said brusquely, “That’s another lesson of course. That will be 300
pounds.”
For those of you who are wondering how this sad and heartbreaking story
will end, I will cut to the (here’s the surprise) happy ending. While in
another English pub, drinking my seventh pint, trying to drown my sorrows,
a kind soul had overheard my epic story. He explained that he was also a
sporting clay enthusiast, and more importantly had finally found the “Holy
Grail”. “Dave Peckman is my name,” he said. “I think I’ve heard of you,” I
said. “Aren’t you a world renowned target setter?” “Yes, that’s me. I set
targets that no one has ever seen before. I can make a target jump, bump,
tumble and sail. Most shooters think my targets don’t look so hard, but
that’s when I got you right where I want you.”
“That’s very interesting,” I blurted out, “but what I want to know is what
is the secret to hitting targets consistently.” “Ah, that is the question
isn’t it,” he grinned. He added, “buy me a pint and I’ll tell you Yank.”
As we drank one more, he whispered the “secret” in my ear so no one else
in the pub could overhear. As I listened intently, I was grinning from ear
to ear. It was so simple and so obviously, perfectly true. When he
finished, I knew it was “The Secret”. I knew it would work again and
again, just like you know when you ride a bicycle for the first time that
you will never have trouble doing it again. The proof of the pudding, as
they say in jolly old England, came quickly and easily. I could hardly
miss. I won the next eleven tournaments that I entered by huge margins. I
don’t even bother to practice anymore. I just go out and take HOA at my
leisure. I even miss a few each time on purpose, so no one will get
suspicious or accuse me of witch craft.
A lot of teachers and instructors are going to be extremely mad at me when
I reveal “The Secret”. It is so simple, so straight forward, that there
will be no need for lessons ever again. Anyone can do it. Everyone has the
natural ability to use it. WHAT IS IT? Ah, that will be $300. I will take
a cashier’s check, money order or master card. |
