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The 2 types of Practice

2/20/2017

8 Comments

 
I get asked all the time for suggestions of what/how to practice. Generally the student is all excited about all the new things he learned (or re-learned ) during the lesson, and they are eager to work hard to ingrain them into their ‘game’. Sometimes, they are fired up to apply what they worked on during the session, and see it improve their scores. Either way, they need a PLAN.

Well, I teach that there is two types of practice, and you should never mix the two up. There is skills practice and there is tournament practice. Both are vitally important, and all competitive shooters need a mix of the two. The ratio of one to the other will change back and forth over time as the shooter progresses. Unfortunately, few shooters ever do either of these effectively.

Skills Practice is deciding in advance of arriving at the range, a particular skill that needs to be addressed. Let’s say you have having trouble with rabbit presentations. Then head straight to the rabbit station(s) and get to work. Working on rabbits does not involve all the other stations on the course, you are going to ONLY shoot rabbits today. I don’t care if you shoot 150 rabbits…..don’t distract yourself with the other presentations on the course, or with what your buddy’s new gun feels like on crossers, etc. Go to the rabbit station and get to work. Probably by yourself, or at most with one other shooting partners who agrees to work on the same issue. Stay focused on the task at hand. Just think, if you really solved your problems with rabbits( or whatever the presentation/issue), how worthwhile that afternoon of practice would really be!  Maybe it’s working on your gun mount, or footwork between targets in pairs, or your preshot routine….whatever. Working on these issues does NOT involve wandering around the course with your buddies just shooting each station until you are happy (or tired of being heckled by your friends). Go fix one issue, and you will have had a good day’s work.

Next up is Tournament Practice. This is where the rubber meets the road. Again this does not involve a trip around the course shooting targets till you ‘learn them’. Get a score card. If you normally shoot a warm up before a registered round, head to the 5 stand and warm up. Then, either alone, or with a squad that is willing to do the same thing you are doing, hit the course like it is the US Open. No ‘extra view birds’, no ‘do overs’. Rotate the order, score fairly, and move through the course. If you crater a station, deal with it. You cannot stay there until you sort it out…...you don’t get that satisfaction during a tournament. You have to learn to walk away to the next station and get your chin up and figure out the next station. Finish the round, and add up your score. You now have a benchmark. Of course, if you dumped a lot of birds on some station, you can now go back and work on it. This type of round is best done on fresh targets. If your home club hasn’t changed the targets in weeks, drive a bit further and shoot a course you are not familiar with….(and in a nice way, let your home club know that you went somewhere else to see new presentations. Nothing motivates a manager to change his targets like a loyal customer feeling like he has to spend his $$$$ someplace else)....it will be worth the effort.

NEVER mix these two types of practice up. Skills practice will generally put you back into your conscious mind too much for effective subconscious performance in a tournament round. Tournament practice doesn’t allow enough repetition to learn a new skill. NEVER allow yourself to start a Tournament Practice round, get frustrated, and just start skills practice. Finish the round. Otherwise, you are practicing quitting.

How is that for a format of practice to get your season going?

Best,

Will

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8 Comments
Dan link
2/20/2017 10:49:01 am

Where would making one's preshot routine ingrained to the point that you can't take a shot without using it fall? Skills or tournament?
If you'd put it in the skills category, wouldn't you need to go to different presentations to keep from going into auto-pilot mode?
Thanks

Reply
Will Fennell link
2/21/2017 08:14:20 am

Dan,
Good question! I spend most of my personal skills practice simply shooting medium difficulty targets, and running my routine. Simply put, unless I recently have had trouble with a particular presentation, my skills practice is centered around practicing my planning, pre shot, and post shot routines. When I get to a range that I'm not familiar with the tartgets, I shoot tournament practice, and of course, during that, I am running my routines.

Best,

Will

Reply
Doug Parsons
2/20/2017 05:08:16 pm

Great advice, Will. It is all too easy to try to combine the two and wind up having learned, or improved, very little. Thanks!

Reply
Randy Shropshire link
2/21/2017 06:20:40 am

Some of the best advice I've ever been given. I have never thought about practice that way. Thanks Will.

Reply
Peyton link
6/20/2017 09:29:33 pm

What is your post shot routine?

Reply
Will Fennell
6/24/2017 09:08:48 pm

Peyton,
My Post Shot Routine is pretty simple in concept, but can be difficult in implementation. Simply put, as I clear my chambers after firing at the clays, I ask myself if I truly, clearly saw the detail on the clays that i was looking for......

.....here is the kicker....I have to ask myself this question whether I hit the clays or not....and who wants to be self critical if you actually hit the clays? But you have to, because frequently we still hit the clay, even though we are not focused at the time the shot is triggered. But you generally won't run a station if you are NOT focused. So I have to 'catch myself' and not allow myself to continue to engage the rest of the menu unfocused. Because that is how you drop targets that you shouldn't drop.

Hope this helps,

Best,

Will

Reply
Peyton Higgison link
6/25/2017 04:54:55 am

Thanks. I had never given much thought to a post shot and this is very helpful.

Bryson Mills link
1/11/2021 03:38:32 pm

This was lovvely to read

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