Become a Whole Lot Better
By Gary Anderson As Appeared in the Fall 2015 issue of On the Mark
How To Become A Whole Lot Better: A Primer For Young Pistol and Rifl e Shooters, Coaches and Parents
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petition and are looking at the results list to see where \RX À QLVKHG $W WKH WRS RI the list are juniors who are just a year or two older than \RX 7KH\ VKRW VFRUHV WKDW you couldn’t even dream of VKRRWLQJ RQ \RXU EHVW GD\ You continue to scan down the list of names and scores until you come to your score, KDOIZD\ GRZQ WKH OLVW $ PLG GOH RI WKH SDFN À QLVK VHHPV OK considering the short time you have been shooting DQG KRZ OLWWOH \RX SUDFWLFH But then you look back up to WKH WRS RI WKH OLVW <RX VWDUW to think that’s where you UHDOO\ ZRXOG OLNH WR EH %XW the winning scores seem so KLJK ´:KDW GR , KDYH WR GR to become that good?” To quote a leading Ger-
man text on junior shooting training: “There has never been a champion who fell from heaven.” It is not just about how to shoot better VFRUHV EXW DERXW ´KRZ WR become a whole lot better.” The answers are complex and are organized into three SULPDU\ DUHDV RI HPSKDVLV 1) a goal-oriented work eth- LF
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pursuing technical perfec- tion.
Goal-Oriented Work Ethic
Becoming a whole lot
better begins with a faith in training and actually putting that belief into practice. It begins with a fundamental truth: All the positive think- LQJ WDOHQW DQG GHVLUH WR win in the world won’t make someone a champion shoot- er unless those thoughts are transformed into a goal- oriented work ethic that is GHÀ QHG E\ KDUG ZRUN DQG practice. Working hard is not a guarantee that a young athlete will become a cham- SLRQ EXW QR \RXQJ DWKOHWH will ever become a champi- on without working hard.
Faith in Training The foundation
for ad-
vancement in all sports is practice or training. That is especially true in a skill sport like shooting. The one common thread through the personal stories of all champion athletes is their ZRUN HWKLF KRZ PXFK WKH\ trained and how they trained harder than other athletes. The challenge is to get as- piring young shooters to be- lieve in training. For coaches DQG SDUHQWV WKDW PHDQV exposing them to convinc- ing messages that no one is a natural-born champion and that training really does make a difference.
Adopting a Work Ethic Young shooters must
then progress from believing that training works to actual- ly doing real training. A good start is taking full advantage of available range time. The best shooters typically are WKH À UVW RQHV WR VWDUW VKRRW ing when the range opens and the last ones to leave. Good time management also means focusing on shooting and not on other activities while on the range. 'RLQJ PRUH WUDLQLQJ PHDQV increasing practice days from once or twice a week WR IRXU RU À YH GD\V D ZHHN If the school or club range is not available that many GD\V GU\ À ULQJ RU VKRRWLQJ air guns at home is an equal- ly effective way to train.
What Should Goals Be? Young shooters are en-
couraged to adopt a “goal- RULHQWHGµ ZRUN HWKLF EXW WKLV EHJV WKH TXHVWLRQ ´ZKDW should their goals be?” It’s OK to dream about becom- LQJ DQ 2O\PSLF FKDPSLRQ but at this stage in a young shooter’s development that VKRXOG EH D GUHDP QRW D goal. Initial goals should fo- cus on perfecting skills and improving scores. Competi- tion goals should not be to ZLQ EXW UDWKHU WR SHUIRUP learned skills well in match- es. As goals and accom- SOLVKPHQWV FOLPE KLJKHU D possible future will start to unfold. If lots of training and hard work continues to be LQWHUHVWLQJ HQMR\DEOH DQG UHZDUGLQJ GHFLVLRQV FDQ EH made about how much to train and longer term goals.
March 2016 | USA Shooting News 51
Photo by: ISSF
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