I first read this book almost two years ago when it was lent to me by friend, fellow competitor, and shotgun instructor Doug Parsons (no relationship to the author Chris Parsons). I liked the book so much, that I purchased my own copy.
This is one of those books that I read in one day. The author relates his own story of progressing through the ranks in NSCA competition where he made it to master class – but then fell into the doldrums until he realized he would really need to sharpen his game if he wanted to compete in the top level of the sport. He developed skills sets in three areas to accomplish this – technical skills, mental skill and execution (the one that is often not discussed). He shares his experience with all three in this book. Whether you find yourself having just punched into master class, or C-class, this book will have something that you will relate to!
I was reminded of this book in the last fun shoot I participated in. In one of the last sections, he discusses what it takes to win in sporting clays. He mentions that the shooter’s goal should always be to shoot a winning score. If you do that, you will be in contention to win frequently. But to do that, you need to have the same fire to win on the first station as on the last. Let’s say there are 13 stations on the course. Your performance on the first 12 stations are what get you in position to win. The last station is where the winning takes place – and maybe even the last pair of the last station! I lived this at my last shoot! Coming into the last station in both the am and pm events, I was in a position to win both (one target behind in the am, and two targets ahead in the pm!). BUT, I lacked the confidence and commitment to finish out that last station both times! Ouch! I was pleased that I had gotten myself into contention to win, but came up just short in being able to secure that last punch to move up a class! Kudos to my friend Al Wagner who took home the punches in our class for both events that day!
Thumbing thru Chris Parson’s book in preparation for this post reminded me that he includes a lot of really good drills to use in practice. I am going to make an effort to use some of them. Stay tuned for a future post where I share the results of this effort!
If you are interested in picking up your own copy of the book, you can find it here: