February 1, 2016 Sporting Clays
Sporting Clays Tournament is cancelled this month窶認eb. 7th 1
November Issue 2015
OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS 2015 OFFICERS
Club News - Magazine Review
4-9
Calender of Events
10-11
Club Calender
12-13
NSCA Schedule
14-15
Sporting Clays Program and Results
16-17
Skeet Program and Results
18-19
FSA InsideSkeet this Calender issue:
20-21
Trap Program
22-23
Trap Results
24-25
Youth Program
26-27
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PRESIDENT—Vacant
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VICE PRESIDENT—Vacant
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TREASURER—Steve Sagal
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SECRETARY— Joe Loitz
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RECORDING SECRETARY—Jerry Schwab
DIRECTORS: •
Phil Demena
•
Steve Sagal
•
Rich Nilsen
Contact info: Markham Skeet, Trap, and Sporting Clays 8299 Cassia Terrace Tamarac, Fl. 33321 •
www.markhamclaytargets.com
•
www.markhamskeet.org
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www.markhamsportingclays.org
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E-mail: markhamshooter@gmail.com
•
Newsletter: jloit@bellsouth.net
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Next General Meeting April 7th Starting at 7:00 PM
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Club News February is one of the big months for Sporting Clays around Florida. Indian River has the Carribean Classic thru the weekend of the 14th and the Gator Cup is the week of the 21st. Myself, I hope to make the Gator Cup. We had to cancel the February shoot at Markham. Hopefully, we will have help to make the March shoot possible. Dale Melton shot a nice 93 to lead the January shoot followed by 92 from Jose Libos. Paul Billings almost swept the last skeet shoot winning everything but the 20 gauge where Silvio Plant and Phil Keagy led with 45’s. Peter Mills led both the Singles and Handicap at the last trapshoot. Not much else to report this month. Victoria Argenti won Runner-Up Lady I in the Handicap Championship at the Dixie Grand. Marilyn Lehrfeld won Runner-Up Lady II in the Doubles Championship. Andrew
Loitz won RunnerUp Junior Champion in both the All-Around and the Doubles Championship. Congrats go out to our South Florida shooters. Hopefully our shooters will pick up some trophies at those big Sporting Clays events this month also.
Not much else to say about January. I hope it stops raining some time soon. Since when did we start competing with Seattle for rain every day? Steve Sagal is out of the hospital and is rehabbing from his fall. We all wish him a quick recovery. I just heard John Beedenbender is in the hospital with pneumonia. We all wish him a quick recovery. Happy Valentine’s Day to all you Moms out there! You have the hardest yet the best job in the world, we all thank you and wish you a great day! 4
Magazine Review ClayShootingUSA – February/March 2016 Creating a specific mental plan for each tournament, each station, and each pair allows better execution, taking your pre-shot routine to new depths. Don Hollon believes we should add these elements to our pre-shot routine to elevate our focus so we can “stay in the moment” during the tournament. He doesn’t give any specifics as to how we should create this comprehensive mental plan, he just suggests we create one. Live the shoot or event is what he is really trying to get across to us. Stay in the moment means shoot one target at a time, doing nothing but participating the event, preparing for each station with purpose in mind. The purpose is the execution of perfect shots at each presentation or at least as perfect as you are capable. Enjoy the shoot like an eight year-old at Disney World. If you can bring that kind of joy to your shooting everything else is irrelevant. He presents an interesting idea when he tells us to take a second look at a target before pulling the trigger. Obviously this is for targets where you have the time to do it. Hone your concentration going from the general – the whole target – to a specific piece of the target. Honestly, never been able to do this myself except on very slow incomers. Some odds and ends, pick squadmates you can live with during the round. Take it from me, dump anyone who drags your concentration away from the event. Also don’t spend more than ten seconds executing your pre-shot routine. Anything beyond that allows outside influences into your conscious. Not what you want, that’s for sure! Lastly, visualize in slow motion where your eyes will go before each shot. Eliminate the gun barrel from this visualization routine.
tine to occur before the shot is taken. Shoot in a rhythm where a specific routine occurs. TRAP & FIELD – January 2016 Interesting article from Ron Sutton this month. Evidently a reader sent him a letter that went unanswered by Frank Hoppe. The reader’s problem was with the instructors who take people’s money even though their student shows no discernible improvement by the end of the clinic. Ron answers the man’s letter but doesn’t really address what actually happens in most clinics. Clinics are designed by the instructor to impart their wisdom and their shooting methods to the attendee. What is given short shrift is any swing coaching or gun fit. Basic fundamental corrections are not addressed. These are hard to work on in a group setting. They aren’t even diagnosed since the emphasis of the clinic is passing on the instructor’s knowledge and in many cases they have never spent time working on individual shooting styles other than their own. This means they aren’t aware of the attendees’ problems. I have seen this up close several times. The difference is where the emphasis takes place. If someone were to schedule individual time with a swing coach or a gun fitter they would have a totally different experience. This type of coach would examine their approach to the target and their fundamentals, working with what is already established and correcting the holes or problems in the student’s technique. Trapshooting clinics are group affairs to garner the most money to make it worthwhile for the instructor. Maybe it’s time to go to the skeet shooting or sporting clays approach were you get individual instructor time.
Then he says something slightly controversial. He recommends rhythmic shooting for pairs such as those in skeet. Be sure it’s a rhythm not a timing. There is a difference. One simply means you shoot at a specific cadence, the other allows for a specific rou5
Magazine Review Shotgun Sports – February 2016 A fraud is perpetrated on us every time we hear or read some pundit quoting the 10,000 hour rule as a requirement for success. Truth be known, you don’t need to be an expert to do something well. You don’t even need good fundamentals nor do you need to understand the why or how of what you are doing. Our game is fairly simple: see the target, shoot the target. You don’t need to understand everything to shoot better. It helps, but it isn’t a requirement. How do I know? I see it every time I go to a club. Some people are born with a natural ability to shoot targets and never need to progress beyond that. There are those though, the ones who lack this innate ability, that would improve greatly by following the pundits’ advice. This is why we read their articles. Michael J. Keyes, M.D. always espouses the steps needed along the journey to the land of the expert. On this journey hard work needs to be “directed and focused” and practice needs to be “goal-oriented and wellplanned”. Michael has no good suggestions or practical advice on what or how we should practice, just that it be directed, focused, goal-oriented, and well planned. He does suggest we always put time in on our fundamentals just like you would in any sport. I agree.
I define practice as working on areas where improvement is needed or on targets we don’t know how to break perfectly. Perfectly means we know how to crush the target not just break it. Every trap and skeet shot can be broken perfectly. There is some question as to the distance shots in sporting but being able to repeat a distance shot time after time qualifies in this regard. If you don’t know how to break each target presentation perfectly, how can you expect to deal with what the weather does to a target? Learning how to break each target perfectly teaches you the how and why of the game otherwise you are just reacting rather than shooting on purpose. Somewhere he gets the idea practice shouldn’t be fun. I like shooting whether it’s practice, competition, or an afternoon of shooting with friends. When I practice I have fun, knowing every shot gets me closer to being a better shooter. How isn’t that fun?
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trol skills, scoring skills, and peak performance skills. Gun Control has to do with swing fundamentals, presentation setup skills, and knowledge in the use of different swing methods. Scoring skills are strategy skills: which target to shoot first, best break points, and best shooting methods to use. Peak performance skills are the mental issues of shooting from tournament pressure, dealing with distraction, trusting your swing and skills set, etc.
Bill McGuire 2015 World English SPORTING CLAYS – February 2016 This is the last issue of this magazine. It will be rolled into CLAY TARGET NATION. Focus is the topic for Gil and Vicki Ash this month. Mainly they want you to increase your focus on the target and one way of doing that is to eliminate the distractions of a less than perfect mount and pre-shot routine present. Refine your mount to the point where it is automatic. You don’t want to be conscious of it. Being conscious of it lessens the amount of focus you can give to the target. Same with the rest of your setup. For the elite shooter the mount and pre-shot routine are automatic leaving more of their conscious available to focus on the target.
Trusting your swing is the real theme of the article. Let go and swing is Daniel’s advice. Ignore the pressure of competition, peer pressure, of expectation, just shoot. Enjoy the moment and shoot the target. Thinking of the consequences of a miss paralyzes our swing. Tense muscles cause less than efficient movement to the target. Let go and shoot. Learn to accept the distractions and move on. Let go and shoot.
Daniel L. Schindler believes there are three basic shotgunning skill sets: gun con7
Magazine Review CLAY TARGET NATION – January 2016 Wow! Really love the new format. The only thing missing are the scores from the various shoots that were previously posted in the back of the magazine. These can now be accessed online. Why do we lift our head off of the gun? Don Currie, Head Instructor for the NSCA provides three basic reasons why we do it. Most common is the fear and or anticipation of the recoil. If you do receive recoil to the face it typically is a problem with the pitch on your stock. Pitch is the angle of your stock and pad as it hits your shoulder. It is amazing how you can make recoil to the face disappear by changing this angle. The second reason has to do with drop at comb. Don suggests if the comb is too low you may raise your head to look over the receiver. Yes, this is true however the problem is not the height of the comb but a lack of fundamentals causing the head-lifting. You press the gun against your face laterally to keep it in place. This means pushing the gun against your face using your trigger arm and shoulder and your face to push against the stock. This is what keeps it in place, not your cheek pressing down on the stock. An accomplished shooter can shoot a stock with too much drop at comb by doing this. I would say Don’s explanation doesn’t fix the problem. Teaching the shooter to press the gun correctly to his face would fix the problem permanently. His solution is a band aid for a severed artery. Fix the fundamental! He goes on to complete the basic causes by stating your lenses could cause you to lift your head. This stems from a root cause where you don’t see the target so you lift your head. This I agree with. Another shooter asks Don why he pulls the trigger too early, invariably shooting behind the target. Trivial causes included a trigger pull that is too light, less than 3 pounds, or over-gripping the gun. Not sure about the second one. The good explanation is lack of visual lock on the target. If a shooter doesn’t have true visual lock they will pull the trigger as soon as the gun gets close to the target. How do you fix this? I would have them shoot some wobble trap. This fixes the first problem and the sec-
ond one simultaneously. In wobble we put two shells in the gun. The second shell is used to shoot the target again if the first shot misses but the fun part is using the second shell to shoot visible pieces left over after hitting the target on the first shot. Shooting those pieces in wobble trains you to keep your head on the gun and trains you to look and lock onto the pieces visually. I suspect the early trigger pull is also accompanied by a lack of follow-thru with your shot. I would design some dry-firing to get the shooter to exaggerate the followthru on his shots. Lack of follow-thru indicates the shot is considered complete by the shooter at the moment of the trigger pull. This obviously leaves the shot behind the target on a fairly consistent basis. Continuing with the follow-thru would fix the early trigger pull problem. Again, this is a fundamental issue more than anything else. Skeet has similarities to trap is that outgoing shots are taken in less than one second. The big difference is the fact you have to move with the target instead of to it as soon as it comes out of the house. The transition from blur to resolved target comes as the gun is moving with the target. This shouldn’t happen in trap. In trap the target should pass the barrels before you move the gun or the target should be locked in visually before the initial move is made. It took me some time before I felt comfortable with this move in skeet. I had no problem with the low house on station 5 and 6 but was less comfortable doing it on 2 and 3. Paul Giambrone III reminds us this month to mount our gun then shift only our eyes back to our focal point before we call for the target. Don’t shift your head to the focal point, just shift your eyes! Shifting your head makes the shot much more complicated and less consistently reproducible. Paul also mentions shifting from soft to hard focus. He is quite exceptional in his ability to consciously shift from soft to hard focus. For me it’s just a natural progression. I am unaware of any conscious shift, it just happens. Anyway, he shifts to the front of the target and even looks for the point where the orange transitions to the black rim. What does he do on all orange targets? I agree with him, you should look for the front edge of the target. Don’t worry about the orange and black transition line. 8
Gil and Vicki Ash spread some good advice this month on first station jitters. You are anxious because you want to control the situation, preventing embarrassing misses, all in an attempt to protect your fragile ego. What will others think if I turn in a bad score? Believe me they have their own problems and in sporting clays you never know when you will turn in a score ten targets under your norm. Shooting targets is fun! You do it because it’s fun. Quit worrying about score, about punches, and what others will think. Leave it all behind you because this is what you like doing. If you win, great. If you don’t, caulk it up to experience and vow to do better next time. Any other attitude will just suck you down. As a spokesman for Lanny Bassham’s Mental Management system and a Hall of Fame skeet shooter Todd Bender always gives good advice on the mental game. Bassham’s system advises practicing your mental game even when you are not shooting and Todd suggests the same. He hits four key points in your mental game starting with staying positive. You can only consciously think of one thing at a time so keep the message positive. If you only think positive thoughts negative ones can’t sneak in. The “Quiet Eye” is a visual routine used as part of the pre-shot routine where you go into soft focus at your focal point. As part of the routine you need to be settled in your stance and have the gun mounted and motionless before you call. The “Quiet Eye” stall before the call should last up to two seconds, some need less time, it is up to the individual to find the optimum stall time.
Create a consistent, reproducible pre-shot routine and stick with it. It should have a starting point from which you call the target in a set rhythm. Settle into your stance, find your break point, hold point, focal point, visualize the shot, regulate your breathing, say your key word to yourself then, call for the target. Pick a time after settling into your stance where everything hits a set rhythm before you call. If you find yourself rushing between pairs you need to reestablish your rhythm. Some shooters tend to rush the last pairs on a station, abandoning the rhythm that got them there. Lastly Todd gives great advice on aborting your set-up. If something doesn’t feel right, if your rhythm is off on your pre-shot routine, start over and reset. Go back to a specify point in your pre -shot routine and start over. Don’t let distractions take over your pre-shot routine. Stop where you are and reset. It will save you targets in the long run. Phil Bourjaily who usually writes for Ducks Unlimited and Outdoor Life magazines steps up and has some suggestions on how to practice at home. The Flashlight Drill is a good one for working on your mount. Gil Ash has a video out there on YouTube that is exceptional. I don’t like simulators but he seems to like them. According to Phil, Kim Rhode doesn’t endorse them. Finally, he proposes using visualization as a tool to improve your shooting. Visualize shooting targets not standing on the podium, you’ll get more out of it.
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“Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it.” — Stan Smith 10
Calender of events: Gun Shows: Feb. 13-14th South Florida Fairgrounds WPB.
. Dick’s: Seems their weekly specials are on hiatus.
Skeet this month: Markham
Feb. 6th
Trail Glades
Feb. 12-14th
Trap this month: Indian River
Feb. 7th
South Florida Feb. 13th Markham
Feb. 28th
Sporting This month: South Florida Feb. 4-7th Markham
Feb. 7th
Indian River
Feb. 10-16th
OK Corral
Feb. 16th
Quail Creek
Feb. 17th-21st
Current shell specials: Walmart: Currently selling Winchester Universal and Federal 4 packs at $21.74 (12 & 20 ga.). Cabela’s has Herter’s shells on sale for $599.95 for 10 flats. This includes shipping. These are 1 oz., 7 1/2’s & 8’s, 1250 fps, 12 gauge.
“When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.” — Joe Namath 11
FEBUARY 2015 Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
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Youth Program
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Sporting Tourney
Youth Program
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15 Youth Program
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22 Youth Program
28 Trap Tourney
Skeet Night
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Trap Night
10 Skeet Night
16 Skeet Night
23 Skeet Night
Trap Night
17 Trap Night
24 Trap Night
Skeet Tourney
Sporting Clays
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Sporting Clays
18 Sporting Clays
25 Sporting Clays
29 Youth Program
Happy Valentine’s Day 12
MARCH 2016 Sun
Mon
Tue
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Sat
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Skeet Night
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7 Youth Program
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14 Youth Program
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Sporting Tourney
Youth Program
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Trap Tourney
Youth Program
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Trap Night
9 Skeet Night
15 Skeet Night
22 Skeet Night
29 Skeet Night
10 Trap Night
16 Trap Night
23 Trap Night
30 Trap Night
Skeet Tourney
Sporting Clays
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Sporting Clays
178 Sporting Clays
24 Sporting Clays
31 Sporting Clays
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PALM BEACH TRAP/SKEET PRO SHOP FIREARMS ALL NEW FIREARMS WHOLESALE PLUS
10% TRADES INS ACCEPTED AMMUNITION AMMUNITION WHOLESALE COST PLUS $2.00 PER CASE WITH 10 CASE ORDER $4.00 LESS THAN 10 DELIVERIES TO Ft Lauderdale/Miami CONFIRMED WITH ORDERS
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561-793-8787 14
2015-2016 Schedule of NSCA Sporting Clay Tournaments
Date
Tournament
Saturday - Jan 16, 2016
Snow Bird Open
Sunday - Feb 7, 2016
Honest Abe's Birthday Bash
Sunday - Mar 20, 2016
St. Patrick's Day Open
Saturday - Apr 17, 2016
Spring Blast
Sunday - May 15, 2016
Memorial Day Open
Saturday - Jun 25, 2016
15th Annual Sunshine State Classic
Saturday - Jul 16, 2016
Super Sizzle Open
Saturday - Aug 13, 2016
Summers End Open
Sunday - Oct. 9, 2015
Pumpkin Blast
Sunday—Nov. 6, 2016
Richard Merritt Memorial
Saturday—Dec 31, 2016
Bud Wolfe Classic
“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure…than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” — Theodore Roosevelt
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SPORTING CLAYS PROGRAM Markham Skeet, Trap & Sporting Clays Club
BIRTHDAY HONEST ABE’S BIRTHDA Y BASH 100 Targets Shot over 14 Stations
CANCELLED Registration: Opens 8:30 a.m. and will close at 10:00 a.m. All scorecards must be turned in by 1:00 p.m. in order to be posted.
Entry Fee: $50 N.S.C.A., $50 Hunter, $35.00 Sub-Junior, Junior No Scorers or Trappers will be provided. Shooters will be asked to squad themselves into groups of at least 4 and designate a field judge to verify scores for the squad.
This is a Targets Only format with No Lunch served. COURSE RULES: All shooters and spectators are required to wear ear and eye protection on the course. MAXIMUM LOADS PERMITTED: 12GA, 3 DR EQ, 1 1/8 oz. Shot 7 1/2.
For additional information contact: Steve Haynie (954) 980-4240 email: sdhaynie@comcast.net For Tournament Schedules and Shoot Results Please Visit Our Website: www.markhamsportingclays.org
Markham Park , 16001 W. State Road 84, Sunrise , FL 33326 (954) 357-5143
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SPORTING CLAYS RESULTS 2016 Snow Bird Open
Name
CONCURRENTS LADY
CHARLIE DE ANGELIS
66
JR
MICHAEL PILCH
62
VET
W. DALE MELTON
93
R-UP
DANIEL ADUM
87
SUPER VET
ROCKY LONG
85
R-UP
W.T. MUIR
79
HUNTER
RICK LOVELACE
88
R-UP
JUAN SAAB
87
THIRD
JAMES GRAY
75
CH W DALE MELTON RU JOSE E LIBOS M1 CHARLES ALVAREZ M2 ROLLINS BROWN M3 DAVID STEWART AA1 LUIS HERRERA AA2 DANIEL ADUM AA3 GERRY STUMM A1 GARY F GRAY A2 JULIO MARTINEZ A3 JOE L FORDHAM B1 JIM HARRISON B2 CHARLES F LOWELL B3 CARY KESHEN C1 MAX REPIK C2 WESLEY B PARADISE C3 DONOVAN H AMRITT D1 NEIL S WOOLFOLK D2 STEVEN D HAYNIE D3 CALVERT CULLEN E1 NAJEEB HABER E2 SILVIO L PLANT E3 KYLE RICE
Score 93 92 90 89 88 89 87 87 89 87 84 86 81 80 82 81 80 85 83 76 88 76 73
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MONTHLY SKEET PROGRAM Daily Fees .410 gauge 28 gauge 20 gauge 12 gauge Doubles
$5/100 Targets
50 Targets 50 Targets 50 Targets 50 Targets 50 Targets
$19.50 $19.50 $19.50 $19.50 $19.50
Shoots usually held the first Saturday of every month. Gauges may be shot out of sequence with the permission of management. More than one 50 target program may be shot in the same gauge as a preliminary event. AWARDS Break a 50, 75, or 100 Straight and get one of these guaranteed awards! 50 Straight Kennedy Half Dollar 75 Straight Eisenhower Dollar 100 Straight Morgan Silver Dollar 50 Straight Doubles Liberty Silver Half 18
Skeet Shoot Results
“Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.” – Cicero
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Trap Program ATA SHOOT SCHEDULE 2015 –2016
January 24th February 28th March 27th April 24th May 22nd June 26th July 24th August 28th “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” —
The current program is 100 singles, 100 handicap, and 100 doubles on the fourth Sunday of the month. We are always in need of pullers for these shoots. If you are interested in helping let us know. Program Starts promptly at 9:00.
Anaïs Nin
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Victoria Argenti at Silver Dollar
The Southern Grand will be held: March 8th—March 13th. The 100th Florida State Shoot will be held: March 15—March 21st. 23
Trapshooting Results “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” — William Shakespeare
CUSTOM EAR PLUGS Advanced Quality Hearing Sample Rd. & FL. Turnpike @ Festival Flea Market Mall By appointment only
Coupon $10. Off In-office only Cash and carry
954-975-5756 24
Handicap
Doubles
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Youth Program
We are getting busy again. Seems we have four new kids coming to the program for the first time almost every Monday. One night we had eight teenage girls from a club try out the program for a evening. They seemed to have a great time. We are not sure about President’s day yet. Call Steve or Joe to check on whether the club is open on the 15th. 26
ADVERTISERS Professional and Industry Vendors
We are going to update this section of the newsletter on a continuing basis as requests come in. If you would like to advertise your business in this section of the newsletter contact me at: jloit@bellsouth.net Joe Loitz at 954-857-5278 Business Cards - $50 for one year Full Page ads - $200 for one year
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