#skeetshooting #trap #clayshooting # shootingrange
As most of you, we indulge our passion at our usual shooting range. After all, it’s nearby, convenient and we get to meet and spend an agreeable moment with fellow shooters and friends.
Habits, routines are essential in life and beneficial for they bring structure and balance. They are also important in our sport. Don’t we practically all adopt rituals as we reach a shooting station? There are those who ensure they stand the right way, position their feet optimally. There are those who load their shotgun and tweak the ammunition in a particular way. There are also those who adjust their hats, those who repeat a motivational speech in their heads, those who seek to make the vacuum … in brief, as many rituals as there are shooters.
Routine is necessary for efficiency; breaking routine is necessary for adaptation
– B. N. Steenbarger
Sure, routines are a great way to gain structure and improve performance by repetition. However, not all habits are good in our sport. Indeed, those of us who take part to competitions or get to shoot in different environments quickly realise the need for a change in the scenery if they wish to shoot consistently at the same level no matter the site. But “why is that”, you may ask.
First and foremost, each shooting range is unique in terms of location, surrounding topography and adjacent areas. Shooting with a big green screen as a background isn’t the same as having a mountain, a forest, a hill, or a pond as a décor. Then, the way the sun shines on the facility can affect the visibility to the extent that difficulties can arise. A specific German range where I shoot TRAP comes to my mind as I write. There, there is a clay pigeon which ascends in such way that it quickly disappears at some point in a horizon formed by a lake and a forest. By the time it appears again, it is fast on its way down and too far away to shoot. [I can already hear some of you thinking “she should shoot faster then!” … I know, you are right, I am working on it!].
Sometimes, certain environments simply do not allow you enough contrast between the clay pigeon and them. Another example. Here in Austria, shooting during the winter, at a range covered in a blanket of snow is beautiful, almost magical. However, the way the snow dazzles can also come with its lot of difficulties. Thus, in a particular Tyrolean range where I occasionally shoot Trap, it is not rare to only see the clay pigeon short from it crashing onto the mountain or the fence, which both delimit the range: the contrast – or lack thereof - between the clay pigeon and the snow delays the detection of the trajectory.
“Old habits won’t bring new results”
What comes into play when adapting to a new shooting environment is neuroplasticity. Also known as brain plasticity, neuroplasticity is a term that refers to the brain's ability to change and adapt as a result of experience.
The more we get to experience new scenarios (i.e., background, trajectories, light, weather conditions, etc.), the more our brain allows us to learn new behaviours, new tasks. The reinforcement of these learnings is done through a repetition process (i.e., training). Hence, when something similar or alike happens, our chances to better react are higher.
Conclusion
“Sometimes, a break from your routine is the very thing you need”
Shooting at the same location is a risk to stop growing beyond the limit of the range one is used to. So, in order not to have that feeling that we “only shoot well in our club”, a good solution would be to change scenery. Personally, we occasionally enjoy a shooting weekend in a different region, sometimes in an altogether different country: it helps our growths, breaks the monotony, and spices up life.
What about you? Have you had the chance to shoot in different ranges? How do you perform? Are you challenged?
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