Lessons from 2021 Nationals

We had a great time at the NSCA Nationals. It’s always fun to see everyone and remember why we love this game so much. Every year we rent an RV and stay on the grounds. And this year we even rented a clays cart to avoid having to tow it there. Being at the grounds makes the 8 AM rotation a lot easier. We don’t have to rush or try to avoid the San Antonio traffic.

We got home from Montana on Saturday evening, got up not too early and drove the three-hour trip to San Antonio, and moved in for the week. Brian was already there so he helped us move in.

As usual, the targets were really fun and interesting. I had asked Brian how the targets were, and he said there were no “gimme” ones and as we found out the next day, he was so correct.

Having not shot a tournament since last year, and only practicing three days, I was not expecting much. There’s still a problem with the macular hole that is not completely healed. And a lot of the time when I mounted the gun, all I saw was the gun because the left eye was blind in the middle. Not exactly the sight picture I wanted to see, but for now, that’s what I have to work with.

The targets weren’t hard, but they were very technical. Even though I didn’t score well, I remembered why we have been doing this game for 40 years – because it’s just plain fun!

The other thing I found so interesting was how people react to a miss and how they take themselves out of the game by throwing shells and getting upset. The target is lost — move on and correct the miss. Learn from it! If you’re not learning, your failures are useless.

I certainly learned a lot about what I need to do to be a better shooter. I’m going to try to shoot a tournament sometime next year just to get my rhythm back to shooting pairs.

Make the plan then execute the plan!