What Our Experience Has Taught Us

In our travels shooting, coaching, and speaking about our passion, we’re still amazed at the perceptions that each shooter brings to what they do when they shoot a shotgun.

We’ve spent most of the last few decades confused, constantly searching for a deeper understanding of how talent and skill is really developed, and that definition has changed several times in our lives so far. No doubt it will change again a few more times. But it’s not what you know that makes you better; it’s what you’re willing to learn.

We’ve learned that always playing at the edges of your ability, being willing to fail and learning from it, and moving on is a lesson in skill development. We have been writing about it for a long time, and science has now proven once again what we have observed in our research. Keeping up with the science and skill development in the most recent developments in brain-based research has kept us on our toes and has really influenced the way we teach and coach. The shotgun, as well as basketball, golf clubs, fishing rods, and in the business field. It’s the same process, just a different tool.

All skill is stored in the subconscious brain, and we live 90 percent of our lives in our habits. Developing a habit is about three things: Cue, response, reward. Building skill is about creating habits, and a habit is a neurological programmed response.

As experienced coaches, when we began to watch shooters, we would instantly pick up on certain things that they were doing, and we can tell you for sure that when we began coaching, those things were not seen as obvious as they are now. They were hidden behind the clutter due to our inexperience. As we became more experienced, our brains began to suspend from our consciousness things that were not essential to the task at hand or were confusing to the task.

They were still there; but due to our experience level and skill development, we began to see past the clutter, and things that once were confusing with many moving parts became simple and more obvious to us. This is what thousands of hours of coaching have done for us and, as a result, we can get to the heart of the real problem. That also encourages you to look for a shooting coach like us with experienced teaching – not necessarily a great shot or a world champion.

This is an excerpt from the January 2014 Coaching Hour podcast. You can listen to it and read a written transcript, along with over 20 years of archived episodes with your Knowledge Vault membership.