Move and Mount in Sporting Clays

Just how important is the move and mount in sporting clays? Well, in the beginning, it is everything. But unfortunately, that’s where many shooters get stuck in a rut and never get out.

They are so hung up on lead and swing technique and what the end of the muzzle is doing that they end up looking at the muzzles 80 to 90 percent of the time in the shooting stand when they are getting ready to shoot. Is it any wonder that they look at it in the shot?

Just read some of the tribal knowledge out there in the forums, and you will be amazed at how stupid some of the comments are. And yet they’re made by very educated people about something which their comments prove they know very little factual knowledge about.

Back to the original question. The move and mount is important, but if you really want to compete at a high level, the mechanics of the shot must take second place to the power of the mind and how to tap into the right brain on demand. When you reach a certain level, changing your mind allows for those super performances where everything is easy, bigger, and slower than life and just flows along.

I said this earlier in my career as a professional coach:

Learning to shoot is about learning how to move and mount the gun in front of the targets; learning how to perform is about learning how to think. Shooters who for whatever reason refuse to make this change and to let go of conscious control put themselves at a distinct disadvantage to those who embrace the power of the mind.

They eventually become like the old man who loses his keys in a dimly lit area of the parking lot and searches only in the area where the light is good. When asked why he only searches in the areas where the light is good when he obviously lost his keys in another place, he answers “Because the light is better!”

Similarly, shooters are constantly searching for things where the light is better but that is not necessarily where the solutions lie that will make their games better.

They always search in the physical area which is where they want it to be because they are comfortable there. They neglect to search their attitudes and mindsets, which is where their solutions reside. The subjective speeding up of time keeps shooters from consistently executing shots that they can clearly execute. Therefore, shooting is not necessarily about lead and swing mechanics but is truly a mental game…

Speeding up actions or thoughts takes you out of the flow state. And being in this flow state is controlled by keeping your physical state and your mental state in sync. The way you control it is by slowing down everything you do so that your thoughts and actions are products of each other. This slowing down of time allows for things to really pass quickly and so you are moving fast and slow at the same time. What a paradox.

When we are totally involved with something, time slips by so fast and at the same time, when we are bored, time drags by so slowly. What we experience in time is relative. The mental slowing down of the action allows great shots to detect even the smallest amount of a miscue in their movements and often allows for them to correct it mid-shot. And when deep into the zone, the subconscious does the correction and they are aware that something happened but it doesn’t bother them. It just is.

Shooters in flow are quick, but they are in no way rushed. The plans are clear and decisiveness comes easily. There is no middle ground. You’re either in flow or not.

Although time moves slowly when in flow, it moves fast at the same time….