TargetTalk

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Raymond,

You are very correct, this is very skill dependent. We use the Distinguished Expert program at our club. For beginners, I think of a good shot for them as anything that is above what they need to average for the level they are working on. So for bar 1, 40s in prone, they need to average 8s, so when they shoot a 9 or 10, I tell them to remember what that shot looked like and do it again, and say it with a big smile on your face.

Standing is the main position where people reject shots, unless you're me and it's kneeling. When kids are just starting on standing, I make them shoot 6s in prone on purpose so they can see how little black needs to be in the sights. Then I tell them to squeeze the trigger when they see that. This is about when I tell them the 8 second rule. This is the first way I have my kids reject shots.

Once their groups get to where their misses are just outside the bull, then I tell them to start paying attention to the difference between a shot on the bull, and a miss. When you see something that looks like a hit, squeeze the trigger, if you see something else, put it down. This method goes on up as 5s, 6s, 7s, etc become not so good shots. Still, when they shoot a 10, get a big smile on your face and say remember what that looked like and do it again, it's really effective in building their confidence and it's great reinforcement. In the lower intermediate level is where I have my kids rejecting the largest number of shots.

Once you get the kids up in the upper intermediate to advanced level, things get interesting. I have had a lot of success going back to training the kids to take the shot more often, with fewer rejections. This is more a mental thing. I want the kids to have every intention in the world of taking a good shot when they pick up the rifle, not letting the idea that the shot may be rejected slip in their head until they see something in their hold that they don't like. At this level, it's easy to get stuck on one shot, take a dozen hold, get flustered and suffer because of it. The kids will build their own shooting rhythm and methods for rejecting shots, and it will work for 95% of them. I just push them in practice to actually reject fewer shots at this stage. The other 5% just need you to help them with their shot plan and talk with them about what they see and what happens on the not so good shots to help them figure out when to put the gun down.