Friday, August 12, 2005
Road trip
Sometimes I think I take this coaching thing too far. This weekend the kids and I are going to Prescott for a weekend trapshoot. We're being accompanied by my assistant coach Greg and his daughter Megan. Today while I was waiting for a query to run at work I started thinking about how the 5 of us should be arranged on our squad.
Greg is an experienced sporting clays shooter but he's never shot registered trap before. Megan is at about the same level of experience as my kids.....lots of practice, but minimal competition experience. That leaves me as the logical choice for squad leader on post 1. All of the kids need to learn the squad leader routine, but not quite yet. I think they need to be comfortable with what they are doing before they start having to keep track of what other people are doing.
Nathan can't shoot next to me because I screw up his timing. I shoot very quickly, and if he is following me on a squad he tends to speed up and try to shoot the way I do. He'll eventually be able to do it, but right now he just doesn't have the experience. Speed comes with practice and cannot be forced. That means that Nathan needs to be on post 3, 4, or 5.
Megan shoots left handed, so posts 4 and 5 are easier for her than for a right handed shooter. She also needs the most help in boosting her scores and her confidence level. Starting her off on the easy angles (for her) and letting her finish up with the 'feel good' straightaway targets on station 3 would probably help with her confidence level. That fills post 4, leaving 2,3, and 5 open.
Greg is Megan's dad and also a coach. As a result, it's going to be hard for him to shoot with her and be able to resist the temptation to analyze her shooting and coach her on the line.....a big no-no in competition. If Greg shoots immediately after Megan, he may be able to keep track of how she is doing but he won't have time to do anything about it. He's also an experienced shooter and won't be thrown off by starting with hard right angles. Station 5 for Greg.
Kathy has a tendency to look at me after she misses a target to get feedback on what she did incorrectly. We've been working on breaking that habit but she still needs some help. Putting her to my immediate right will have her standing with her back to me and make it both more difficult and more easily noticed if she breaks her concentration to do a "Dad check" after shooting. Station 2 for Kathy.
That leaves station 3 for Nathan, which fits well with his need to not shoot immediately after I do.
The OCD approach to shooting. Of course this will all go to hell during the handicap events because I can't shoot with the rest of the group, but we'll burn that bridge when we come to it.
Have a good weekend everybody. I'll be back Monday.
_
Greg is an experienced sporting clays shooter but he's never shot registered trap before. Megan is at about the same level of experience as my kids.....lots of practice, but minimal competition experience. That leaves me as the logical choice for squad leader on post 1. All of the kids need to learn the squad leader routine, but not quite yet. I think they need to be comfortable with what they are doing before they start having to keep track of what other people are doing.
Nathan can't shoot next to me because I screw up his timing. I shoot very quickly, and if he is following me on a squad he tends to speed up and try to shoot the way I do. He'll eventually be able to do it, but right now he just doesn't have the experience. Speed comes with practice and cannot be forced. That means that Nathan needs to be on post 3, 4, or 5.
Megan shoots left handed, so posts 4 and 5 are easier for her than for a right handed shooter. She also needs the most help in boosting her scores and her confidence level. Starting her off on the easy angles (for her) and letting her finish up with the 'feel good' straightaway targets on station 3 would probably help with her confidence level. That fills post 4, leaving 2,3, and 5 open.
Greg is Megan's dad and also a coach. As a result, it's going to be hard for him to shoot with her and be able to resist the temptation to analyze her shooting and coach her on the line.....a big no-no in competition. If Greg shoots immediately after Megan, he may be able to keep track of how she is doing but he won't have time to do anything about it. He's also an experienced shooter and won't be thrown off by starting with hard right angles. Station 5 for Greg.
Kathy has a tendency to look at me after she misses a target to get feedback on what she did incorrectly. We've been working on breaking that habit but she still needs some help. Putting her to my immediate right will have her standing with her back to me and make it both more difficult and more easily noticed if she breaks her concentration to do a "Dad check" after shooting. Station 2 for Kathy.
That leaves station 3 for Nathan, which fits well with his need to not shoot immediately after I do.
The OCD approach to shooting. Of course this will all go to hell during the handicap events because I can't shoot with the rest of the group, but we'll burn that bridge when we come to it.
Have a good weekend everybody. I'll be back Monday.
_
