As Rick Smith says, "It tastes bad but it's good for you”
Because I see this counterproductive habit everywhere, I feel it deserves our attention. How many times have you seen a shooter get upset over a miss? There are two reasons for getting upset, one valid, one not. Let's first talk about the one that's valid.
Our shooter has practiced this difficult shot many, many times. Diligently. Through a long series of misses over an extended period of time, this shot has been practiced and worked out to a high degree of confidence. A confidence, and skill, that has been earned the hard way. It's fair to say this person can now break this target presentation 90% of the time or better—consistently. Here, getting upset over the miss (very briefly), is justified.
Contrast this to the shooter who can not break this same presentation more than 3 or 4 times out of 10. Sometimes less. Here, the frustration, or anger over a miss is not justified. It is idealistic to assume that every target will break because we expect it to. A target doesn't, and won't break, simply because we will it to, or because we are determined to break it. The laws of physics do apply, so anything less than precise gun movement usually results in a lost bird—clay or feather. Skill development does have a learning curve and there's no going around it.
If you can put your expectations aside—as you should—and give yourself a little room to grow by forgiving your natural mistakes and blunders, you will progress faster and enjoy the shooting experience so much more.
