During one of my lessons last week, my student answered my question in a very good way. I thought I would share his answer with you.
I prefer not to reach for my gun during a lesson unless I believe something of real value will come out of the shooting demonstration. And, I’ve learned that almost all of the time, my student actually will pick up on what I am trying to demonstrate and carry those images into the box as he or she resumes the shooting. Set up and executed properly at the right time, a good demonstration can be of real value in a lesson. This was one of those times.
As is so often the case, my student had a lot of excessive gun speed. After a considerable bit of work on this by both of us, he was still struggling to slow down. So I respectfully reached for my gun to demonstrate a smooth and very deliberate swing with a lot of precision in it. I asked that he watch me, not the bird and shot 6 singles. I then asked him what he saw.
He said,........"Just enough." I knew what he meant and complimented him on his answer. What he said was my swing "pace" was just right for "that" target, not too fast, not too slow, but just right. Just enough.
For my students who feel pressure building in the shooting box, I sometimes suggest they remember this phrase as they are about to close the gun: "Nothing special, nothing extra." Another way of saying just enough.
My student came back into the box and the first shot was pretty to watch. Just enough. X. And then XXXXXXXX. Watch very carefully and each target will tell you how much is just enough.
Be safe everyone.
