Staying fresh in the offseason

Staying sharp in the offseason isn’t just about forcing yourself to go shoot in inclement conditions. It’s about keeping your focus on your goals or setting new one for the upcoming shooting season. Starting with the end in mind is a great way to realize your goals. Many of the major NSCA tournaments are open for registration and filling up quickly. Planning your 2024 shooting season months in advance will keep you motivated to practice when you would rather not. Booking a lesson once a month will help motivate you to continue to practice. Another great way to keep your gun mount sharp is purchase a laser bore slighter that matches your gauge gun and practice mounting the gun in your home. You can face the corner of the room pointing the laser where the wall meets the ceiling. Mount the gun and practice keeping the laser shinning into the corner. This is a good way to expose a sloppy mount. Practice mounting the gun slowly and speed up when you feel like your control is on track. You can also practice tracing the ceiling lines from side to side and wall lines up and down. Mounting the gun is a good way to retain your upper body strength as well. Fitness is rarely address in the shooting world however the offseason is the perfect time to hit the gym. Most shotgun weigh in the neighborhood of 8-9lbs. Lifting that gun over 100 times a round requires some serious upper body strength. Most rounds of sporting clays aren’t won in the first few stations they are won on the last 2-3. Fatigue is a real contributing factor is missing targets. Use the offseason to get your conditioning on track so you can outlast your competition! Make it a point to shoot as often as possible so you timing does slip. When shooters say, “I need to shake the rust off” what they are referring to is getting their timing back. The first thing to go when we haven’t shot in a while is your ability to pull the trigger the moment you see the targets most clearly. I find that this hesitation can be avoided by shooting at least a flat or two a month just to stay sharp. Enjoy the off season but don’t let your hard work of the previous season go to waist!