Getting Comfortable with Being Far Out in Front of the Target

Do you remember the first time you broke a target that was really out of your comfort zone? “Oh, I was a school bus in front,” some people say.

You might have to be the school bus in front at first so your brain can get out there and put the gun far enough out in front.

The first time I broke a tower shot at the 74 Ranch, I thought I was a mile and a half in front of the bird, which I had to be to hit it. But once you do it a thousand times, it all starts to look normal.

When I was working with a student recently, I had to get him to shoot behind the bird to hit it on the across the barrel, and he shot behind it. He finally hit it, and he broke it 10 times in a row.

I said, “Now, is the bird past the barrel? Is it on the left side of the gun?”

“No, it's still on the right side of the gun.”

“Exactly.”

So, in order for you to hit the bird, to make the connection, I have to get you to do something. You might look at me like I was crazy. But once the bird finally got close to the gun and you broke it, your brain made sense of it.

“Wow,” he said, “that really just happened.”

It’s like brushing your teeth or walking upstairs. Do you remember when you were learning how to drive? You were aware of so many things on the dashboard, but after you drove for a month, you were less aware of a lot of things. Now, nobody looks at their dashboard, right? Because you know how fast you're going. It allows you to focus more what's going on downrange.

At first, when you break that 50-yard bird, you say, “Oh, man, I was way the hell out in front.” But now, since you've done it a thousand times, everything starts to be just normal.

In order for that to happen, you’ve got to get out there and shoot a lot. You have to miss, and you have to learn from the misses. And you have to take time to enjoy the shot.

This is an adapted excerpt from the April 2025 Coaching Hour podcast. You can hear it in full - along with more than 20 years of archives in audio and written form - with your Knowledge Vault membership.