Reflections and Resolutions

Our airgun student considers his year and decides where the next one will be going.

I was thinking about everything I’ve learned during the past year or so since I began this ‘Airgun Student’ series, and specifically what the greatest single lesson has been. At first I thought about the individual skills I’ve worked on month by month, but I soon realised that there’s no real point in singling out any of those because efficient shooting relies on a chain of techniques working together. Messing up on any of the core skills breaks the chain and there goes any chance of consistent success.

Then I really began to think about things and the answer became obvious, at least within my personal experience so far. For me, the most important thing I’ve learned is that the lessons go on forever.

TURNING POINT

This fact was a genuine turning point for me, because previously I’d been under the assumption that, once I’d learned, say, trigger technique, a particular stance, or how to read the wind better, that was it as far as learning goes. A bit of training now and again, plus plenty of time on the range, and everything I’d learned would be locked in, nailed down, and with me forever … or so I thought. I really couldn’t have been further from the truth.

WORLD CHAMP WISDOM

Finding out just how far away I was from the real world of truly learning the skills I need, came not on the shooting range but in the gym, when I was training alongside a world champion. We’d sparred a few rounds and his technique was incredible, yet he continually asked his trainer to check that he was doing the basics right. When we finished, I asked him why he was so worried about techniques he’d learned years ago and he said, ‘I learned ABOUT them years ago, but I’m still learning more about them every day, and now I know enough to know that I’ll never stop learning.’