Bradford, PA

If you've never been to Bradford you've been missing a wonderful little shooting place. One of those clubs hidden in a forest - you could pass it by if you don't pay attention to the road - Bradford is the host of many weekend shoots: all filled with friendly people, great food, and interesting targets. The campsite is visited by bears every evening (we had the pleasure to meet a couple last time we visited) and in the fall the forest is full of delicious blackberries (one should wake up early in the morning if one wants to find any left; the ladies in the campsite make wonderful blackberry pies!) and I always become nostalgic while picking berries with William: I remember the hills and forests of my childhood, picking berries of all sorts with my Mom.

Besides trapshooting, Bradford is home to 2 American icons: the Zippo Company and the Case & Sons Cutlery Company (not counting the petrol refinery ). This Labour weekend we decided to visit Bradford again, for the fall shoot (Case Cutlery) - and on Sunday, being a short day (only 200 Singles), we had enough time to visit the Zippo / Case museum - I never realized what an infinite number of different Zippo cases they created... I was almost sorry we don't smoke! If you ever stop in Bradford make sure you pay a visit to the museum - it is rich in history and it is a pure joy.

I have a deep respect for the people that can shoot decent scores in Bradford - when you visit it, you'll understand why The background is wonderful if you are an artist - the combination of colour (especially now, when fall is coming) and texture is miraculous... but when you try to follow a target flying 'on that canvas'... well, that's another story. Add the rainy drizzle we got the whole weekend and - the place is for the brave at heart. Luckily for me I passed (hopefully for good) the moment when scores matter - and in the continuous realization that what matters most are the people you meet Bradford is a wonderful lesson: home to some of the best PA people we've met; it is always a pleasure to be there, rain or shine. This year we have been the only Canadians there - hopefully next time we visit we can continue the special tradition from last time and have the fun Can-Am competition (won by the Canucks at the first edition!).

While score-wise I managed the dubious performance of breaking more targets in doubles than in singles (and no, I didn't shoot 99 in doubles either!), performance-wise I was happy. I can say for sure now that in choosing your attire you must make sure the clothing is as close to identical as possible; while the shoes matter as well (in stance), the clothing is imperious - it changes the mounting and with that it changes everything. Since my famous 'high-heel red shoes' (I sound like a Kelly Pickler song now) got wet and the weather did not permit me to shoot with my feet wet, I had to go to plan B, running shoes... the feeling was beyond strange, but I didn't get bothered too much... Shooting with my storm jackets - that bothered me a lot.

However, bothered or not - I worked on what I needed: being patient, being disciplined. I managed to do it every target? Of course not - but I was able to catch myself and start correcting, which is what you actually want: to be aware of what you're doing, to be able to correct. It is a great feeling and a crucial moment in your growing as an athlete. It comes with a feeling of calm and happiness - and everyone knows being calm on the line can only help you.

And so we left Bradford - in an explosion of colours and with the promise to see some of our hosts next week, in Elysburg, while hoping to see the rest of them in the summer of 2011. Like Harold said: God willing and the creek don't rise!

Westy Hogans - Elysburg, PA

I have decided to get to as many shoots as possible this year - I don't want to get penalized again at the PA State and shooting in the fall is the only way to manage 500 handicap targets before June. And while we could have traveled only 50 minutes to Toronto Int'l for Sunday, there is something in Elysburg that pulls us back every chance we get. We had people asking how come we've come so far to shoot only 400 targets and laughing we explained we didn't come for 400 targets, we came for the people. I said it before and I will say it again: you cannot find better and friendlier people than in Pennsylvania. The way they (all) 'adopted' us is making us missing them as soon as we leave the grounds. And this time was no exception - although a smaller shoot (weather kept many away, I am sure), we were met by smiles everywhere we turned. I was especially happy to find Steve F. well - I wish he'll be back in the summer all well and joyful as usual; he's a wonderful person and we share a special bond from couple of years ago

We arrived around 1 am - crossing the Appalachians is something I wish we could do during the day: I love mountains and I'd like to see them in daylight... Saturday was unusually warm and wonderfully sunny. But for some strange reason I could not, for the life in me, focus on the targets. I was thinking of so many other things - mainly being half-sad this is the last shoot of the year, we won't see our very good friends for a looong winter. In a strange way I enjoyed being there, without being able to move well to the targets. It might be that it was a long summer, with lots of targets in and I wasn't rested enough to focus on targets. It might be just one of those days, the funny thing is I didn't bother with scores and I laughed when people were sure I did fantastic because I was all smiles. How could I not be? If I have the chance, I will move there tomorrow - not anywhere in PA, in the hill country, close to Elysburg, the beautiful river and the wonderful mountains. Florin decided not to compete, instead he had fun helping - at the Westy Hogans, since school in PA has already started, they need all the help they can get for scoring and running the shoot. So he scored - and enjoyed himself very much. I do remember my squad being scored by some of our friends - and I do recall on one of the traps we all had perfect scores. Which proves something I knew: it is very important to be surrounded by positive thoughts & attitudes, it helps you focus and gather your inner forces.

For the evening - we found a little pub in one of the towns around and spent the whole time laughing, telling stories, and playing games - William had a blast playing darts, pool, and a hunting game with his 'older brother'  Why - I had a blast playing all 3 of them too! By now everybody knows I like to play almost every game ever invented

Sunday... at least I was consistent(ly bad) - if Saturday I would have had a chance to focus, on that particular Sunday nothing can make me think of the targets. Although nobody can make me not shoot either - we are in this game to enjoy it to the last drop, aren't we? What am I thinking of? I am watching the sun going around the mountains, glinting in the windows of the house on the opposite hill, dreaming of my hiking adventures from many years ago. I am watching the clouds dancing in the sky. I am looking at the people walking around. Hey, will you say, stop the nonsense - you are here to compete! yeah, and I am competing - while I am enjoying this last shoot of the year to the very last drop. There is a need to hug everyone and wish them well, there is a need to talk to everybody and there is the hope I will see them back in the summer. When it's September and you know you'll see most of them next June - trust me, targets come on a distant place.

I just came to the realization I live for 3 months a crazy life and I spend the next 9 wishing for those 3 months to come again! The summer season is like a baby - you prepare for 9 months for its arrival

On Sunday, after all shoot-offs were done we got together one more time at the nice restaurant in the valley - we parked our trailers / motor homes / trucks and spent a couple of hours in the company of good friends. Recalling the past, dreaming of the future, and enjoying the present. 

And that is how our summer journey comes to an end - it is now time to get back on the road, through the Appalachians (at night) and we arrive home around 3 am... at 8 I am supposed to be in the office, back at work!

Oh, dear... It has been almost 6 months since my last post - cannot believe how crazy everything went in the fall / winter.

I don't even know where to start - I will post different notes for the last Autumn outings (believe it or not, I had them since September... didn't manage to publish them since). Oh, well, no point in complaining.

One of the reasons I didn't post anything is that I haven't been on the range in a long time. Probably the Canadian winter is getting to me and I can't seem to manage even thinking to go outside. Florin had a busy autumn - lots of new athletes, all wanting to learn the beautiful sport of trapshooting.

Our Youth Team developed well - they are always happy to be on the range, listening to instructions and being amazed by the results.

A few weeks back they trained during a blizzard - and I mean real blizzard (I will post some pictures). Obviously they were nervous and wondering how would they be able to break any targets when they couldn't even see their own gun. And they all learned something - you don't need to see the gun. All you need is to mount it properly and see the target. The gun will do its job as any tool should - being commanded by the most powerful engine ever 'invented': our brain. They not only broke targets - they smoked each and every one! Why? Because the curtain of snow instead of being the big problem was the biggest help they could ever get - took of every distraction and made them really focus on one single activity: the breaking of the target. The snow helped them do the only thing they should - look (very hard) for the target. And you know - WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get): see the target, smoke the target. See the gun... well...

The very cold spell we've had (does it count as a 'spell' when it's going on for almost a month?!) took a toll on our beloved coach, though. It started with some sort of virus I got (not sure where from) and I managed to transform it in the worse sinusitis I ever had. Right when I was thinking 'hallelujah! I'm getting better' both Florin and William decided (like father, like son) - oh, mom is better, so she can take care of us now... and puff! Now we had one semi-sick mom with 2 very sick 'kids' on her hands. They are both recovering, but somehow it took both of them well over 2 weeks to get there. And of course, what does coach lose first? His voice... and how do you train people if you have no voice? Well - you don't :) I can't even count these weekends as 'free' or 'fun' - there is absolutely no fun having people around with high fever and all sorts of other hurts & pains. However, like I was saying before - no point in complaining.

My way of getting over all this crazy winter? I filled the house with flowers: hyacinths, tulips, daffodils, mums, and orchids - it's a see of pink and yellow and green.... and the perfume! oh, it reminds me of spring and makes me hope there will be some spring... sometimes... I wouldn't mind if it'd start tomorrow :)

And, of course, when you have these long days with no physical activities - what else do you do? Read, sure :)

So here I am with a quote I saw recently (something related to Zen):

“We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner of doing it.”
 

There you have it - stop thinking and start doing :) 

Send us a note on how your winter has been - we'd love to hear from our friends. Or, even better, come see us on the range or at the Toronto Outdoor Adventure Show, last weekend in February (I will come back with details about the show).

Until then - take care and stay healthy!

The summer is almost gone - can't believe it is almost September!

As time passes by, it's now a good time to reflect on the season and plan for the next one (which will start day after tomorrow!)

This year (a paradox) was the opposite of the last one: last year I had a feeling of un-fulfillment throughout the whole season, some strange unhappiness; and when I drew the line I discovered my scores improved greatly. But I still didn't feel 'right', something was missing... This year - I have been happy almost the whole year, even when I managed a low 80s in singles (!) in Pennsylvania... My scores are a bit lower than last year, but not a lot. And what, would you ask, are you so happy about? Because I feel good - my gun feels right (again), I know what I am doing even when I miss and I know I have changed a few strategies at the beginning of the year and I am happy to see they are working (slowly, but surely). I can now go on the line and feel good no matter what else happens (ok, ok... there are exceptions). I can wake up in the morning and smile and tell myself: 'I will be just fine today' - and then I will be fine

Like we all know by now trapshooting is a complex game: you need that perfect blend of technique, mind, and friendship. And I feel I found my perfect blend. Like William says: 'let's make a potion, mommy!' I wish it would be that simple - can you imagine being able to mix potions for trapshooting? I can see the ads: 'Hard right angles trouble you? The HRA potion will solve your issue in just one dose'... It amuses me greatly I can go on the line and imagine a good friend of mine shooting next to me - and then proceed to smoke targets the same way I do it when we shoot together. This is beyond my wildest dreams and I am in a state of pure happiness.

We've met a great deal of wonderful people this year - our circle of friends seems to become larger and larger. I've had the pleasure to meet Mr. Joe Woods - I've 'known' him from trapshooters.com (he always signs Joe Woods from Ontario) and I've been curious to meet him. I've had the great pleasure to shoot the last handicap event at Cardinal Classic on the same squad and that's how we met - he's a wonderful gentleman and I hope to see him around more; definitely a pleasure to shoot with.

This year I shot with wonderful people everywhere - mostly by chance. The funniest surprise of all was in Pennsylvania (I believe at the PA Grand) when I found myself squad lead on Stephanie Sandler's squad... in Doubles of all events! Now - everyone knows Steph and how wonderful she shoots doubles (all events, but I feel we can safely deem her Queen of Doubles, especially after this year - she's the first PA Lady to win the Doubles Championship) so here I am - leader on her squad (which I watched a lot over the past years)... I did my best - I learned in time that for a squad it's not the score that matters so I tried not to get too embarrassed by my misses - and had the pleasure to be asked what yardage I was on... they wanted to squad with me again! I need to work some on my handicap until I get to the poin where I can shoot with the 'back-fencers'

Our own provincials were a great shoot for most of the LTS Team - especially for the MacDonald family: they raked a good number of trophies and Chloe now is the first Lady to win the Handicap Championship. Congratulations to all three - and as this was their last shoot as part of LTS we would like to let them know it was a pleasure to have them as LTS athletes and we wish them well in the future.

Everyone else faired very well as well - the sub juniors performed beyond their belief: Matthew broke his first score over 90, Dal had amazing results, Graham overcame the emotions of the first day and improved his scores every day, and Henry enjoyed himself immensely in the Preliminaries. Like we mentioned before - the Khans were there every day, cheering faithfully and having huge grins on their faces. I had wonderful time watching all them + William immersed in some games... I am sorry I didn't have a camera in my hands to immortalize the moment. They looked so intense and focused - it always amazes me how we, adults, forget how simply it is to focus: just forget about everything around you!

[Note: When I am talking about scores – it is not the actual number that I'm referring to, but what it means for each person; it is mostly about your best performance: starting with the joy you feel while smoking targets, the friendships that are born on and behind the line, and ending with the score itself.]

And after Provincials and a wonderful vacation we stopped again in Ohio, for the Cardinal Classic. A competition that grows every year - this year they had around 180 squads in each championship event: can you imagine almost 1,300 shooters at a non-State shoot?! They had 1,600 trapshooters at the State Shoot this year... It is an amazing facility and Mr. Fishburn adds something new every day. I am looking forward to that Vendor building - they started the construction the day after the shoot ended...

This Cardinal Classic is now one of my best shoots ever - again, not necessarily in terms of scores (although it might have been my highest HOA ever on 1,000 targets) but in terms of personal accomplishments. I shot my best ever in singles - and I did so with the second 100 scoring better than first (something I have started to do just this year). I finally figured out my handicap technique - now I need to practice some more :) And in doubles - I started to get the new technique, which I've been working with since the beginning of the year. And if I wouldn't have fallen asleep on my gun that last handicap event... alas, at least I got a good laugh out of it

And here we are, close to the end of another season - and when I draw the line my greatest accomplishment this year were not with scores, but with people and for that I am grateful. Family and friends will always be my number one priority and if I can add the fun of breaking targets in the mix - we're back to William's potions - what should I ask for more?

To all our athletes - thank you for another great year. We hope you enjoyed this year at least as much as we did. To all our athletes' families - thank you for supporting your young or your spouses / siblings / parents etc.; without you they won't have as much fun as they did. To all our sponsors - thank you for all your support. As we try to grow the trapshooting community in Ontario we need all the help there is - and I don't mean financial help... a good word weighs more than gold and knowing we have your continuous support is honoring us. To all our supporters - thank you all: I might not know everybody that came this year to tell us to keep up the good work, but I thank you again from the bottom of my heart. Your nice words make us proud as they humble us at the same time. I cannot stress enough how important the community's support is for us - please continue to do so in the future. And to every trapshooter - shoot often and shoot well!

To a great new target year: See, Smooth, Smoke - ONE!

I work on my problems, and then I release them. Anything that bothers you is only a problem within. Only you can experience it, and only you can correct it. (Dr. Dyer)

Being just a few days before the 'Big One' (aka Ontario Provincial Championships) I decided I need to work on my problems. In order to work on them, I had to first define them. Being the (sometimes brutally) honest person that I am - I had to spell it out: my problems are not technical (this is not to say I am perfect), but ... I am afraid to label them, actually. I wouldn't say emotional or mental, there are too strong words for the very simple situation I find myself in: purely human. I always had a great respect for the power of the mind (to the extent of being ridiculed by acquaintances for my convictions) and I know for a fact that when you think positive thoughts your outcome is better.

But all these put together still wouldn't get me anywhere - I needed a fresh perspective. Luckily for me, I had the perfect opportunity: the first workshop in a series that Bob Palmer is going to run for LearnTrapshooting Canada students (and not only).

I would not get into too many details – it would suffice to say that the day was an amazing experience. The exercises confirmed yet again what I knew all the time… And yet l I could not stop being amazed - you have to experience them to understand the power they enable one. Three days have passed since and I am still energized and 1000% charged - I really feel like a glowing entity; and it's all positive energy. What's funny is that I had my chance to apply some of the exercises outside of the trapshooting world, in a couple of situations at work - having the ability to control my emotions in a moment of rush, having the ability to channel them into positive energy - that only added to my 'glowing' feeling.

So now, with all the glow - let's get ready for the weekend: rest well, be prepared, and be happy - we are having fun, we are enjoying ourselves, we are having just a big family meeting (the family is big, not the meeting). Remember to prepare your bags the night before; remember to bring food & lots of water - it will be sunny and we will need lots of liquids. Remember to bring your vest, glasses, ear plugs, the shotgun & ammo. When you wake up in the morning - smile! When you arrive at the club - greet your team-mates and friends warmly and smile again. When you take the firing line - relax and smile.

Good luck and... See... Smooth... Smoke... One!

The words of a wise man (Dalai Lama): "Satisfaction is characterized by inner peace. It arises from generosity, honesty and what I call ethical conduct, a way of behaving that respects others’ right to be happy."

Indeed, I would characterize my trapshooting experiences this summer as happy. Mostly coming from that inner peace - when you know you are doing everything right, and you are trying your best. The rest - it's just the old game of patience: practice, practice, practice and be patient, results will follow.

As usual, we arrived in Ohio abominably late and as usual my job is to guide Florin into the parking lot. Did I ever mention how much I hate this? I am used with the technicality of a car and I can't still grasp the physics of parking a trailer (backwards). At one moment in the night we managed to pull the picnic chairs out and relax - that's the part I love: watching the stars in the silence of the night.

The Monday of the State Shoot in Ohio is a day of 'house' activities: getting some food (this time we got everything we needed in Elysburg, right before we left), doing the laundry (thank you, Mr. Fishburn for the Laundromat!), and planning for the week. I 'lost' William shortly after we started the day - Sebian came by and that's the last I saw of our child for the rest of the day. Thank you, Laura & Brian! You're so nice to William!

I decided to 'force' Florin to shoot the whole week (without asking him) - so I squaded both of us for all 1,200 targets (less the actual championship days, more about those later), and I even paid for everything. The boys practiced a few rounds and I believe I managed a couple of rounds for myself (a miracle in OH - probably the only complain I have: the practice traps close at 4:00 pm...).

Garret & Paula joined the other half of the family and paid a short visit; Matthew arrived early evening and got themselves a premium spot, right on the shore of the pond. We recuperated William (it was hard work, since whenever these two boys get together they are glued to each other!) and had a real vacation-evening: no work, nothing just the dinner & all the friends!  

The first day of the shoot started quite early - when you have 12 banks of 4 traps each things tend to move really fast; we took the line about 10:00 am and all 4 of us shot pretty well - focused, great timing, nice targets and decent background: a great combination  We had to split for handicap (while we could squeeze on a squad with Gen, none of us reaches Cody's yardage) and we gathered together for the doubles - Cody & I tied in the overall so far; I knew doubles is definitely not the event I could beat him, and this was the 200 marathon! but I managed a decent enough score - whatever goes above your average qualifies as good score  During the day, in & out, we found out that everyone is having fun & doing excellent: Matthew shot with a great squad (the lone 100 on his squad signed a hat for Matthew!), Chloe won the Non-Resident Jr. Handicap (there is an acerb competition between Chloe, Garret, and Cody - and they wiped each other a few times this week), Garret got Non-Resident Class D Doubles title & I managed the Non-Resident Lady Handicap. Again... there is something about Ohio, handicap & Alicia

Being still full of energy we all stopped at the bunker - but the young lads were closing it down. I suggested to keep it open a bit longer, people would like to stop after they finish shooting. And they helpfully agreed, promising to be there longer the next day. So we retreated at the camp site - complete with the camp fire & the s'mores!

Wednesday came with a wave of heat - so bad, that one of the gentlemen in handicap stopped after 50 birds and went to cool down... On the third trap I saw an ambulance coming in with lights flashing and I kept asking myself if our shooter would be fine... The doubles event started - the first post - everyone was doing excellent (I even got a ten and I was determined to smoke them)... we moved to the 2nd post and before the first shot a breeze came through. Now: some wind did nobody harm - this wind, though came with a very chilly temperature... now everyone knows what the hot air does when cold air comes in: right, it moves... UP. And suddenly we are shooting totally illegal targets - it took me 3 posts to realize that holding the gun about two yards above the house might be of some help! No, I am not kidding, we were breaking the targets above our heads - and since I have no hunting and no skeet experience... there they went flying up, up, and away  I couldn't even get upset - we were laughing so hard when we came off the line, my sides actually hurt. And the moment we stepped off the line - the wind went away, and away went the cold air with it... so if on the 2nd day of the Ohio State Shoot you see some crazy scores for people that shoot reasonable ones - they might have caught that nice breeze... But wind or no - Garret repeated the performance from previous day and ended up being Non-Resident Class D Doubles winner and shot his personal best in Singles (97), to capture the Non-Resident Class D in Singles as well!

After so much fun - we went directly to bunker and shot a round. As usual - it is something with bunker that makes me move like lightning... and after another year of shooting no bunker I took the line and broke 20 targets! Which proves another point I am trying to make: be relaxed and have fun...

Thursday came too early - we knew we had only one more day left and sadness started to install... it's always next to impossible to leave our friends behind. Even when we know we're going to see them relatively soon... The day didn't hold anything exceptional - but we were happy to learn that the gentleman who left a day earlier because of the heat was well; he was again on our squad. At the end of the day we all went for a shopping spree - Columbus suburbs have pretty malls! And our day ended nicely (not quietly) with a dinner in a Texas steak house (after we followed the GPS instructions for 3 other restaurants that didn't exist!) - our table was full of autographs from Willie Nelson, the floor full of peanut shells, and the server could not make one word of what I was saying, but he was nice... [Side note: I am NOT ordering an orange juice anymore: tea, pineapple juice, apple juice, but no orange - for some strange reasons I cannot pronounce 'Orange' in a way an English-speaking person can understand ]

Friday - Florin decided he had been beaten up enough (he shot 1,000 targets in 3 days; and last year he shot 300 targets in total!) so I pulled him out and let him breathe and relax (somehow) before we were to leave. My day went with no bumps in the road; the scores went lower and lower, but that's to be expected... I already had shot 1,800 targets in Elysburg, adding up to 3,000 targets in less than 2 weeks! I was actually surprised I didn't drop my arms altogether!

Slowly I put everything together and the camper was once again ready to be pulled out of the campsite... One more dinner with the friends - and another never-ending in the Farmstead's parking lot: we did exactly the same last year, at the Cardinal Classic - it took us more than half an hour to say good-bye... at the end of this Florin had decided we were going to go back to Elysburg next weekend. So we left to gas up the truck and found ourselves in another lengthy conversation with someone - they recognized us as Canadians and wanted to chat about Terry Jordan, Vern Higgs, and everyone else they knew!

And back we went... arriving in another middle of the night... with wonderful memories and some energy left... 

Congratulations to all LTS team members that went to Pennsylvania & Ohio - they all shot excellent and came back with wonderful experiences. 

Matthew shot his personal best on the last day, in Elysburg; his smile was always larger than Niagara and his energy contagious - he has nice stories about his squads both in Elysburg and Marengo - when you meet him next, ask him   Chloe & Garret continued their fierce competition and both came back with trophies & (I hope) wonderful experiences - I have to find out how does Garret feel about that 97! Phil enjoyed the background and lack of wind (after the wild Elysburg) and he's a proud father of 2 emerging young trapshooters. What more could any parent ask for?

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.

I am really overdue with my trapshooting journal... but like my motto says, I am (still) learning to dance...

A lot had happened since that first ATA competition. First - we had our Spring Games - where the teams (youth and adult, A & Development) have been announced. We had tons of fun that day: wonderful targets, amazing weather, nice food and - of course - great turnaround. Our family grew exponentially since last fall - our teams have almost tripled in numbers! I still have to get around sorting through the pictures - yes, Chloe, I promise to do it sometime this week (keep your fingers crossed so no emergencies occur at work ); once I sort them we'll post them (everybody is eager to see the 'proof' we had fun - lol.

Then a few weeks of so-called calm (it's called 'calm' in another parallel universe; in my universe it is plain madness) - and it was time for the first two US competitions: Pennsylvania State and Ohio State. We started earlier this year - not as early as Florin would have liked it (he wanted to live Friday afternoon) - and arrived in Elysburg around 2 am Sunday morning. The drive was, as usual, fun - I'd like to take it once during the day: those mountain roads are amazing at night, but I'd love to see them in the light... After an almost uneventful park (still what I hate the most about camping: parking at night) we unpacked quickly and sat in the warm night watching stars and listening to crickets and birds. Nothing spells 'vacation' better than a long-chair in a warm night!

Of course the morning came way too early - but I decided to take that first walk to the Central Building and feed William while Florin was still trying to get some sleep. As usual, being Pennsylvania - we stopped every few steps and chat - so what was supposed to be our breakfast became quickly a brunch  But that's what I love the most about Elysburg: the atmosphere, the people, the warm feelings that fill the air.

The shoot was run, as always, flawless. If they could control the weather, well... that would be something. If you've ever been there you know that the Gun Club is situated half in a valley, half on a hill (with a beautiful view to the valley side, from banks 6 & 5). And if you have the smallest breeze (you always have one there) - your targets have the strangest trajectory you'll ever find  That makes for an interesting shoot - especially when there is a thunderstorm in the books. Always check the hills on the left side of bank 8 - if they disappear in a cloud you have about 5 minutes until you get pouring rain and thunders. But weather aside - it's always a pleasure to shoot there.

First couple of days, being rested and 'hungry' for targets, I did really well: focused nicely, smoked them targets, and enjoyed every moment. Then - the 3rd day came... Went on the line for singles and - each shot I took was painful... by the end of the round I was almost afraid to put the gun in my shoulder - I was wondering if the shoulder will survive this event... went back to camp with one of my lowest scores ever in singles (if not the lowest). I wasn't worried about the score so much, as I was about the shoulder. Went back for handicap (with my other gun, the one that never felt good last year, the one that I didn't 'love' like my main one, although they are basically identical) - I almost did better in handicap, being penalized to 24 yards! Not only that, but the shoulder would be absolutely perfect. Now having a long break between handicap and singles - back to the trailer I went and had a quick meeting with coach. I kept telling him something is wrong with my main gun... so we took both out and measure them... Other than a very tiny difference in the butt - everything seemed the same; until we took a second look... and realized that the comb on the main gun was a quarter of an inch more to the right than the comb on the gun that didn't bother me. 'So what?' you say... what's a pitiful 1/4 of an inch? Well - let me tell you: that is the difference between great shooting and down-the-drain shooting. 'And why?' will you, perfectly correctly, say? Well - the story goes like this: if you shoot one competition a week, the local shoots that have 300 targets on Sunday... then that 1/4" doesn't make much of a difference. Why? Because your body compensated for the not-so-perfect fit, it can do it for a day. It might even do it for 2 (in my case)... but it won't be able to manage it for 1,800 targets in 5 days - it will simply refuse to do it. So back to the 1/4" and the why - over the winter I lost some weight and, of course, some went from my face (as well as from my shoulder) and because when I mount the face goes down on the stock, I had to bring the stock closer to my face so it will fit. Bringing it close to my face, it will rest on my collar bone... resting there, it will absorb the recoil on the collar bone - hence the hurt. Now with that mystery solved - we proceeded to fix it. After a few changes Florin asked me to mount it and check how it feels. It felt OK. Are you sure? Yes! Half an hour later - back to the line, for the doubles. I knew I was tired, I knew the targets are hard to get (they're set very high and a bit uneven) but when I ended the first round with a lousy 34 when the gun didn't hurt (or not as much) and the picture seemed perfectly ok.. that didn't seem right - I expected a 40-42... So on the second trap I take every shot trying to figure out - what is it? After a few shots - I realized what is wrong: my 2 beads were not aligned anymore, they were about 2 inches apart - on the horizontal! so my gun was shooting on the left of the target... well... no wonder it won't break any targets! Back to the camper - and coach is now fuming: haven't I asked if it was OK? well... it was... Did you have the vest on? Yes! Did you have the shoes on?! err... I don't know... So back to 'dry-mounts' and - low and behold - if I would mount as if I was on the line, the 2 beads will not be aligned.

A long story short: gun fit is very important. It is more evident when you shoot a lot (not one day a week, but a whole week, day after day of 3-400 targets). Because few of us do that on a daily basis - we get away with guns that are not perfectly fitted. And we struggle against our tools, instead of having our tools working with us. Another very important lesson: when practicing at home, make sure you not only dress exactly as you do when on the range - but imagine yourself having the microphone in front of you and mounting to call a pull... why? I didn't realize when Florin asked me first to mount that I was mounting with my back pretty straight... now - who ever saw me shooting know that when I am on the line I 'embrace' the gun, going forward a bit, bringing my shoulder forward... which in my case pushed the gun in a position where it wasn't aligned with the eye anymore...

Lessons learned: fit your gun to perfection and if you dry-practice, do it right (from clothes to shoes to stance).

After re-fitting the gun we tried a few rounds of practice... but the poor shoulder refused to have anything with the gun anymore. The pad on the recoil adapter being about 5 years old, it had a strange way of sticking to the vest / skin in a way that kept being uncomfortable. So - the rest of the competition was switched on my 'secondary' gun, the one that I could not shoot last year at all. Aren't I lucky that this one was not the exact same fit as my other one?

The rest of the week was gone in a blink: with parties to attend, dinners to spend with friends, all the time in between events spent watching friends shooting or talking to someone... seeing some friends we missed last year, making new ones... Elysburg is a wonderful place (have I said that before?)

And all of the sudden here we are, on Sunday - all packed and ready to pull out after the handicap event... But a trip to Elysburg can't go on without a visit to Knobel's so we took a right turn and stopped in the park for a couple of (long, hot) hours. William finally decided to drive a cart... only to find out he's too tall now... I'll have to find a place where he can drive a mini-cart now

With our first week of vacation gone - we started our long trip to Ohio... to be continued...

And by year, I mean the ATA year, which means... first registered shoot since September!

I knew it will be a small shoot, mostly everybody is in St. Thomas this weekend (and a few Ontarians can be found in the swamp, aka Cicero, NY). I knew I have been missing both trapshooting and competing. But I didn't expect to have so much fun!

I was probably the happiest I have ever been - a perfectly nice day (a bit too hot at times), our trapshooting friends, and a full day of orange targets floating nicely in the air. They did float nicely - especially in handicap, they were just 'sitting' there, waiting for me to smoke them. It was probably funny to someone watching me - a crazy woman, laughing out loud when she missed a target. And why is this particular crazy woman laughing? Because she knows why she's missing, which translated into - she knows how to correct!

Florin asked me (a bit puzzled, I might add) what happened in the very first round of the day? I was enjoying the squad, the targets, the day, the gun - everything... and suddenly on post 4 I asked my self - do I keep my eyes where they are supposed to be? Ding! Of course I am laughing so hard that - Ding! Now I have a nice conversation with myself: Alicia, stop it... focus... And when I move on post  5 - I overcompensate and... Ding! That's 3 in a row - and of course Florin wants to know what that was?! When I explained he started laughing (much like above mentioned crazy woman). 

So the singles were a lot of fun - I managed to smoke almost everything I broke. The ones that didn't broke - you know the joke, they eventually broke on the ground. Many of them were my eagerness to get to the target (shooting about 2 miles in front), which is normal - I haven't been in a competition in almost 9 months!

Handicap - we were a short squad and the nice gentlemen I shot with were veterans of trapshooting, fast shooters both... I could have paced the squad if I knew that's what they wanted... but I didn't until it all ended, when they both complained it went too 'bam-bam and it's my turn again'. And here I was, poor me with the shotgun almost falling off my hand... in the past 9 months I shot 10 rounds in total and now I'm expected to shoot 12 in one day! But I was way too happy to complain about anything - the feeling of smoking targets is like an addiction and I missed it for too long to care about anything (much less about silly score).

And then... 'my baby' came - the doubles. Not in the original program, but with 5 shooters - guaranteed a new event of the day (the last one). Having shot zero doubles until last week (when I practiced one and a half rounds) - I was wondering if I know what to do anymore :) And sure enough, I knew - although my physical strength wasn't at par with my will, I actually willed a few pairs into eternity! Sheer mind power, because the gun literarily almost fell out of my hands a couple of times (no shotguns have been harmed, rest assured!).

One in one: an amazing experience. A feeling I've been searching for the last season (and found it here, and there, but never at the level I felt it today and in the past 2 weeks). Those little 'ah-ha!' moments, the ones that make you happy.

Now I can only hope to keep this feeling for the rest of the season - it's a good one and it helped me a lot today.

The rest of the LTS team did well too - Chloe gained half a yard in handicap (had the highest score of the day!). Cute enough now I recall my first half yard was gained with the same score. Matthew shot his personal best in singles - and he did so with the never-fading smile on his face. And everyone else enjoyed the day and the taste of their first competition of the season (for most of the LTS team). I know some hoped for better scores - but I watched most of them and everyone did very well: nice form, nice movement to the target, happy faces.

And now... need to get rested for tomorrow - after I am done with the list, that is... I am terrified I will forget something!

The LTS tradition continues! I hope to see you all @ Hamilton GC.

Hard to believe we are already in May - trials for the Junior teams are under way, preparations for the Annual LTS Spring Games are made, training is busy and we are already dreaming about PA and OH State shoots!

Last weekend I had finally had the chance to get some training for myself - and like the couple of rounds I shot all by myself a few weeks prior - this training session was truly amazing. Florin says I am 'hungry' for the targets. But it's something more than hunger - I've been hungry before  I haven't found the perfect word to describe the change yet, all I know is it feels very very good. Tip: you can actually see it on my face - if I can't stop grinning even when I miss by a mile, it means it felt very good.

What we (as trapshooters in special, and as human beings in general) need to learn is trust - trust ourselves (confidence) that we will know when we are ready for the next step. Too many times we rush - and we don't even know why. All we find out when we get there is that... we want to be somewhere else... so now we'll rush to the next destination. You listen to some ads 'we can get you where you're going even faster' - we are obsessed with speed. We need to remember the journey is more important, and when we do that -  we'll stop and smell the roses.

Like with everything in life - there is the right time for everything. I have been humbled these past years many times - and most of the time the lesson resumed to this line "now I am ready for this step, before I wasn't". I'd like to believe I am learning to pace myself, my expectations and I'm becoming more and more patient. More and more Zen-like, so to speak.

There is a little poem, a wonderful one - and a few lines in it sound like this:

Believe you are where your place is, where you are needed. Remember the endless opportunities that are born from believing in you.

Use all the gifts that you've been given. Be happy with who you are.

That's what we need: to believe in us, in what we can do with all the gifts we have received, we have been gifted with.

And that's what I am: happy with myself - hopefully I'll be able to remember to sing Bon Jovi's song:

Welcome to Wherever You Are!

Happy Trapshooting!

Dalai Lama: With the realization of ones own potential and self-confidence in ones ability, one can build a better world. According to my own experience, self-confidence is very important. That sort of confidence is not a blind one; it is an awareness of one's own potential. On that basis, human beings can transform themselves by increasing the good qualities and reducing the negative qualities.

This ought to be my preferred quote so far - it talks not only about positive and good, but about self-confidence! And what trapshooter doesn't know about this miraculous feeling and how it can 'make or break' an event?

We know by now we need to be positive no matter what: the sun will shine brighter if we do so, we will feel better and, as important, the people around us will feel better as well. Who wants to be with a grumpy person when it can choose to be with a smiley happy one?!

But even if you are positive you might not have enough self-confidence in your abilities. Positive doesn't equal self-confidence (but it surely helps you to get there!). But how do we achieve self-confidence? 

By building trust - trust in your coach, in your support group, in your own abilities. OK... and how do we build trust? One easy way is through constancy: having a plan, a schedule that we follow no matter what. There will be tasks we can do every day (depending on the level we are at), every week, every month, every once in a while. The trick is to really do them - set aside a few minutes every day, at the same time, and just do it. The same way we schedule meetings in our calendars we should schedule the tasks.

Once we start having this every-day 'homework' implemented - the confidence will start creeping into our sub-consciousness, we won't even know it's there, but it will be. We will step on the line and instead of asking ourselves 'hmmm.. can I do this?' we will be thinking 'oh, yes, now I get to apply what I've been working on all week! cool!'.

And once we start thinking like that - it's like a good-circle: the more we trust our abilities, the more confidence we have, the better we break targets and... we get more trust & confidence. Everything in life goes in circles - we just need to find a way to break the vicious circles and build good ones instead.

Make sure you start with small tasks, achievable ones - if you have a coach, talk with him and plan milestones in a non-aggressive, but ambitious way (I'll come back to this idea). If you don't have a coach - plan the milestones in such a way that you don't measure by results, but by performance. What does that mean? It means - a goal like 'I will break 25 next time I go out' is a result-oriented goal (your brain automatically counts targets to make sure you achieve your goal), while a goal like 'I will smoke each target I break' is a performance-oriented goal; you don't count the targets, you make sure everything from form, stance, mount, call, mind, and swing is perfectly put-together with one outcome in mind: a smoke!

And what about the non-aggressive but ambitious? If you set a goal too high to reach you might get demoralized and your brain will quit before counting to 25. Once you have sub-consciously decided it is impossible - it will become impossible. If, on the other hand, you set a goal too low, believe it or not, the subconscious will undermine you again - if it's too easy, why do it anymore? You need a goal that's a little beyond your current abilities, but can be achieved with hard-work; a goal that will help you expand your current limits, learn something new or just transform an ability into reflex.

There is a misconception that setting a very aggressive goal will improve one's abilities. There are probably tons of tests done, but I like one the best (can't remember now where I read it, but I'll give credit when I figure it out): 2 group of sales people - one group is being given a goal that's really aggressive and a few months to achieve it, the other group is given first a smaller goal, but only a couple of weeks to achieve it, once they achieve it, the goal is increased, and so on. At the end of the same period of time - which group do you think sold more? You'd think it's the first group - they had 'the goal' and lots of time, right? Wrong. It's the second group - they actually over-passed the 1st group's goal by a lot (remember, in the exact same time).

What is the lesson learned? Baby-steps work better - so choose your goals carefully, make them performance-oriented ones, and give yourself just a few days to achieve each baby-step. That way you'll always be looking forward to another victory, even if it seems small.

Happy trapshooting!

Dalai Lama: From my viewpoint all things first originate in the mind. Things and events depend heavily on motivation. A real sense of appreciation of humanity, compassion, and love are the key points. If we develop a good heart, then whether the field is science, agriculture, or politics, since motivation is so very important, these will all improve.

I am a huge fan (the word sounds strange in this context) of Dalai Lama. His words are always well spoken, his manner is always gentle, his all being is always admirable. Today's quote brings me to our sport in a blink: everything originates in the mind. Once we develop a good technique and good habits - all there is left to conquer is our mind.  In the beginning we all work on our form, on our movements, on the 'how to break the target'. Then it comes the moment when even though technique is not perfect, we know implicitly what to do... then why is it so hard to simply do it?

Enter our worse enemy: our own mind. How many times have you caught yourself thinking 'I can't do this!'? How many times did you tell yourself 'This is such a horrible day' or 'Oh, I am not at par with the other competitors'. And what do you suppose happened next? Yes, you miss some - just enough to 'demonstrate' yourself the same statements of above.

And what else could you do? Well - enter our best friend: our own mind! Thinking only positive thoughts before the competition (even better: before stepping to the firing line wheter training or competing) will have the exact same effect: our brain will help us implement what we think about. So if we tell ourselves 'I am as good as I can be' and 'I can do this' and 'I am champion' and 'This is a beautiful day, look at these wonderful targets: bright and big and just waiting to be smoked' then we will become exactly that: a champion. Ask any good athlete and any respected coach and they'll tell you being a champion doesn't mean you win each and every time. Think just a few weeks back and try to remember what each and every Olympian said they were thinking right before the competition (when they won a medal) - were they thinking about winning? Have you heard any of them saying that? No - they were relaxed and thinking just how much they enjoy being there, and how much fun will this be, and how they are going to try their best.

And that's what they did - they relaxed and enjoyed and were their best. That's exactly what a champion is - a person who will try their best no matter what. A person that missed the first 2 targets and will still focus to smoke the rest 98. A person that will hear nothing around themselves but what they are focused on.

Of course there are different levels of training (physically and mentally) but it's never to early to get in the good habit of thinking positive thoughts. I believe it's a mistake to think 'I'm not at that level yet, I have to work on my technique first'. Yes, of course you need to work on form, stance, movement etc. but at the same time you need to apply positive thinking. That way, when you get to the next level, when you start training mentally as well as physically - the first good habit is reflex.

So even if you think your tehnique is not good enough, think of yourself as a champion: 'I am going to be my best now'. Then step to the line with confidence and be your best. You will become even better!

Keep warm & think good thoughts!

I have probably been this tired sometime in my life - I just can't remember

It's a good type of tired (a friend asked me after the first day if I am 'God, please don't make me go back again' type of tired or 'God, please help me relax and go back again' type of tired. I told her it's the 'God, please do something about my feet - I am having too much fun' type of tired  I didn't know what to expect - so I started the show without any expectations. I managed what I should manage every time in competition: go there, take it as it is, do your best, and enjoy the process. Like I mentioned, though, my feet absolutely kill me right now... and they probably will for a long time...

What I took from our very first show?

First of all, I have been surprised (plesantly so) by the sheer number of people that were interested in the sport. Being GTA, I thought we will encounter a larger percentage of 'OMG, guns are dangerous' people. We did encounter them, but in such a small percentage - it gives me hopes for the future of the sport! That was my '#1 myth' busted

#2 - I was surprised (and again plesantly so) by the sheer number of ladies interested; there were so many ladies in the 'wow, I always wanted to try this!' or the 'oh, look, trapshooting' (explaining to their children what it is and how they did it when they were younger, usually on their parents' farm).

No surprise in the percentage of youth interested - lots and lots of them (both boys and girls) that were going 'mom/dad, look! I want to try it - can I?'. And most of their parents being either familiar with the sport or receptive to our explanations. No surprise either in the percentage of older generation that knew what trapshooting is.

Lots of 'where are you located?' followed by the 'really? that's so close - I must come and try it'. A few followed by the 'oh, that's too far - do you know any place closer to where I live?' A few 'oh, no, thanks, I do it on my farm'.

As for the exhibitors themselves - we are Canadians and we prove it every time: we are a nation of very friendly, polite people. Most of the exhibitors were glad someone is trying to educate people; some were reserved; some were probably openly against - but way too polite to do anything else but smile and pass by quickly. We had a few stopping by and expressing their pleasure we are there. We had a few asking if we operate in their areas (from couple hundred miles away all the way to Alberta and Oklahoma).

The show itself was very interesting - lots of different exhibitors, covering an amazing area of sports and activities. We sighed watching different promotions (like the Chilean adventure trip - filled with mountain pictures and amazing blue skies; or the diving in the Camayan tours - with incredible clear waters); we had fun petting the huskies (an adorable 3 months puppy with wonderful blue eyes) and chatting with the Conservation people showing 2 cute owls; I could not convince William to try the wall climbing adventure (maybe next year), but we sat together and watched the Camayan video. We learned about lots and lots of camps / parks / nature schools - I had lots of the 'wow, that would be cool to try' moments myself

And, of course, we all cheered for our hockey team - for the first goal, the second one, we groaned together (all 30,000 SF still packed with people) when the US team marked their second goal too close to the end of the game. We had an agonizing few minutes until Crosby scored the winning goal - What a wonderful finish to an amazing weekend!

Thank you to all our volunteers - you did an amazing job promoting our wonderful sport to the large audience. To have members of our youth team every day with us helped a lot - it demonstrated once again that trapshooting is really a family sport that everyone enjoys. As usual, our Golden shirts and hats stood out everywhere we went.

Thank you to all LearnTrapshooting students and supporters that visited us over the weekend - your support and positive energy was so refreshing!

And thank you to all our visitors - thanks for stopping by, for listening to us, for showing interest and for asking questions. We hope we picked your interest and we are looking forward to seeing you all on the range!
 

I knew someone will say something until the end of the Games - and I was sooooooo happy to hear Clara Hughes saying the perfect thing today. Clara is the only athlete in the whole world to win multiple medals in both Summer and Winter Olympics: she won 2 bronze medals in Atlanta, for Cycling; then she switched to speed skating and won a gold medal (2006), a silver medal (2006), and 2 bronze medals (2002, 2010). She's not a very young athlete either - being born in 1972.

That was my mini-presentation for Clara. And today - after she won her last Olympic medal, the reporter asked her something along the lines of 'Although you won only a bronze medal, you are still happy. Why?'

Please note somewhere her words - they are the most precious words you can ever hear in relation to a competition (not her exact words, I will try to find an exact quote and re-post exactly, but a good rendition):

I hear people talking about medals, owning the podium... I don't think about that - I see it in terms of excellence - excellence in performance, excellence in athleticism... I train to be ready physically and mentally, to peak when it is the right moment... I was ready today and I knew I will be the best I could ever be - and that's what I did: I gave it all and I had the best time of my life... 

I am sure you have heard these ideas before - goals must be based on performance, not results. Train to be ready, to get your best form, train both your muscles and your mind. Not to gain a medal (or a trophee), but to be your best, to give your best. When you are ready, when you wake up in the morning being calm, prepared, confident and enjoying your day - performance will transform itself into results.

P.S. Congratulations again to all Canadian Olympic athletes - and congratulations to both Canadian Bobsleigh teams and to the 5000-relay team!

Like the Summer Games a couple of years ago, I am watching these Olympic games with a different perspective than a few years ago.

Why? I believe all the comments the sport anchors make have a different vibration, I tend to try to hear something (which I very rarely do) and I also try to feel the whole experience more like an athlete, not a simple spectator. Far from me to say I feel like an Olympian (it's a long way to being an Olympian), but I sure feel differently than just a few years back.

I am not going to make any negative comments right now (I've been complaining for a few days already and it's getting worse) - I choose instead to share with you one beautiful comment from tonight's Lady Short Program: one of the former Lady athletes (I do not know them by voice and they never showed them to us, so I have no clue who said it) made this comment:

Butterflies are good! Just make sure they fly in formation.

This is such a simple synthesis of the pre-competition nerves. Nerves are good - if you don't have them, it means either it became a chore or it became boring; none of these 2 feelings will make you give your best, so you should find a way to get back into the challenge or... find another sport to compete into. So we agree that nerves are good. Good!

Now what do you do with those nerves? Make sure you control them - see the butterfly formation. If they move chaotically - they control you and they'll do whatever they'll please. And who can tell what nerves will please to do at any given time? But if you manage to figure out a way to fly them in a beautiful formation - oh, let them sing you a song, because that's the moment you became a real champion!

So here you have it for the future: Keep them butterflies - just make sure they fly in formation!

Congratulations to all the Canadian Olympians, to all the Olympians in general! And my deepest sympathy to Ms. Rochette - she demonstrated tonight the impossible formation of the most beautiful butterfly colony... I don't think there are words to comfort her now and all I can think of is to pray for her and her family.

My thought for tonight: Forget the 'Quest for Gold' - go out there and enjoy your moments, Olympians or not! Try your best, give all you have and remember to keep the joy in it. The rest will follow...

And, of course - See, Smooth, Smoke, One

If someone can explain where did January go... please do so!

But complaining about how fast the time flies by is only going to aggravate me, I learned this one long time ago... so - no complains... but seriosuly... where did it go?! OK, kidding.

As January / February decided to bring some cold with them (not enough snow to build even one small snowman, the child is 100% dissapointed) I had to postpone my well-laid plans to get out of the house and on the range, for a few practice shots now and then. Mounting the gun excercises are going ok (not phenomenal, mostly because I hate going in the basement in the middle of the night! and that's the only quiet moment when one can focus on some personal stuff, at least in this household  )... but there is a need to do something... almost anything will do.

Watching William playing tennis once a week was just killing me - I love tennis, I love playing the game and for a few years I missed all the opportunities to play. Add the Australian Open I've been watching like a mad-woman @ 3:30 in the mornings - so it comes to no surprise that last Tuesday I marched into the office of the Membership Director at the Cedar Springs Club and... a few minutes later I was the happy owner of a family membership. After returning home I didn't tell William anything, he would have get in the car and drive himself there - he's been asking for months now to go to their pool (they have a water-slide and he was anxious to try it for the first time in his young life). But later that night I shared our new aquisition with head coach - and this time I had no power (and no will, to be truthful) to stop the man in my life: so come 11:30 PM who's playing tennis on the only occupied court?! Yeah, you guessed it - the happy couple. Well - now 'playing' is a bit too much for what we were doing. Remember we hadn't touched the tennis raquet in over 5 years (if not seven, I lost count) so no normal person can get on a tennis court at midnight and start serving for the Provincial Championships.

But we did what they call 'cardio - or fitness - tennis' and we enjoyed it enormously. Of course both of us found muscles we forgot we have... interestingly enough, like in horseback riding, we find completely different muscles. Not sure what that means, but it took me 2 days to be able to hold a pot of water with my right hand only (well... I do return the backhand with one hand only... and after the first 15 minutes Florin forgot I am the lady and started to return at his full power... so there you have it, the complete 'excuse').

Another intersting fact is that, like in trapshooting, tennis is (after taking the fitness form out of equation) a mind game - you have to watch the ball, not the raquet, you have to move smoothly, but firmly, you have to move your whole arm, not the wrist. Translation in trapshooting: watch the target, move smoothly, move the gun with the body, not the arms... I wonder if all sports get to the same 4-5 main focus ideas bottom line?!

So here you have my winter blues solution - can't go to Florida (which will be my first option!) so we'll just go to the tennis club and enjoy some evenings of fun.

For all of you who can stay out in the cold - remember to stay warm! For those who can't - find some indoor activities that will keep you in form.

And, most important - have FUN! Winter is almost gone anyhow, spring is just around the corner... I can't WAIT to get back to the range

In the meantime - See, Smooth, Smoke - ONE!

It's official! At the next Outdoor Adventure Show, in Toronto, February 26-28 2010, LearnTrapshooting has a booth!

Write it down and come visit us at booth #353

It took us a while to decide, but we bit the bullet (or maybe the 12GA shell) and... we reserved the spot. It's a nice corner spot and now we are working hard with our friends to make it very special and memorable.

We are very excited and since we have less than 2 months to prepare we have started to study everything there's out there about shows  Knowing Florin I presume there will be lists to be made and checked and re-checked very soon. Luckily for me he's busy with something else right now, so I can just bask in the excitement for a short while.

Did I mention we are excited? OK, ok... I'm more like a child a few days before Christmas, wondering if I’ll be on Santa’s ‘good’ list

And now - back to work - remember: on February 26, 27, and 28 2010, at the International Centre, at The Outdoor Adventure Show come visit LearnTrapshooting and Hamilton Gun Club booth #353.
 

OK - we tasted it - and beside being a tad strange (it's, after all, a strange combination of cinnamon with chocolate) - everyone agreed it's a yummy final to our adevnture.

Like I said - next time will be the lime version, and after that the butterscotch.

Thanks again, Emma!

P.S. I actually missed the walk tonight, I believe I'll have to create a new Christmas tradition and have walks every night in December to enjoy the lights!

A week ago we received a bag with some batter in it, along with some (curious) instructions. After following each day's steps (most of them consisting of 'squeeze the bag; put it back on the counter') today was marked as 'Today is THE DAY'. A well known 'secret' about me is that I can cook, but I am lousy baker - and the reason? I hate following instructions (my cooking goes something like this: look through the fridge and pantry and figure out what ingredients I have; gather some that I believe will go well together; add things to the pan and when it smells right stop... one of the reasons I won't be able to make the same dish twice, even if I want ).

This being said - that's what 'THE DAY' became:

William: Mommy, it says 'This is THE DAY'

Me: Yup

William: We need to follow the instructions

Me: Yup

William: When are we going to make the bread, mommy?

Me: As soon as I'm done here

... and the 'soon' is suddenly 8 PM, which, coincidentally is the child's bedtime. No problem, how long could it take to mix some ingredients and pour them in the pan (for reference, I did read the instructions earlier in the day, to make sure I have everything... ).

Me: OK, William, read the instructions.

The child obeys and reads out loud: add one cup each of flour, sugar and milk... oops... where is our milk? Ask grandma - answer: err... I gave it to William earlier... No panic, we can hop in the car and in 15 minutes we'll be back home, right? Wrong - it's one of the very few evenings when I drank a glass of wine before William's bedtime... can we use soy milk instead? I don't think so. The powder one? I'd rather not.

Luckily for all involved - tomorrow is PA day, so no need to wake up too early - William and I got dressed quickly and decided to walk to corner store. The advantage? the neighbourhood is beautifully lit and we get into Christmas spirit and start singing carols all the way. About 40 minutes later we are back home - with the above-mentioned milk and with extremely bright spirits - there's nothing like a fresh evening walk admiring beautiful Christmas displays and listening to yourself caroling on top of your lungs.

Back to our baking: we add the cups and mix. Next step? Pour one cup batter in 4 ziploc bags. Guess what? No, I do have bags, lots, but not the 12 X 12... they are on the list... No problem, I found a few replacements.

Could anything else go wrong? As it's about me cooking - yes, lots... in this case - we follow the instructions nicely to the very last one... add 2 packages of vanilla pudding... oh... I knew I forgot something! Of course I have pudding in the house - but not vanilla... we don't eat vanilla, we are chocolate people. Did I mention this is cinnamon bread?! I am trying to figure what kind of bread will become and I decide whatever happens, happens - splash 2 chocolate puddings in it... next time we'll try the lime ones!

Finally - the batter is in the stove and the child is licking the bowl, at least the uncooked mix is yummy considering I lost him completely inside the bowl...

I'll let you know how the Amish bread tastes with lots of chocolate - until then William has decided that no matter the taste, this is what we should make for Christmas Eve dinner. I believe he had too much fun adding and mixing the ingredients.

Thank you, Emma!

Now we have only to find 3 people to give the new batter - one we'll keep

I was enjoing a quiet evening last week when Florin came from the club with incredible and sad news: one of the club members has passed away. I thought it would be one of the older gentlemen, and I was preparing to hear one of the familiar names - you know that feeling when something wrong happened and you wait for those few moments until to hear what exactly happened to pass. Then he said: John. A rapid brain-check and a stunning me: Kokoris? Yes.

I had to sit down - John was (as many trapshooters are) a person full of life, you could always be sure you'll find a good laugh in his presence. Not only that, he was what I will call still young, definitely not a vet... I knew he's been sick for a while, but when I talked to him last (sometimes in the summer) he was confident he was over the worst and recovering. Apparently it wasn't the illness that took him away, but the all-so-dreaded heart attack.

As I was trying to comprehend what our trapshooting lives will be without John's larger-than-life attitude, I became sadder and sadder: there won't be any jokes from him from now on, no smiles when you shoot well, no comforting pats when you shoot not that well...

May you rest in peace, John (and smoke each one from now on, up there) - I have you and your family in my prayers!

And so I was again reminded to slow down and enjoy every single moment - to tell my dear ones they are loved, to meet my friends as often as possible and to laugh a lot. Life is so precious and we spend way too much time being unhappy when happiness is just there, at the tips of our fingers. We just need to reach it and grab it.

I found an interesting quote somewhere:

Don't measure yourself by what you accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.

I am not sure if I agree or not, but I found it an interesting notion for the moment and I'll continue to analyze it until I can file it under one of the categories... Most of us might have a good idea of our own ability, but there are definitely people out there that think too much or too less of their abilities - and then what? Even if you know exactly what you can do - wouldn't it be frustrating to not be able to accomplish all you want or need? Especially knowing you could, given the context would have been on your side.

Maybe that's the message - get the context on your side. I know better than to decree it as a pure truth - sometimes it's impossible to do what you want / need, sometimes the context is beyond your control. But I would also be one to recognize the North-American society (the Western societies in general) as one of opportunities. 

And so I start my day - wondering about this quote... it's actually a nice feeling to be able to wonder

If I ever make up  my mind about the quote I'll let you know. Until then - I'll try to accomplish as much as I should

I am reminded almost every day that life is precious and we should never take one second for granted.

I met lots of wonderful trapshooters during the past years - and unfortunately I also heard of lots and lots passing away. I knew very few personally, but the threads on trapshooters.com are always rich with amazing support for the ones that lost a loved friend or family member.

Almost every week there will be a mention of yet another trapshooter that's now playing in Heaven(ly) competitions...

And every time I read about them I pray for their family and friends and I also remind myself how grateful should I be to 'be alive and well' like Kenny Chesney says in his last song.

This past summer I have been touched more personally by this type of loss - first when Mark Edmonson lost his courageous battle with cancer, then more recently when Indiana's John Gould died quiet suddenly... While I wasn't a close friend to any of them, I just loved being around both. Mark had an amazing personality, and Mr. Gould was for sure a figure on the range.  We met Mr. Gould back in 2007, in Michigan, and every year we will chat at all the shoots we found together (Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania)... this year I was wondering at the Cardinal shoot where would he be (it's impossible to miss him and for the whole week I could not see him), just to come back home and find out he's sick... and in a matter of weeks he was gone...

I was sad (still am)- now I'll never hear their laugh and I'll never admire the turquoises (Mr. Gould was wearing amazing silver / turquoise jewelry... and this is a very less-known fact about me: I am quite crazy about jewelry and I am completely nuts about turquoise, they are my absolute #1 stone; if you've ever seen me in one of those Trade posts up north, where they display native jewelry...) -  now whenever I'll go to one of the Ohio / Penn / MI shoots and walk the vendor lines I am bound to remember Mr. Gould (one of the vendors sells the type of silver / turquoise jewelry he used to wear). And whenever I go to Hamilton GC I will remember Mark...

This sport being one with a very high age average I am also bound to be touched by loss every now and then. A constant reminder of what friendship should be: a gift we handle with care, we wrap with emotions, and we give with love. A constant reminder that life is to be cherished for the present moment, and not waited around for the next 'perfect' moment. A constant reminder that we are not forever, but our memories are and what we do with our life (in those daily little moments) is important, because that's what we will leave behind us: memories.

So the task for today is simple: find a loved one and tell them you love them. Then repeat

And, of course, make sure you See one, Smooth to one, then Smoke one!

Amazingly enough it's already October - even worse: halfway through October!

I have been away from the range for a long time and with the cold weather setting in so early this year, I believe my range days are over until spring. I am not a fair weather person: I don't mind wind and rain, not even snow - but I do have a medical problem with the cold and so I prepare for hibernating.

How does a trapshooter hibernate? Well - the ones that can afford it (time- and money wise) will move down south, mostly around Silver Dollar (FL) or in Texas / Arizona. The ones that didn't reach the retirement phase yet will have 2 options: either do nothing over the winter or do something! OK, ok - I'm getting there... stay with me.

Last year I kind of took the first route - doing more or less nothing. Sometimes it's simply impossible to stretch the day any more and that was my last winter - un-stretchable. But I wasn't very happy with this 'doing nothing' activity so this year I plan to do something. What? Here comes in handy to have the coach close by  

For a start I would like to set up some time every day to mount the gun. Nothing else - just mounting the gun. It's important to get dressed like you'll do over the summer and just do the usual task of mounting the gun 1,000 times... And what in the peaceful world would you achieve with this? Oh - a lot, in fact. First of all - you'll develop (keep active) the proper muscles. Then - you'll also develop muscle memory. And that will build your confidence - once you return on the range you took out the 'do I know how to mount my gun?' question. Of course you do, you never stopped doing it! And having the confidence - as most of you know - is 90% of the game

Once I figure out how much more time I will have in the day - I will move on to practicing my swing. And with that - practicing being patient - which will be funny to watch, I'm sure. If you have a person that doesn't have too much time to start with... how will you make that person practice patience?! I am not 100% sure yet, but I'll keep you up-to-date on my progress.

Now that I have shared my plans with the world - I will feel obligated to follow it... or so  I hope.

Until next time - if you are out there: be safe and break them all while having fun. If you started to hibernate - maybe you can build yourself a plan to keep in touch with your best friend (I'm talking about the shotgun).

And whatever you do - keep the fun in it!

We heard / knew from various sources that this year, at the Grand, Florin has received the '2009 ATA Shooting Coach of the Year' award.

And yesterday it came in the mail - a box with Florin's name on it and with another (smaller) box inside. And inside this second box - the award itself, one of the Tilden desk clocks.

I admired it for a while and I keep reading the quote on it... the more I read it, the more I wonder how it came to be on this award.  

It is actually holding so much truth...

That's exactly how I would define his past few years: as a continuous activity, a never-ending action. It is tiresome, sure, but it led him to this wonderful success: not the 'title' (how they so nicely define it) but the LearnTrapshooting teams and family. I am again and again awed by his energy, by his new and fresh ideas, by his drive.

I wonder sometimes where will we be in a few years, how will all this evolve.

I have high hopes - and I am prepared to help him pave this wonderful road to success: because that's exactly what we are doing - building from scratch. I don't know all the answers and I am sure the process will be sometimes perceived as hardship - but I am sure the success will be sweeter that way.

All I am sure of right now is that we are not alone - and we again thank all and every single person that helped in one way or another. Even a good word is a great help, trust me! We need more than just words, for sure, but we are as grateful for the encouragements we received throughout the year.

And a heartfelt thank you to whomever nominated Florin for this wonderful award. It is still a bit surreal - as the recognition comes from the highest level in our association... it is an honour and, as far as I know (I will check in the near future) it is going for the first time to a Canadian Coach! We are incredibly happy, honoured, and humbled. I am extremely happy his efforts have been awarded as such a high level - and for those who know us it will come as no surprise that I am not referring here at the award (or not only), but at the actual recognition of his actions.

So - as an LTS athlete, be proud: your Coach is THE BEST

Or how to surprise someone

I love surprises and since I figured out how the actual Fairies and everything works I have been genuinely surprised a very few times in my adult life. One reason could be that I am usually the one setting up meetings and get-together, so it's really hard to get me out of our house w/o a good reason or w/o becoming suspicious.

This being said, I got into the car last weekend with no other expectations than having lots of fun with the core LTS team, at the farm. I was driving (Florin likes to take advantage of my driving now and again) and because everyone in the car was purposely looking for the right number, of course we just zoomed by... a U-turn and few moments later we were all happily jumping on the trampoline, getting black walnuts off the lawn, and starting the biggest bone fire I ever saw.

I was totally and completely unaware of anything 'suspicious' - until the very last second, when Dan started 'the speech'. Even then... the very first moment I thought something strange is happening was only when I realized he's reading the speech... which meant he has prepared the speech in advance... which I had no idea what meant.

But I can tell you what - the awards Florin and I received from the 2009 LearnTrapshooting team have now forever a special place in our hearts. They are the most hard-working awards we ever received (OK, Florin probably can say that about his 2009 ATA Shooting Coach of the Year award as well), and the most sweet rewards we could have ever received. We didn't need an award to know we are appreciated by our students, don't take me wrong! But to actually 'see' the appreciation went beyond my expectations. I knew Florin is loved by all his students and I had no questions about the respect he raised in every soul he touched - because he has a magic touch - and I felt the love as well. But I keep the beautiful award on my desk since and I find myself smiling at it - there is a beauty in that flying Canadian flag that the people we become to love in so little time understood. For me that's even more important than everything - the fact that you, our LTS teams, understood us, understood what the school means to us, understood what Canada means to us.

I will bug Florin to get a few pictures of these 2 beauties to post here - for everyone to enjoy them.

Until then - we thank the team again - for all their hard-work, dedication, and for thinking so sweetly of us. We are continuously humbled by your actions and we are as proud of your performances. We are so lucky to have been surrounded by so many great athletes!

Well - here we are, at the very end of the 2009 competition season. 2010 will start in exactly 2 days (on Tuesday, September 1st).

We had a wonderful time in Marengo, OH. Weather was kind of cooperating and I was lucky enough to finish one of the days just 2 minutes before a pouring rain with great lightning came over.

Besides weather - everything else was wonderful: we met a few friends from last year that we had missed during Pennsylvania state shoot, we had lots of fun competing, and we had a great time using the bunker traps. Unfortunately it took me until the very last day to get back into International form, but I was really happy I remembered everything coach taught me last year (yes, it has been that long since I shot bunker). You know how it is - now I only have to practice some more

The actual competition - Cardinal Classic - was absolutely great: excellent organization, nice people, good scorers and trap helpers, and amazing attendance. The shoot was up 23% from last year and gained 6 point recognition in just 4 years. That is in itself a great accomplishment and both Mr. Fishburn and Ohio Trap Association should be congratulated.

And what did the LTS teams and students do? What they have learned from the coach: they had fun, they enjoyed their targets and they had better scores than before. It is something that only after you attend such a big competition you can fully understand: good competition makes better athletes. The better your 'opponents', the better you'll become.

And that's how I believe everyone shot their best to-date score, that's how my competition average was the highest for this year, and that's (just one of the reasons) why we'll come back given a chance. I, for one, had lots of fun - I managed above average scores in all 3 specialties, I actually managed some good results in handicap - and I now feel confident that I am on the right tracks with my handicap (my biggest struggle for the year). I finally understood (as you all know from my Provincials' blog) what I was doing wrong and - what else is new? - all I need to do is remember before each event that I need to be patient. Yeah, patience is the name of my Nemesis

I was fortunate enough to be in the same squad with very nice people I shot before - and in one of the events it helped a lot. The Ball cousins are a pleasure to shoot with - they bring such happiness to the range.

And that's my lesson for the competition: be happy. If not for you, then for the others around you. Happiness and joy are contagious. Unfortunately so is grumpiness - and the only way to counter-act is with lots of laughter and joy.

All in all - we had fun. We had to manage the Buckeye's Olympic traps in the morning and evenings, and we had the traps for ourselves 2 full days before and after the competition. We met even more people that way and we shot with some of the juniors from the National team. We made new friends and we had the pleasure of spending time with lots and lots of people. And that's the beauty of this sport: the community. The larger the community, the better will be for the sport's associations and for the athletes themselves.

I am so happy to see the many young people competing down there and I have high hopes for the number of young people that will compete up here as well.

Thank you to all our sponsors and supporters - we made it such a successful year with your help and encouragement!!

Thank you to all our athletes - your dedication was amazing and your hard-work humbling!

Thank you to all the parents - through your efforts we have a huge number of young trap-shooters eager to go out and compete.

And not last - thank you to our Head Coach, Florin. His efforts and dedications brought many sleepless nights, but nothing can made him happier than seeing his athletes performing so wonderful (competition or not). And, to crown it all  - he received a wonderful recognition from our governing body, ATA: he is the recipient of the  2009 ATA Shooting Coach of the Year.

Congratulations to each and every single person that made this year such a success! Thank you all!

After our amazing start of the season in May we have long time ago decided we will finish the season on the same happy note: with the LTS Games. After long and numerous conversations we decided to have it open for everyone and with the summer being as non-summery as possible we pushed the whole event right where it should have been: the very last weekend of August.

We prayed hard for nice weather (I suspect we had one nice weekend over the summer: the Provincials' one) and we started to get ready about a month in advance. Posters went up, word of mouth was spread, lists were made, more lists were made, friends asked how they can contribute, more lists were made and finally the eve of the Games downed upon us.

With the weather forecast getting a bit better (from 100% rain to 80% down to 60% the night before), Dan and Florin proceeded on a bitterly cold and cloudy afternoon to the club, to at least get some tents up, tarp & all... just in case the sunshine boy (aka as Matthew) couldn't save the day.

Luckily enough (strange way to define your luck!) it poured Friday night - and you won't believe it: the moment Florin entered the house the sky opened. Of course we kept praying through the night... and after a mere 3-4 hours of sleep the morning came and I have to be honest: I was completely afraid to open my eyes and check the light... sure enough, when I summoned enough courage I was greeted by gray clouds. My only hope was the temperature - which was decently above 17 and gave me hope for the rest of the day.

Having just a few hours of sleep meant I had troubles getting everyone ready in time, so we pulled into the west side later than we wanted... and what a sight! All our covered area was flooded! We will not be soaked from above; we would be soaked from the ground... Trapshooters being outdoor people, when someone wished we had a shovel ideas started to flow and in moments we had a team literarily digging a trench, a team pushing water with all our means, while Perry smartly went on the other side and returned with all the shovels he could gather. In about half an hour, someone else smartly mentioned we could have moved the white tent... yes, it would have been easier if we would have had enough people in the beginning... now, the area where the tent could have been moved was half-flooded as well so we kept brushing the water down the nice trench. Plus - the kids were so happy to help with building the dam, and splashing in their own 'Lake Ontario'... Taking pity on us, dear Ken came with the tractor from the other side and dumped 3 loads of gravel - saved by Ken! We now had clean and nice grounds and when people start trickling in were all exclaiming 'What a wonderful luck to have no rain'... yeah... lucky...

But, hey, that's how teams are built, isn't it? Not that our team needed more building, we were doing great before  

Anyhow, that's how we'll probably remember our first Summer Games: as the Flooded Games!

And what you know? By the time everyone pulled in and our grounds were 'steppable' again even the sun started to shine above us! Saved again by Matthew!

With all the excitement we couldn't really start when we had planned but nobody was in a real rush, so we proceeded nicely to shoot the first event - 50 singles. We had 4 full squads, 3 of the LTS athletes and 1 of our supporters, friends, or parents. The forecast kept most of non-LTS trapshooters away from the range, and it wasn't much we could do about that. The second event went by as smoothly as the first one - with the non-LTS athletes having probably their most fun, as almost none of them ever shot handicap!

And now, with the competition well behind us, we could continue the fun. And so we did: first we had our hat ceremony for all the first 25 and first 50, followed by the trophies and awards ceremony. We cut the cake for our coach (no, I did not take pictures of the cake when I made it so I cannot show you the beauty!), we presented the 8 trophies and the 2 special awards. I can tell you none of the winners expected to win (maybe Phil had a slight idea) and you could see the surprise on their faces.

Ok, Ok, no more suspense, here is the list:

• Open Champion: Dwight Cowan
• Open R/U - Matt Ciufo
• Open 3rd - Dorin Stanciu (with his personal best in singles, shot with his duck shotgun!)
• LTS Champion: Phil MacDonald
• LTS R/U: Alireza Aliabadi
• LTS Junior: Chloe MacDonald
• LTS New Shooter: Alex Lazich
• LTS Lady: Sacha Kucey
• 'Dwight Cowan' Trapshooting Excellence award: Matthew VanHaaren (for dedication and commitment) & Alex Lazich (for most improved new shooter)

Congratulations to all winners!

And congratulations to everyone - as I was saying in a previous entry, we are grateful for all your support!

The day was not done and almost nobody wanted to leave - and for good reasons, we still had to play the games. We proceeded to a Buddy shoot with our own rules (after 10 shots at 16 yards we moved everyone at 20 yards, the teams were most of them still equal). After all that fun, everyone was still ready for more target smoking, so we had a shoot-out at 27 yards. Now imagine all our 19-20 yarders focusing hard at 27 yards! And imagine a few of them going on for 5 targets! Next year we'll have to have trophies for the games as well

I believe everyone had lots of fun and we had a successful end of the season get-together.

Today the 2010 target year starts - and with it new hopes, new goals, new wishes. Remember to set your goals appropriately - it is all well to aim for the moon if you understand that just landing among the stars is as good. If you need to reach your goal to be happy, make sure your goal is reachable. And make sure your goal is performance related, not results-related. Your results will go up and down (there is only one Dave Shaeffer), but your performance should be (like Dan figured it out) a steady slow climb. It's performance you want to improve - and the results will improve automatically. Always remember: it's better to have 23 smokes than 25 chips... always!

And how do we get the smokes? Oh, com'on, you should know by now: SEE, SMOOTH, SMOKE... ONE!

As you journey through your trapshooting adventures you'll meet lots of people. From my personal point of view, this is the best part of trapshooting: the community and the tons of friends you end up with.

Most of the people you'll meet are amazing ones. You'll find the odd one from time to time, you'll most likely find some of the grumpy ones (note: the better you shoot the grumpier some become); but I believe on average the trap shooters are extremely nice people. And I mean EXTREMELY!

As you meet people, make sure you are not prejudiced. It is probably the easiest attitude: to fit someone in a category, to stamp them with a label, based on a lot of circumstances that might or might not reflect reality. So try hard to keep your mind open.

The main observation I made over time is that shy people pass as arrogant people. And I understand very well (because I am shy, believe it or not) how that might happen: they don't know how to approach strangers, so they keep to yourself... and suddenly people think they don't want to talk to them. And what's the easiest reason to put behind? Of course, they don't want to talk to you because they feel superior. Well... that says a lot about how you feel (remember Eleanor Roosevelt's "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent"...). But nonetheless, here you are, labeling someone as arrogant just because it didn't return your 'hello'.

It is hard not take everything personally, another feeling / attitude I understand very well. But if XYZ didn't smile back to you when you met on the range in the morning it's most likely because he/she was

• preoccupied with the next event
• preoccupied with some personal problems
• preoccupied with some business problems
• worried about the weather

 ... so just relax... don't judge a person by the first meeting... or the second meeting... or... even better: don't judge it at all!

Over these past few years I have been pleasantly surprised by some people and I have been less than pleasantly surprised by others. In the first case - I judged people and thought they were grumpy or too competitive or too arrogant to talk to a newcomer as I was. In most of the cases I found out they were simply preoccupied or, in some cases, they were simply waiting to see if I am serious about the sport or not. In the second case - we all have our own negative experiences and we all must deal with them. Enough to say that I believe the positive experiences are exceeding the number of the negative ones. The balance is always tipped in favour of positive. At least for me.

Another personal observation: The main reason some people are grumpy is a (mistaken if you ask me) perception that getting friendly with your competitors will take the edge of your excellence. I am not arguing the idea; I just feel that life is hard enough and short enough to fill it with unknown enemies, when you can fill it just the same with as many friendly faces. And, besides, being the energy 'magnet' I am I would rather surround myself with positive emotions - starting with my own.

And that's why I keep the memories of each shoot as a combination of performance, results and emotions, in more or less same parts. I believe that emotions impact performance which, in turn, impacts results. It's kind of a golden triangle and getting on the negative side of the emotions will have huge reflection on both performance and results.

And that's why I prefer to see each trapshooter I meet as a friend (until they prove differently, at least).

And that's exactly why I feel the community as a family. I feel lucky to have an extra family - my trapshooting family. I feel privileged to share my "adoptive" family with my real family. I feel honored to count in my extra-family amazing people.

I can only hope I will always make them proud and I will always be worthy of their friendship.

And I am amazingly glad I will meet some of them soon, in Ohio. And not any - but the best: William's 'other Mom' (Gen) and older 'brother' (Cody). We have not worked out the translation of these relationships beyond William, we are just happy to count them as our good friends from down-south.

Slowly the days start to return to normal - it is still a frenzy, mostly because the weeks before Provincials I had to push things down the list and they are creeping slowly, but surely, back on the top.

I've been looking back at the Provincial days, and the whole year and I still can hardly believe the whole competition season is almost behind us. There will be one more major competition, Cardinal Classic next week, and then the LTS Summer Games on the 29th... and... that's basically it for 2009. We will have a few 2010 shoots in September: the major St. Thomas on the long weekend, Toronto International the week after, and a Hamilton Gun Club competition on the 19th.

What do I remember the most of this year (I am referring at the competition year, of course)? I will forever remember the impression our Gold Teams made wherever we went. And I am not talking about colour here, or not only - because the colour itself was a great distinction. I am talking mostly about the feeling we shared - of being together, of being a Team, proudly representing what our school stands for: Safety - Performance - Fun!

The next I will forever remember how all the people came to recognize us - to all gentlemen and ladies @ the Provincials (and not only) who stopped by just to say 'Good job!': we thank you for your nice words. Every single word of enouragement matters to us and we appreciate yours. To understand the depth of our appreciation you should understand the state of the trap shooting community in Canada, and especially in Southern Ontario. Look around yourself when you are next at your club and see what is the average age of the shooters... it is a sport that seems to get older and older every year. And we need the advice of our excellent shooters, we need it badly and we need to pass it to next generations. What we are trying with the school is to bring the new generations into the sport. What we will need from our community is to share their wisdom with the new generations, to be gentle and helpful. Remember when you first started before you criticize next time! Like Thumper's Dad taught his son: 'If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all!' And again - to all that found in their hearts to say something nice: THANK YOU!

I will probably remember as a blur all the activity at each and every shoot. All the fun we had on the range, competing or in practice. I will wonder how I could ever shoot all year without real practice and I will try to practice some more into the new year.

I will remember that results are not important, what really counts is performance. I will remember with distinctive love the day when I finally 'got it together' again. It's the next best feeling after the Zone. I will keep a precious memory of my round of practice this last weekend when Florin and I played some games in handicap and I will try to remember forever that I can, indeed, blast targets from 27 yards; even better than at 22... It will come in handy in the future, when I will gain some 'real estate' for my handicap.

And last, but not least, I will remember our friends and trapshooting family: it is growing larger and stronger every year and it makes me happy.

And I will always remember William's smile when we tell him we have to go to the range, or the seriousness he takes his miniCoach job on. Only last week, after quietly listening to Head Coach explaining a set of information about ammo, trap events and what not to a group of nice ladies and gents trying trapshooting for the first time, he politely asked if he can ask a question. When permission was (graciously) granted by his Dad, what does miniCoach ask? We could hardly believe his 6 years could come up with something as serious and as complex as this notion, but here you are: "When you are shooting doubles, can you use different type of shells for the first shot and second one?" Which shows he does, indeed, listen to all that comes from Daddy and Mommy... And after a moment of gaping at him (all 11 adults available) he got his answer in all the seriousness it asked for.

Now you have to ask him the same question and listen to the answer - I promise you'll have a blast!

This is a blog entry which I am "borrowing" from my personal blog (made for family and written mainly in Romanian) and posted last year after the Great Lakes Grand, in Mason, Michigan. God willing we'll have the chance to return there next year, we had to skip it in 2009 and we missed it dearly. Mason is my second most preferred place to be (after #1: Elysburg, PA) and we love competing there.

While translating it I realized it could have been written as well this year: everything in there holds as much truth today as it was last year.

Any athlete with an ounce of self-respect (and entertaining some thoughts of winning) must have a coach.

Sometimes the coach is one of the parents - at least until the 'offspring', having displayed some talent, either surpasses his 'coach' or starts having an attitude. At that point a new coach should be found.

Sometimes, especially when the athlete starts later in his life, the coach is a friend with good intentions (but usually with zero coaching skills) - this friend will come with lots of advice that might or might not make any sense. When we add a husband-wife relationship into this unfortunate mix, the disaster is imminent, because the athlete will feel now he/she can answer back to the 'unofficial' coach. In cases like this one it's preferable to find a new coach. In the majority of the cases, in fact, what gets dropped is not the coach, but the actual sport.

And every now and then, it happens that the coach is, in fact, a skilled one and knows what to tell his/her student. Even in this case we have quite a few ramifications: the athlete has both talent and passion; the athlete has only talent, and no passion; the athlete has no natural talent, but lots of passion.

In our case God gave us an ideal situation: the skilled coach and the athlete with some natural talent and tons of passion.

I, being for the past 3 years (I can't believe there have only been 3 - it seems like forever) the student with open ears and no mouth (meaning: listening and not answering back), had only to listen to his advice: smile to all and do only what I tell you - and today we have a coach very happy with his student and a student very happy with her coach. And both very happy with the results.

In our case I have to be honest and say that he knows not only what has to be done, but also how to tell the student what has to be done. The ones that know me can tell right away it's pretty difficult to make me do something that's illogical (or only seems illogical or if I don't understand 'why' it has to be done). And somehow he managed to make me advance, to improve my technique one step at the time - up to today's performances.

It's next to impossible to explain what these trophies [note: the trophies where my first ones, won at the Great Lakes Grand in the spring of 2008] mean for me, for us.

It's not about the win, it's about the climb - the exposure, the recognition I won in a blink.

It's not about the trophies - it's about opportunities: to know you can do something that puts you on the top is an incredible feeling. In this specific case, the performance is even more special: it is equally distributed between Category (Lady) and Class. I wasn't only the top Lady in a couple of events; I was also the top shooter in my class in a couple of events. And hearing a nice gentleman asking his friend: 'who's this girl that beat me?!' is not only funny, it is purely amazing.

It's not about the results - it is about performance: and in my quest to climb to the top of the mountain there were always at least 2 people involved: the coach and the student. The ones that think they can achieve high performances without any help whatsoever, just by themselves, are either not very smart, or extremely arrogant. Without my beloved coach I wouldn't have started in this sport, I wouldn't have advanced as much as I did, I wouldn't have performed as well I did. The advice right before entering the line were precious to the last sound - especially his calming advice before Event #6, Doubles, when I found myself in a double 'peril' situation: sudden squad leader (nobody took position 1) while shooting with one of our own legends, Paul Shaw.

If today I can take my post and subconsciously prepare myself - the merit is his for knowing what to tell me and mine for listening and doing exactly what he told me to. If today I can look at the targets and know how to adjust my eye/gun hold - the merit is his for going through different scenarios with me and mine for asking questions and storing his answers. If today I can clear my mind for long enough to focus on the main task (one target at a time) - the merit is his for knowing how to get me to this phase and mine for getting there.

And if today I am proud of myself and my own performance I am equally proud of him, my coach. And my pride is triple: he's not only the best coach I ever met, but he's my better half and an amazing father.

Or how to continue a great Championship!

The officials have been a bit slow in displaying information this year (apparently because some technical difficulties) and so we are slow in confirming some of the amazing results of this weekend.

On Friday, at the Winchester shoot, Garret won the Junior Handicap. His very first win in hist very first competition season!

Yesterday, in the Preliminaries - Chloe won her very first real trophy: Lady Handicap. I hope she'll write something about it, the feelings related to such an event are great!

And today, in the Doubles Championship Phil won the Doubles Class D title - way to go...

Congratulations to all winners!

And to all our competing students: so far you did AMAZING! Matthew shot 300 targets in 3 days and he got better and better each and every day. Today he shot an amazing 76 in handicap, in unbeliveable windy conditions. Smokey B. Alex was constantly smoking targets every day and, by the look on his face, greatly enjoying himself. Sacha discovered the joy of shooting in less than perfect conditions and absolutely loved it! Dan was our usual cheerful team member, always finding ways to uplift the spirit of our young ones.

Welcome to 2009 Ontario Provincial Trapshooting Championships to Gyl, Doug, Alireza, Keith and Anthony - good work!!

We are all looking forward to tomorrow's performances.  

Or let this be the day when 'I got my swing back' 

One of my favourite movies is 'The Legend of Bagger Vance' - I love absolutely everything about it: the director (my #1 actor / director of all times, Robert Redford), the actors (I believe Matt Damon is one of the best in his generation, I love Will Smith to pieces, and I see Charlize Theron as the new Sharon Stone, with more style and finess – if that’s possible), the photography and, most of all, the message. I first watched the movie long before I was entertaining any ideas about competiting, long before I broke my first target. You know how a movie can impress you with one scene the best - and my 'Legend' scene was the one when Matt, after being 12 under par, at the beginning of his second 36 hole run gets the 'See the field' speech from Smith and then... while Will Smith is still talking everything blurs out and it's only him and The Field... then even the field somehow comes closer and closer... in focus... Then, when he hits the ball - it is a perfect move, efortless and beautiful. And you hear Smith's smile: 'Yup, he got his swing back!'

And that's exactly what happened to me today: I got my swing back! It is hard for anyone to understand what such a thing means, unless one had walked in these shoes...

I am unsure how to explain – for a while I have been trying too hard to break those orange targets. I still had fun (lots) and I was enjoying every moment on the range. But for some unknown reasons I wasn’t feeling what I used to feel. I was breaking targets, I even broke some very good scores – but something was missing. Like Bagger says: ‘Well you lost your swing... We got to go find it... Now it's somewhere... in the harmony... of all that is... All that was... All that will be...’  And that’s exactly how it was – I lost something and I had no clue how to get it back.

Then – yesterday it started to click and... today... I’ll let Bagger Vance one more time to explain, he does it so much better:

‘Put your eyes on Bobby Jones... Look at his practice swing, almost like he's searchin for something... Then he finds it... Watch how he settle hisself right into the middle of it, feel that focus... He got a lot of shots he could choose from... Duffs and tops and skulls, there's only ONE shot that's in perfect harmony with the field... One shot that's his, authentic shot, and that shot is gonna choose him... There's a perfect shot out there tryin' to find each and every one of us... All we got to do is get ourselves out of its way, to let it choose us... Can't see that flag as some dragon you got to slay... You got to look with soft eyes... See the place where the tides and the seasons and the turnin' of the Earth, all come together... where everything that is, becomes one... You got to seek that place with your soul Junuh... Seek it with your hands don't think about it... Feel it... Your hands is wiser than your head ever gonna be... Now I can't take you there Junuh... Just hopes I can help you find a way... Just you... that ball... that flag... and all you are...’

I learned just last year that what he's describing is The Zone - and, for the ones who have experienced it, it is probably the most amazing feeling you can have. The beauty of the moment is indescribable. All I know is I still dream about that calm and out-of-this-world feeling.

It wasn’t a full zone what I experienced today, but it was a type of zone (I wonder how many they are...). Today I somehow managed to let the perfect shot to choose me. Instead of searching high and above for it, I became calm and I let it come to me. How I did it – I don’t know. I know before handicap I had a determination to be soft and smooth and all the targets I broke where pure smoke (with a few exceptions). Was it efortless? No, I had to work (that’s how I know it wasn’t THE Zone, that one is pure effortless), but I worked with confidence and determination. I worked with joy, knowing what I was doing and what I am suppose to do.

And then the Doubles event came – and I had an amazing moment there. We started after 7 PM, light was awful and I was still sooo happy about finally getting the ‘click’ in handicap that nothing could have bother me. We took the line, I called for my first pair and I had 2 very good first posts. On post 3 I suddenly remembered how last year I shot this event with Mark Edmondson – a legend of trap shooting, untimely passed away on June 20th. And I will always remember the feeling I had when I got on the line, realizing I was going to lead a squad of amazing trap shooters, me, a brand new shooter with barely 3 years of experience against their decades of excellence. Not only that, but the next day I was to receive the ‘Mark Edmondson’ Award for the most improved shooter in doubles – an added pressure on me. And I will always remember his smile and his pat on the shoulder: ‘You’ll be fine, just have fun’. So I tried and I actually managed to pull off one of my best scores to day, winning the event in preliminary. Imagine my profound surprise when, next morning, for the actual Championship Event – who’s walking the line with me? Same squad, same Mark Edmondson and his friends. Now the pressure was tripled - now they knew I can do it, I had to do it – again! Same smile, same pat – and after the first round, when I shot a not so impressive 43 he looks at me and tells me in a matter-of-factly tone: ‘I know you can do better – how about you do it?’ Somehow, from his tone and attitude, all I gathered was not shame but an amazing strength - and I broke an amazing 48 on the second round. He was happier for my score than I could be. And that evening I found out we were two ladies with the same score and it would be a shoot off. As luck would have it the other Lady was Cheryl Stiby, a good friend of Mark and a wonderful person herself. Mark came to both of us before the shoot-off and told us to make him proud. Then, at the end of 3 hard rounds of shoot-off, he hugged both of us and said we made him proud, indeed.

And back to today, a year later – I am sitting on post 3 and all these thoughts come through my mind in a flash... and I am suddenly flooded with a swirl of emotions... and in a panic I am looking for an idea on how to channel all this energy into something positive. I cling to the first one that comes through my mind: I am shooting these targets for him, for Mark. And although I did not calm out, there is a change inside that makes me focus and smoke the next 50 targets. I loose the edge of all the emotions exactly when I got them (on post 3) and the relaxation brings also a sudden calm. I am happy and I am still sad at the same time. But I know I can do it, because I know there are a few people out there (walking here, on Earth, or up there, in Heaven) that believe in me.

Or, like Bagger Vance put it so eloquently:

‘Yes you can... but you ain't alone... I’m right here with ya... I've been here all along... Now play the game... Your game... The one that only you was meant to play... Then one that was given to you when you come into this world... You ready?... Strike that ball Junuh don't hold nothin back give it everything... Now's the time... Let yourself remember... Remember YOUR swing... That's right Junuh, settle yourself... Let's go... Now is the time, Junuh...’

For all of you out there looking for a lost swing: you are not alone... just play YOUR game... and let it come back to you. Now is time
 

Or - What a great start to the Provincials!

Imagine our home club (Hamilton Gun Club) in the morning, with about 150 trap shooters around (and many more just watching)... and 10% of them being LearnTrapshooting Canada's teams! Isn't that nice?

It is - and it was wonderful to see the golden people all with big smiles and (at least some, I am sure, if not all) quiet nerves. We gathered relatively late - all ready to classify and squad around 10 am - and ambushed Alan @ classification. After we cleaned all the confusions about who has enough targets and who doesn't we were ready to pull the squads and we did so in good time. People behind us were really understanding, I thought some of them will start complaining; but either they came to recognize that we are, in fact, doing a good thing for the sport, or simply they got used to our storming around with lots of gold  Whichever it is - a public and heartfelt 'Thank you!' for your patience, gentlemen, it is much appreciated.

After a few moments of confusion about who needs to pay what (I know, those forms can get really really scary!) we met on the west side, under our beautiful white tent. Cars unpacked, guns put together and into the rack, lawn chairs spread around - and then the humming of the day started... Everyone was excited - to shoot, to watch, to simply be out there. The whole day passed almost without a hiccup - we got pretty good scores, we got several decent ones, we got lots of converstaions along these lines: 'Wow, lots of new people... when did they start?' 'In March [or May or January]' 'What year is that?' 'This year' 'You mean to tell me they have been shooting for less than 6 months?!' 'Yup' 'Oh, they are doing GREAT! Keep doing!'. And we got lots and lots of positive comments from lots of people... Everybody kept saying the same thing over and over: 'This is great - what you are doing here!'.

We even tried to ignore the craziness of the doubles event - which started on the wrong foot and continued that way... the only good thing about it is the fact that when the rain start everyone was completely done  

All in all - a beautiful start of the 4 days of competition. We had fun and we enjoyed our targets. We met some of our good friends and we gained more and more experience.

My lesson for the day? Don't rush! If I could only be patient enough to remind myself that before each and every shot...  And it's not that I don't know what to do, because I do - but that Mr. Hyde kept popping his ugly head in my mind and disturbing my peace. So for me the simplest of advises today: Stay there until you see the target... everything I missed today could have been smoked if I only had waited to see the target first.

But I am happy - beyond the scores (which were all over the spectrum - I am talking about my own) I had a very fun day, with lots of sun and almost no rain (I got half-soaked at the end, looking for my better half, which, for the record, has been beside me 2 seconds before... and then... simply disappeared!), with lots of smoked targets and this simple realization of how much more some patience will bring to my trapshooting life, with lots of friends - what else is there to be wishful for?

I am looking forward to our Provincial Championships - remember: Relax, Relax, and... Have fun!

And, of course: See, Smooth, Smoke - ONE!

P.S. It's clear I haven't mastered this patience 'thingie' - rushing to get a few more other things done I submitted this same article twice... oh, well - I can only hope tomorrow I'll remember to wait and see my targets. Or, like Phil Kiner says in his last Trap & Field article: it's simple - if you can't see it, you can't break it. Truer words have never been spoken...