APRIL 2017 MARKHAM NEWSLETTER

Markham Skeet, Trap, and Sporting Clays APRIL 2017 Volume 8 Issue 4

The April Sporting Clays shoot is Cancelled!

Angel Estevez named to FTA Hall of Fame

Welcome to our new Sporting Clays Chairperson Gerry Stumm!

Work on the Palm Beach Gun Club is underway!

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April 2017

OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS 2016 OFFICERS

Club News - Magazine Review 4-11 Calender of Events Club Calender

12-13

14-15

•

PRESIDENT—Vacant

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VICE PRESIDENT—Vacant

•

TREASURER—Vacant

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SECRETARY— Joe Loitz

•

RECORDING SECRETARY—Jerry Schwab

DIRECTORS:

Palm Beach Trap/Skeet Pro Shop

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Sporting Clays Program and Results

18-19

Skeet Program and Results

20-21

Inside this Calender issue: FSA Skeet

22-23

Trap Program

24-25

Trap Results

26-27

Youth Program

28-29

•

Rich Nilsen

Contact info: Markham Skeet, Trap, and Sporting Clays 11873 NW 30th Street Coral Springs, FL 33065 •

www.markhamclaytargets.com

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www.markhamskeet.org

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www.markhamsportingclays.org

•

E-mail: jloit@bellsouth.net

•

Newsletter: jloit@bellsouth.net

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Next General Meeting Thursday June 1st Starting at 7:00 PM

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Club News The Sporting Clays shoot for April was inadvertently scheduled on Easter Sunday. This being the case we have decided to cancel the shoot. As you can see from the front page, work on the Palm Beach Gun Club is underway! The Rifle and Pistol areas will be completed in the first phase with trap, skeet, and sporting next.

The skeet and trap shoots were small this month owing to bigger shoots competing with them around the state. Newly nominated FTA Hall of Fame member Angel Estevez led the Singles event with a perfect 100. Emilia Ebihara posted a fine 96 in Runner-Up position.

Wu Sheng led the Handicap with a 90.

Paul Billings led the 12, .410, and Doubles events at the recent skeet shoot. Bruce Gordon prevailed in the 20 and Robert Vasquez led the 28 and the HOA. Scores were good when you consider the incredibly windy conditions! Good shooting guys!

On the cover you see our new state champions Andrew Loitz and Gene Bryan. Andrew swept almost all

the Junior Gold trophies and Gene did the same in the Junior category.

Andrew also took home the State High-All-Around championship over all Florida shooters. Congratulations go out to them and our Youth Program. Nice shooting!

The Sporting Clays shoot this month was well attended with 64 shooters! Rodrigo Mehich edged out Mark Bauer and Herbert Kanzki by one target with an 89 to take top honors. Mark and Herbert finished as Runner-Up and M1 respectively.

The Florida State Skeet shoot runs from April 20-23 at Jacksonville this month. The Sporting Clays State Shoot is April 6-9 at Bradford’s Sportsman’s Farm. Good luck to all of our shooters planning on attending those events.

The Dixie Grand has been moved to North Carolina in October. I talked to Bill Miller at Silver Dollar and he has big plans to take its place. I will keep you updated as details become available.

Happy holidays, see you at the club!

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Magazine Reviews TRAP & FIELD – March 2017 We have the second installment of rules for winning from Bob Palmer.

First, learn from your mistakes and loses. Next, the zone needs to be your default setting for life.

Stay positive and roll with the punches.

There is no competition but yourself. It’s just you and the target. Don’t overdo the self-talk. Stay in the quiet mind. Finally, have fun. I want to give a shout out to Wilson McMillan who got a mention from Bob this month.

Nice one, Wilson!

about the joy of seeing a target disappear into a cloud of dust and not much else. Stick with the job at hand and don’t let the outside world distract you from what you want to do!

Are you willing to do what it takes to get to the top of your game? Ron Sutton talks about will power and the will to tough it out but there really aren’t any great pieces of advice here. He reminds us to stick with our routine every shot and to ignore any distractions then gives two examples where he and his son gave into them. Shooting is 5

Magazine Review Shotgun Sports – April 2017 Hold points are like shoes, mine feel comfortable but I’m fairly certain they don’t fit everyone. This doesn’t mean some people wouldn’t find my hold points and shoes nice and cozy. John Bulger gives us a refresher this month on skeet hold points that follows the standard mantra: bottom of the window for the high house, top of the window for the low house and 1/3rd of the way out from the windows for most out goers and 5 -10 feet from the window for most incomers. His point is to remind us to stick with our hold points regardless of background, lighting or weather conditions.

Paul Giambrone III doesn’t adhere to this philosophy. He has boldly stated he moves his hold point further out to compensate for targets he perceives as flying faster than usual. This may be the only reason you would move your hold point. Changes in your hold point vertically aren’t recommended as they may affect your visual acquisition of the target. I raise my hold point on incoming low house targets occasionally when there is a wicked west wind blowing them to the heavens otherwise I don’t make vertical adjustments. Changes in your hold points shouldn’t be made without good reason and careful consideration as I believe Mr. Bulger will agree.

doing, eventually progressing to the subconscious level of automaticity where the shots happen with little conscious input. To get to that level of automatic shooting we do tons of self-analysis on our shooting.

Along the way we start learning how to compete as well, racking up experience as we participate in club shoots and major tournaments.

At some point we start using “deliberate attention” to aid in our shot preparation. Deliberate attention triggers the body and mind to go into automatic mode. It reminds the conscious to attend to seeing the target and prepares the body to move and swing to the target. A key word or phrase starts the cascade of events that are deliberate attention. For some it’s “see the target”, “keep your head down”, or “smooth”.

Doesn’t matter what it is as long as it signals the start of a transition into shooting mode.

Done correctly it helps you prepare for the target and when practiced correctly will aid you in falling into the zone.

Michael J. Keyes, M.D. touches all the bases in his article this month. As we learn to shoot we go from a purely conscious level where we are aware of everything we are 6

CLAY TARGET NATION – March 2017 This month John Shima wrote three articles on shooting and the mental game and Clayton M. Rue wrote two on the Rule of Z and transitioning targets.

John Shima is a true shooting philosopher.

He takes an alternate approach to the get to the same idea as the Ash’s. His path is through our mental state using mindfulness meditation. He wants us to enter a state of mindfulness when we shoot. Mindfulness is the mental state where we are fully in the zone, emotion has sloughed away and all we are is a shooter and a target. In mindfulness we enter a state of emotional detachment from our shooting. Thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations come into our awareness and are experienced without judgement. They are acknowledged then released so as not to interfere with our shooting. It takes trust and dedication to reach this state, but if you can, the shooting just happens and is effortless. I only achieved it one summer and then only in trap doubles. Would love to go back to that summer!

John describes a method of meditation called awareness of breath and recommends starting with 10 minute sessions each day. There are several meditation methods and I suggest you look into several before you decide on one suited for you.

John’s method is a common one: Sit with

your back upright and straight in a quiet environment, breath in through your nose then exhale.

Concentrate on the simple task of breathing, how the air comes in through your nose, pulling it in using your diaphragm using your abdominal muscles then back out your nose. Personally, I like breathing out through my mouth.

Use introspection or soul-searching to find key thoughts or feelings that interfere with your shooting and reflect on ways to disconnect these from your shooting. Examine your thoughts as you shoot and when you come across ones that are counterproductive note them in your shooting journal. Later find ways to steer yourself away from them or ways to disassociate them from your shooting routine. Two good ideas from John, Vicki and Gil. Try one or the other and see how they work for you!

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Magazine Review What starts out as an article on shooter psychology turns into one on philosophy this month for Gil and Vicki Ash. Psychology works for some people, for others taking a philosophical approach provides a better result. Philosophically, it’s just you and the target. Let go and shoot one target at a time.

Gil and Vicki believe in an approach where you build a persona around your shooting, one you feel comfortable with. Basically, the same persona you embrace during your normal life. One that doesn’t fall prey to the pressures of trying to shoot high scores. If you become uptight and nervous when you get ready to shoot, you know you left your normal persona behind and have assumed one you don’t want.

I had to read their article several times before the message really sank in and it is a good message once you understand what they are getting at. Expectation has always been the enemy of a good round of shooting. Imposing expectations on your performance does nothing but ruin a good day. As soon as you miss you create anxiety about meeting your expectations. This means the conscious mind is getting involved and causing even more problems. Relax and shoot, let what you know about shooting come forth, solving each station as you meet it. Other thoughts just interfere with the job at hand.

Shoot and do nothing else. Let go of the expectations and just play the game.

imposed expectations. See the job that must be done and let your subconscious work its magic. Don’t over think it. Don’t let societal pressures get to you. The score you achieve is yours and yours alone. Worrying about winning or what others think of you and your score are a waste of time and take all the joy out of shooting. This is what Gil and Vicki are talking about. Just be you and forget the outside world. This is the best you and the one who should be shooting. Quit imposing an idealized version of yourself on your shooting before you step to the line.

The best you carries no baggage and is only there to shoot. Good idea and one rarely believed or lived to its fullest.

Gil and Vicki suggest inuring yourself to tournaments by shooting as many of them as possible. I can’t disagree with the idea.

Shoot enough tournaments and you will be less susceptible to putting unnecessary pressure on yourself and your shooting. They also suggest making everything on tournament days a habit. Do this and it increases the automaticity of your shooting. Can’t disagree with that either.

This is the shooting persona they want you to assume. The normal you, the one who goes about everyday normal tasks with no 8

The Rule of Z states that your muzzle must always travel in three straight lines. Evidently Clayton M. Rue has never shot trap or skeet doubles. Some very successful shooters loop their barrels when they swing to the second target. He is correct howver when he says the line the muzzle travels from the hold point to break point should never cross the target’s line of flight (always stay below the target line). Clayton’s theory holds that three straight lines exist between a pair of targets. The first takes you from the hold point to break point for the first target. The second moves you from this break point to

the second target’s hold point, then straight to the break point for the second target: “no wasted movement and no spoiled lines.”

Nowhere does Clayton ever mention looking for the second target. You simply swing to the second hold point, then I guess we start looking for the target. This may be misleading for some shooters. The crux of the article is about preventing spoiled lines when swinging over to a second target. Stay under the second target when you swing over to it and going to a designated hold point gets you repositioned to prevent this.

It’s not the way I shoot however. I start my swing to the second target with the prime directive being visual acquisition of it. I know from years of experience to stay under the target line and if the move is that great I also know to the drop the gun off my shoulder to get a better read on the second bird.

Clayton does suggest correctly to visualize the move from the first bird to the second, something many of us don’t do.

We break the first target and only have a vague plan for the second one. Visualizing the move from break point to the new hold point may give us a heads-up on any problems we may encounter.

Best advice from all of this is stay under the target line.

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Concentration is draining both physically and mentally.

You only need to stay focused for about three seconds on each target. We also need to pay heed to wind conditions, lighting, background, etc., but those are things we notice and require only recognition not concentration. In total we only need to pay attention for 75 seconds per every round of trap or skeet. Even less time is required when you are standing in a sporting clays cage. So, why is it so hard to stay focused for an entire event? John Shima gives us some ideas on why this happens and how to stay in the game when you are on the line.

Overconcentrating is taxing physically and mentally. Between post, stations, or traps you need to let the mind wander off and relax. You don’t need to be thinking about your shooting constantly, only when it’s your turn to shoot. Your Pre-shot routine and your use of deliberate attention – key words – will setup the next target when the time comes. Your Pre-shot routine should also include visualization to enhance your

awareness. It prepares you for what you are going to feel and see. This preparation phase can eliminate some of the surprise factor and may save you precious fractions of a second when you react to the target.

Quit the mental grinding between shots and stations. Prepare a good pre-shot plan and routine that doesn’t take overly long to enter into or execute and you will stay fresh and ready to shoot when your turn comes.

If Clayton M. Rue has a mantra it is “don’t set your break point at the transition point.”

He prefers to shoot birds under power rather than as they stall in the transition zone.

We miss in the transition zone for three reasons: the target is continuously changing speed and it is hard to read, secondly, our muzzles are traveling up while the target is starting to travel down, and finally, as the target starts to transition the barrels will block the shooter’s view of the target. Obviously, if you choose to break the target in the transition zone you want a hold point providing a straight-line to the target without blocking it from view by the barrels.

He also likes to pick a landmark to associate with the transition zone. Never a fan of this idea but he recommends it and suggests you include it in your shot-planning. The transition zone for a target is a dangerous area and you should approach any transition area with caution if you pick it as your break point.

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John Shima must come across a boat load of students who check the lead rather than trusting their sight picture because this is his big issue: trusting your lead to your adaptive unconscious (also known as the subconscious and/or true self). Why don’t we trust our shooting? Why do we check our leads? John suggests most of this has to do with the Ego Self raising its ugly head and trying to take over the shooting process. When we talk to ourselves we do it in two ways: instructionally and motivationally. John suggests this activates the Ego Self and staying away from both types of self-talk and shoot with a quiet mind to go along with our quiet eyes.

Once you’ve achieved a certain level of shooting competency you should quiet your mind and trust your shooting self to get things done. Watch the target break as you move into the perfect pre-planned move to the target. Let yourself shoot and don’t place any emotional value on the results. We don’t place emotional value when we strike a nail with a hammer and breaking the tar-

get should be the same. Leave any intention to break the target behind and simply watch the target break.

John believes we should trust your shooting and pull the trigger at your break point regardless of the sight picture rather than allowing yourself to check the lead. For skeet, practice singles on stations 2 through 6, paying particular attention to your visual depth of focus “above and beyond the gun”. Watch the targets break and take joy in the feeling of a good break!

If you are checking leads in sporting clays your problems start at your hold point. You are probably starting your move too far away from the target. Start closer to the target to get a good feel for its speed. If you don’t get good initial sync between the barrels and the target you become lost and end up looking for the lead rather than feeling it.

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People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.

- Dale Carnegie

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Calender of events: Gun Shows: May 6-7th Ft. Lauderdale War Memorial Aud.

Skeet this month: Markham

for $579.90 for 10 flats. This includes shipping. These are 11/8 oz., 7 1/2’s & 8’s, 1200 fps, 12 gauge.

Dick’s: They are running specials every other week. Watch the papers and check out their website.

Apr. 1st

South Florida Apr. 29th

Trap this month: Indian River

Apr. 2nd

Markham

Apr. 23rd

Gulf Coast Clays Apr. 9th South Florida

Apr. 8th

Sporting This month: Indian River

Apr. 1st

Quail Creek

Apr. 12th

South Florida

Apr. 23rd

Gulf Coast Clay Apr. 23rd OK Corral

Apr. 15th

Markham

Cancelled

Current shell specials: Walmart: Currently selling Winchester Universal and Federal 4 packs at $21.74 (12 & 20 ga.).

Cabela’s has Herter’s shells on sale

Success is not the key to happiness.

Happiness is the key to success.

If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

- Albert Schweitzer 13

April 2017 Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat 1 Skeet Tourney

2

3 Youth Program

9

10 Youth Program Cancelled

16

17

Sporting Youth Tourney Program cancelled

23

24

Trap Youth Tourney Program

4

5 Skeet Night

11 Skeet Night

18 Skeet Night

25 Skeet Night

6 Trap Night

12 Trap Night

19 Trap Night

26 Trap Night

7

8

14

15

21

22

28

29

Sporting Clays

13 Sporting Clays

20 Sporting Clays

27 Sporting Clays

30

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May 2017 Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

1

2

3

4

5

6

Youth Program

7

8 Youth Program

14

15 Youth Program

21

22

Sporting Youth Tourney Program

28

29

Trap Youth Tourney Program

Skeet Night

9

Trap Night

10 Skeet Night

16 Skeet Night

23 Skeet Night

30 Skeet Night

Trap Night

17 Trap Night

24 Trap Night

Skeet Tourney

Sporting Clays

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12

13

19

20

26

27

Sporting Clays

18 Sporting Clays

25 Sporting Clays

31 Trap Night

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PALM BEACH TRAP/SKEET PRO SHOP FIREARMS ALL NEW FIREARMS WHOLESALE PLUS 10% TRADES INS ACCEPTED

AMMUNITION AMMUNITION WHOLESALE COST PLUS $2.00 PER CASE WITH 10 CASE ORDER $4.00 LESS THAN 10 DELIVERIES TO Ft Lauderdale/Miami CONFIRMED WITH ORDERS

CALL FOR CURRENT PRICES ON FIREARMS/AMMUNITION

561-793-8787 THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR BUSINESS JOE FORDHAM 16

2015-2016 Schedule of NSCA Sporting Clay Tournaments

Date

Tournament

Saturday - Jan 21, 2017

Snow Bird Open

Sunday - Feb 5, 2017

Honest Abe's Birthday Bash

Sunday - Mar 26, 2017

St. Patrick's Day Open

Saturday - Apr 16, 2017

Spring Blast

Sunday - May 21, 2017

Memorial Day Open

Saturday - Jun 24, 2017

15th Annual Sunshine State Classic

Saturday - Jul 15, 2017

Super Sizzle Open

Saturday - Aug 12, 2017

Summers End Open

Sunday - Oct. 8, 2017

Pumpkin Blast

Sunday—Nov. 5, 2017

Richard Merritt Memorial

Saturday—Dec 30, 2017

Bud Wolfe Classic

Talent is God-given; be humble.

Fame is mangiven; be thankful.

Conceit is selfgiven; be careful.

- John Wooden

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SPORTING CLAYS PROGRAM Markham Skeet, Trap & Sporting Clays Club

MEMORIAL DAY OPEN 100 Targets Shot over 14 Stations

SUNDAY MAY 21ST Registration: Opens 8:30 a.m. and will close at 10:00 a.m.

All scorecards must be turned in by 1:00 p.m. in order to be posted.

Entry Fee: $50 N.S.C.A., $50 Hunter, $35.00 SubJunior, Junior No Scorers or Trappers will be provided.

Shooters will be asked to squad themselves into groups of at least 4 and designate a field judge to verify scores for the squad.

This is a Targets Only format with No Lunch served.

COURSE RULES: All shooters and spectators are required to wear ear and eye protection on the course.

MAXIMUM LOADS PERMITTED: 12GA, 3 DR EQ, 1 1/8 oz. Shot 7 1/2.

For additional information contact: Steve Haynie (954) 980-4240 email: sdhaynie@comcast.net For Tournament Schedules and Shoot Results Please Visit Our Website: www.markhamsportingclays.org

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SPORTING CLAYS RESULTS

CONCURRENTS LADY CH CHARLIE DE ANGELIS LADY RU JULIE REPIK JUNIOR CH DAVID RUBIO JUNIOR RU NICHOLAS BLENKER VET CH MARK J. BAUER VET RU KEN ERIKSON SUPER VET CH GERRY STUMM SUPER VET RU HANK CARROLL SR SPR VET CH TERRENCE BOLGER SR SPR VET RU STEVEN QUINT HUNTER CH GREG HERMAN HUNTER RU BARRY CORWIN HUNTER 3RD JUAN CABALNILLAS

64 51 83 1 88 86 85 85 66 63 81 79 76

MAIN EVENT HOA 64 ENTRANTS CH RODRIGO A. MEHECH RU MARK J. BAUER M1 HERBERT KANZKI M2 MARIO O'FARRILL M3 W.T. MUIR AA1 KEN ERIKSON AA2 GERRY STUMM AA3 HANK CARROLL A1 JULIO MARTINEZ A2 BRUCE TAYLOR A3 DAVID M. KORDZIKOWSKI B1 NATHAN EVANS B2 STEVEN DEUTSCH B3 GILBERT C. TOPLIFF C1 DAVID RUBIO C2 CARLOS RUBIO C3 JULIAN B. HUERTA D1 JUAN DIEGO TAMAYO D2 STEVEN D. HAYNIE D3 SILVIO PLANT E1 JAMES OLYMPIOS E2 GLENN HUBER E3 AUSTIN POOL

89 88 88 85 82 86 85 85 83 81 80 84 84 76 83 72 72 79 72 69 74 73 71

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MONTHLY SKEET PROGRAM Price per 50 targets includes $5/100 NSSA/FSA Fee

.410 gauge 28 gauge 20 gauge 12 gauge Doubles

50 Targets 50 Targets 50 Targets 50 Targets 50 Targets

$19.50 $19.50 $19.50 $19.50 $19.50

Shoots usually held the first Saturday of every month.

Gauges may be shot out of sequence with the permission of management. More than one 50 target program may be shot in the same gauge as a preliminary event.

AWARDS Break a 50, 75, or 100 Straight and get one of these guaranteed awards!

50 Straight Kennedy Half Dollar 75 Straight Eisenhower Dollar 100 Straight Morgan Silver Dollar 50 Straight Doubles Liberty Silver Half 20

Skeet Shoot Results

It is possible to do everything right with no mistakes and still lose.

That's just life! But if you approach a challenge tentative and afraid that you will make mistakes, you will lose! Do your best; - Tony

Calabrese

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Trap Program SPECIAL NOTICE

Trap Program:

*** PROGRAM CHANGE ***

We are changing our Trap Tournaments back to Sundays for the 2016-2017 season.

100 target 16 Yd, Hdcp and Doubles events.

First 100 targets. $37.00 (Includes ATA and FTA daily fees)

ATA SHOOT SCHEDULE 2016-2017

February 26th March 12nd April 23th May 28th June 25th July 23th August 27th

Subsequent 100 target events. $32.00 See Joe Loitz for details: 954-857-5278

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WEDNESDAY NIGHT SHOOTING IS STILL POPULAR WITH THE SHOOTERS. SIGN UP WITH STEVE NORRIS AND THE REST OF THE REGULARS AND TRY YOUR SKILL AND LUCK AT ALL THE GAMES.

Come out and join the fun!

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TRAP RESULTS

SINGLES

SINGLES

CLASS

SCORE

ANGEL ESTEVEZ

B

100

EMILIA EBIHARA

D

96

WU SHENG

B

94

PHIL DEMENA

D

92

ALFRED PENACHIO

D

89

ORACIO RICCOBONO

D

82

AARON KLETZKIN

D

81

HENRY DE LA CRUZ

D

79

DAX DEMENA

D

76

MARIO CERQUIERA

D

57

26

Handicap HANDICAP

YARDAGE

SCORE

WU SHENG

20

90

DAX DEMENA

20

79

HENRY DE LA CRUZ

20

76

EMILIA EBIHARA

20

69

PHIL DEMENA

20

67

Doubles Volume 8 Issue 4

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Youth Program

Last month was busy with over a dozen new shooters joining us each Monday night. I can’t say enough about all of our volunteers. These guys show up every Monday night and give their all to the kids and to the program. Again, let’s give a big shout out to Andrew Loitz and Gene Bryan for doing so well at the state shoot. I still look forward to every Monday session and like to think working with these shooters keeps all of us a little younger at heart!

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ADVERTISERS Professional and Industry Vendors

We are going to update this section of the newsletter on a continuing basis as requests come in.

If you would like to advertise your business in this section of the newsletter contact me at: jloit@bellsouth.net Joe Loitz at 954-857-5278 Business Cards - $50 for one year Full Page ads - $200 for one year

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