“He felt that everyone had one or two areas where they became expert savants for events, sport and often recreation.”
My son was having trouble hitting any trap targets so I figured I’d spring for an hour with an expert. At the end of it my young daughter who had tagged along was offered a chance to shoot.
She had shot a .22 but never the shotgun. The expert gave her some basic instructions (and impressed with her safety skills). She is OCD and has a hard time if things don’t go just right. I warned her that the clay pigeons are easy to miss so don’t get frustrated.
She proceeded to hit 8 out of 10 birds out of the trap machine (although he did dial the speed down a bit). She joined the shooting team, the expert offered her free instruction, etc.
She got pretty good. The main thing was that it was really good therapy. She wouldn’t get frustrated when she would miss birds. It took her awhile to build up the confidence to do skeet, but once she did it she worked at it had was good at that too. Then sporting clays. In most things she is so up and down in her emotions. With shooting it was just focusing on the shooting and she wouldn’t get down if she missed or excited if she hit it.
Although there were times after getting a perfect score at a sporting clay station that she would crack a smile!
Thanks for sharing this great story about your daughter.
You and she have found a sport where she can excel.
Sometimes, that is like opening doors to better activities and creating more confidence.
I’m a firm believer in using pros like you did with your daughter to teach a complex skill to kids.