I just spent an hour watching the women’s trap final thanks to the impressive streaming web broadcasts at nbcolympics.com and couldn’t help but be impressed by the level of shooting on display. This should really go without saying, of course, as the Olympic shooting disciplines are the world’s toughest.

Two things really stood out, however, that would benefit any shooter at any level. First, was the consistency of technique. All six of the women had their individual styles but that style never varied when they shot. From loading the gun to mounting the gun to calling for the target to the follow-through: each shooter had her set routine. Want to break more targets? Be consistent.

The second thing was really a subset of consistency and that was their follow-through. All the shooters were amazingly smooth and kept their barrels moving after the shot. This was particularly noticeable on the hard-angle targets.

Except when they missed.

Granted, the misses were not many, but it was amazing to see that when they did miss their barrels were almost always not moving in the same smooth fashion. While I was rooting for each and every one of them to smash the hell out of their targets I couldn’t help but smile when witnessing this mistake, if for no other reason than I knew exactly how they felt, having done it so often myself.

Also, congratulations to Corey Cogdell (pictured above) on capturing the bronze medal in the event. It was an inspiration to watch her fight back after dropping behind the leaders in the beginning part of the match.

—John Snow