B2 -Thomasville Times - Saturday, July 10,2010
SPORTS
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Working on their Game
Campers from the Davidson County Community College Storm basketball camp pose for a picture after a great week of learning the fundamentals of the game of basketball
and refining their skills. The camp was conducting by Storm head coach Matt Ridge along with DCCC assistant coaches and former players.
Are you still beating your wife:
?
It’s an old joke that
can’t be answered with
out making yourself
look bad whether you
answer yes or no, but
I’m proud to say that
I’ve beaten my wife,
Cherie, twice this week.
It has been a while since
the last time I beat her
and, I can tell you, it
felt pretty good. I’ve
been in a slump and
she’s been beating me
on a regular basis and,
frankly, I was getting
a little tired of it.
No, I don’t abuse my
wife and she doesn’t
abuse me, I spoU her and
she deserves spoiling.
Most men I know would
give their eye teeth for a
wife that hunts, fishes,
and shoots. (At least
they would until that
wife started outshooting
them on a regular basis,
which is exactly what
Cherie’s been doing).
A couple of years back
I gave her a Parker 20
gauge shotgun for her
birthday and she had
the nerve recently to use
it to repeatedly outshoot
me. This week, I beat
her twice, shutting her
out at Five Stand, a clay
target shotgun game.
When the hunting sea
son is over, most hunt
ers put the guns up and
don’t touch them until
dove season. There’s
nothing wrong with that
but, if you’re like me,
you get rusty. As a shoot
ing instructor, I find
there are two kinds of
people, those who take
to shotguns easily and
those Who really have to
work at it. Unfortunate
ly, for me. I’m one of the
ones that have to work
at it and, were it not
for clay targets, I’d be a
sorry shooter Indeed.
I did quite a bit of
wingshooting this win
ter and shot really well.
The last duck hunt I
went on, I hit more than
I missed. 1 shot a lot of
chukars in the process
of training my young
lab, Larry, and I did a lit
tle clean up shooting for
pheasant hunts at Bea
ver Pond Sporting Club.
Once the season ended,
I got busy with striped
bass and forgot about
the guns for a while.
With my level of
hand/eye coordination,
that spelled disaster.
When the fishing season
was over, I went back to
doing a little shooting
and suffered the relent
less humiliation of my
wife outshooting me on
a regular basis. Cherie
has steadily improved
as a shotgunner since
she began shooting
seriously four years ago.
OFF THE PORCH
DICK JONES
Outdoor Colurrnist
but the big factor was
me. I’m not sure I could
have hit my own foot.
Since one of the
things I do to earn bread
is teach people how to
shoot, this is humiliat
ing. I can walk away
from the pistol and rifle
for quite a while with
out losing much, but
the shotgun requires
constant maintenance
on my part. I’m not
coordinated. I’m so
uncoordinated that I can
barely drive and talk at
the same time. Shotgun
ning is a hand/eye sport
and I have to stay with
it to keep from losing it.
A big part of that
hand/eye problem
relates to confidence. A
confident shotgunner
doesn’t question what
he’s doing as he fires a
shot. That confidence
allows him to smoothly
swing, break the shot,
and follow through. If
the shooter is question
ing his lead or swing
as he fires the shot, he
tends to have a jerky
swing which puts him
in front of or behind
the target at times. Pull
the trigger at the wrong
time and you miss.
True, you have to have
all the fundamentals
but once you have tliose
fundamentals, confi
dence is one of the most
valuable factors in your
success at shotgunning.
As a gangly, awkward
58-year-old, I lose the
smoothness of my swing
and my follow through
as soon as I leave the
gun in the safe for
more than three or four
weeks. Once I miss shots
I think I should have hit,
I start to analyze and
my confidence goes out
the window. The loss
of confidence creates a
self -fulfilling prophecy
because I start to second
guess my lead, jerk the
trigger, and stop my
follow through to see
If 1 broke the target.
When that happens,
I have to get back to
basics and shoot con
fidence targets. Confi
dence targets are shots
that are easy for the
shooter to make. For^
them to really help, they
must vary in nature, but
allow the shooter to hit
a high percentage and
get his or her groove
back. Simple crossers,
quartering away shots,
and shots that are easy
to pick up and present
predictable flight paths
give the struggling
shooter the ability to
break a high number
and recover his confi
dence. Once you begin
•hitting those targets
regularly, you can move
back to the trickier
shots and, for me at
least, it’ll aU come back.
A really good way to
do this is to shoot a high
percentage of shots that
are close range shots.
This allows you to use
a really open choke and
increase your odds. A
skeet range is perfect
for this. It offers a wide
variety of targets at
close range. Shooting
light loads with low
recoil also helps by
increasing your comfort
level. During a slump is
no time to experiment
with equipment. Use
what has served you
well in the past, there’s
an inherent confidence
boost in using what
has worked before.
Of course, the real
solution is to shoot.
We’re not that far from
the shooting season and,
if you were frustrated
with your shooting last
year, maybe you should
consider some confi
dence building now, be
fore you humiliate your
self in the dove field.
Cherie and I will be
running the Five Stand
today at PHA in Church-
land. We start shoot
ing at 9 a.m. Come and
watch me beat my wife.
For directions to PHA,
go to phashoots.com.
Dick Jones is a
freelance writer liv
ing in High Point.
He is a retired competi
tive shooter, and NRA
Certified Instructor. He
captained numerous
National Championship
Teams. He is a Distin
guished Rifleman and
an NRA Certified Rifle,
Shotgun, and Pistol
Instructor. He teaches
N.C. Concealed Carry
Classes and does public
speaking for clubs and
organizations, hosts
outdoor events, and
helps church and youth
groups raise money
with outdoor events.
You can visit his
website at offthe-
porchmedia.com and
contact him at offthe-
porch52@yahoo.com.
WAY
From pageBI
stepped Zak Wasserman
of Louisville, who deliv
ered a laser ground ball
through the box to score
the game-winner.
Reliever Johnny Hoff
man deserves much
of the credit, though,
pitching 5 2/3 innings of
scoreless baU to get the
win. He did not overpow
er, but produced easy
balls for his defense to
handle behind him.
“He has been working
hard aU year but has
struggled,” said Dorz-
weUer. “We told him that
we believe in you and
we are not giving up on
you. He has worked his
tail off and it showed to
night.”
Starting games have
been tough for the pitch
ing staff of the HiToms
this season, and the first
inning was no different.
Starter Ben Grisz gave
up a single to leadoff
hitter Matthew McGov
ern, who was sacrificed
to second via the bunt.
Grisz then struck out
Matthew Black, needing
just one more out to get
in the dugout.
Cleanup hitter Cody
Pack made him wait at
least one more batter, as
the slugger lifted an op
posite-field home run off
the bottom of the netting
in right-center field, as
the Mustangs galloped
out to a 2-0 lead.
While Martinsville
starter Michael White
was busy handcuffing
the HiToms hitters, his
offense was going back
to work getting him some
more run support.
A run in the third
pushed the lead to three
then two more in the
fourth made it 5-0 Mus
tangs, as the Tommies
were facing another up
hill climb like they have
done aU season.
Hargis and Freder
ick helped make the
trek up the incline a bit
shorter in the fifth, as
Hargis brought in Kyle
Grieshaber with a bases
loaded walk and Freder
ick scored David Roney
on a fielder’s choice.
White’s arm showed
signs of fatigue a frame
later, as he yielded two
more runs to leave the
HiToms -trailing by a
single run. Matt Dillon
singled to start the in
ning and was brought
home a batter later on
a double down the left
field line by Daniel Kas-
souf. After making his
way to third on a wild
pitch, Kassouf covered
the final 90 feet thanks to
a sacrifice fly off the bat
of Grieshaber.
The rally kept plug
ging along, as the final
two runs in the ninth
kept hopes high of mak
ing a huge push in the
second half.
“I knew we had the
team and talent to come
back and win these close
ball games,” Dorzweiler
said. “To come back and
win one like this feels
awesome.”
Notes: The HiToms im
prove to 2-5 in the second
half standings while the
Mustangs fall to 3-4 ...
Frederick and Dillon
had two hits each.
Save an average of $489*
Stop here for great rates with
America’s #1 car insurance company*’.
Give meacalitoday.
475-8176
Like a good neighbor. State Farm Is theref
Diane Webb, President
28 W Guilford Street
StateFarm
statefarm.com'
•Avgrsse 3>iiiua! per hcu$elif.id sav;nii5 based wi a ostloiai 2009 suivey cf rev.’ pdicylHldafs >Mia
r/jported sivthss 6V swi'diins *'3 Slate Farni.
Do you have
TYPE 2 DIABETES
and take Metformin?
Mendenhall Clinical Research Center is conducting clinical studies with
investigatiorial drugs to treat Type 2 Diabetes.
You May Qualify If You:
• Have been on Metformin, 1 OOOmg or more daily, without changing
your dose for at least 3 months
• Have NOT been on any other diabetic medicines for at least
3 months.
• Are male or female aged 18-75. (Females MUST be postmenopausal
or surgically sterile).
If you are selected to participate, you will receive compensation of
$3400 for stucly completion.
Dr. Georgia Latham is the doctor conducting this study.
For more information please contact Tom Lynch at the
Mendenhall Clinical Research Center at
336-841-0700 ext. 2517 or by email at
tlynch@mendenhallcrc.com.
Mendenhall Clinical Research Center
4160 Mendenhall Oaks Pkwy., Suite 105 • High Point, NC 27265
877-296-1444 3000
T