Fred Ferraro on Competition Mindset, Coaching & Clay Target Success – Clay Mastermind with Dawn Grant: Mental Excellence and Industry Insight

Send us Fan MailFred Ferraro joins Dawn Grant on Clay Mastermind: Mental Excellence and Industry Insights for an in-depth conversation on Sporting Clays, coaching, competition mindset, pressure management, and developing champion shooters. Fred is a resident instructor at the Dallas Gun Club, an NSCA-certified instructor, competitive clay shooter, CrossFit coach, and lifelong student of performance and human behavior. In this episode, Fred shares his journey from growing up in Texas after moving from New York City as a child to eventually building a successful career in information technology and networking before transitioning into full-time coaching. Fred explains how his highly analytical personality shaped his early approach to shooting sports, including measuring lead distances, building spreadsheets, and trying to calculate every variable before eventually discovering the importance of target focus, instinctive shooting, and visual connection.Dawn and Fred discuss the major turning points that transformed his shooting career, including working with respected instructors such as Brad Kidd Jr., Scott Robertson, Steve Liberto, Dan Carlisle, and longtime mentor Ronnie Williams. Fred explains how learning to truly “look at the bird” changed everything for both him and his son and became one of the foundational principles of his coaching philosophy.A major focus of the episode centers around the mental game and how competitors handle pressure. Fred openly discusses his own struggles with emotional reactions during competition and how he worked to become more emotionally stable and mentally consistent under pressure. He shares observations from coaching youth athletes, explaining how some shooters need to become more energized while others perform best when calm, controlled, and emotionally neutral.The conversation also explores Fred’s highly intentional coaching methods. Dawn and Fred discuss how pressure cannot fully be recreated in practice, but how coaches can deliberately expose students to distractions, interruptions, emotional triggers, and competitive situations to help them build stronger mental habits. Fred shares examples of intentionally distracting students, creating pressure scenarios, and teaching athletes how to reset mentally and return to their process after interruptions.Dawn and Fred also discuss confidence, self-image, and helping athletes believe they are capable of becoming champion-level competitors. Fred explains how strong shooters often plateau until they develop the belief that they truly belong at a higher level of competition. He shares how building confidence, emotional resilience, and trust in a process becomes just as important as mechanics and repetition.The episode also covers pre-shot routines, visualization, emotional control, preparation habits, hydration, tournament routines, and learning to control the variables that can be controlled before competition begins. Fred explains how he eliminates unnecessary stress by organizing equipment, food, timing, and routines so that all his focus can remain on execution.Throughout the conversation, Dawn and Fred bridge the gap between mechanics, mindset, repetition, subconscious programming, and peak performance under pressure. This episode offers valuable insight for Sporting Clays shooters, instructors, youth athletes, coaches, and competitors who want to improve both their technical skills and mental game. Fred Ferraro LinksEmail: [email protected] Gun Club Instructor Page: Dallas Gun Club Dawn Grant Links  https://dawngrant.com/ https://mindmastered.com/  https://ameliashotgunsports.com/  Free webinar here: https://f.mtr.cool/wehmqlchqhSupport the show10% OFF ShotKam Coupon Code “TheClayLab”: https://bit.ly/TheClayLab-ShotKamVisit Us at www.claylabusa.com for videos, podcasts, and articles about Sporting Clays. Join as a Channel Member for early access to Videos & Podcasts and to support The Clay LabFind us on Social MediaYouTubeInstagramFacebook