Jared Wolfe on Sporting Clays, Creativity & the Mental Side of Performance – Clay Mastermind with Dawn Grant: Mental Excellence and Industry Insight

Send us Fan MailJared Wolfe joins Dawn Grant on Clay Mastermind: Mental Excellence and Industry Insights for a thoughtful conversation on Sporting Clays, creativity, competition mindset, flow state performance, craftsmanship, and the mental side of peak performance. Jared is a competitive Sporting Clays shooter, instructor, craftsman, and lifelong outdoorsman based in Denver, Colorado. In this episode, Jared shares how his love for shooting began at an early age through family hunting trips, cap guns, hand-thrown clay targets, and recreational shooting with his father, brother, and grandfather. Although he briefly experimented with trap shooting as a child, he quickly became drawn toward more creative and dynamic target presentations. Jared explains how the variety and artistic nature of Sporting Clays immediately captured his attention once he discovered the sport competitively years later.Dawn and Jared discuss the similarities between Sporting Clays, art, masonry, and other forms of human performance. Jared shares his background studying fine art and sculpture before eventually returning to work in his family masonry business. Throughout the conversation, they explore how creativity, craftsmanship, and instinctive execution apply both to building structures and breaking targets.A major focus of the episode centers around flow state and the zone. Jared explains how he experiences the zone regularly not only while shooting, but also during masonry work and other focused activities that require complete presence and concentration. Dawn and Jared discuss how the zone is not exclusive to sports but is instead a human performance state that can appear in art, construction, theater, music, business, and everyday life.The conversation also explores the balance between analytical thinking and instinctive performance. Jared explains how some shooters rely heavily on measurements, calculations, and conscious analysis, while others operate more from feel, rhythm, trust, and subconscious awareness. He describes how his artistic and creative background helped him develop a more intuitive relationship with movement, timing, and target connection.Dawn and Jared also discuss the importance of practicing mental discipline outside of competition. Jared emphasizes that being present while driving, working, spending time with family, or handling stressful situations becomes part of training the mind for performance under pressure. He explains that shooters who only practice focus during tournaments often struggle because they have not developed those habits consistently throughout daily life.The episode also covers gratitude, emotional control, and personal responsibility during competition. Jared shares why negativity, complaining, and fixation on external circumstances can quickly pull shooters out of the zone. Dawn and Jared discuss how gratitude, positivity, and appreciation for the sport, target setters, volunteers, and venues help competitors remain grounded and mentally present.Jared also shares his experiences with competition shooting, instruction, target setting, and his time working with respected target setters including Joe Scull. The conversation highlights the creativity behind Sporting Clays target presentation and the challenge of balancing fun, fairness, difficulty, and artistic design.This episode offers valuable insight for Sporting Clays shooters, instructors, competitors, artists, craftsmen, and anyone interested in flow state, instinctive performance, mindset, creativity, and the mental side of success. Jared Wolfe LinksWebsite: https://jaredwolfe.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaredwolfeshooting/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jaredwolfeshooting/Phone & Email: Available through the website contact page: https://jaredwolfe.com/contact/Location: Denver, Colorado 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