Will Van Dusen on Confidence, Focus & Competitive Sporting Clays – Clay Mastermind with Dawn Grant: Mental Excellence and Industry Insight

 Will Van Dusen joins Dawn Grant on Clay Mastermind: Mental Excellence and Industry Insights for a conversation on Sporting Clays, college shooting, instruction, confidence, focus, and the mental side of performance. Will began shooting through the Texas 4-H shotgun program and became active in registered Sporting Clays as a young teenager. He went on to earn spots on Sub-Junior and Junior All-American teams and later competed for the Texas A&M Trap and Skeet team, where he served as team president and helped push the program toward Division I national success.

In this episode, Will shares how shooting became a family-centered sport for him, beginning with his brother, parents, and the Texas 4-H program. He discusses growing up around competitive shooting, developing through youth programs, and eventually choosing Texas A&M partly because of its strong shooting team. Will explains the intensity of college shotgun competition, where athletes must perform across trap, doubles trap, skeet, super sporting, and Sporting Clays. He also reflects on the rivalry between Texas A&M, Lindenwood, Schreiner, and the University of Texas, as well as the pride of helping build strong collegiate programs.

A major focus of the conversation is the connection between trap, skeet, Sporting Clays, and mental training. Will explains why Sporting Clays is his favorite discipline and why trap and skeet do not always transfer easily into Sporting Clays because of the repetition and more predictable target presentations. Dawn and Will discuss how repetitive targets can cause the conscious mind to wander, while Sporting Clays and FITASC require different levels of target awareness, focus, and adaptability.

The episode also explores why trap shooters often have a strong awareness of the mental game. Dawn shares her experience speaking to a room of trap shooters who fully understood the importance of mental training, and Will explains why shooting long runs in trap requires strong focus, emotional control, and the ability to stay mentally committed through repetitive shots.

Will also discusses his work as an instructor and assistant coach for the University of Texas Trap and Skeet team. He shares what he enjoys about helping new shooters build confidence, overcome hesitation, learn how to mount the gun, use their eyes, and trust the target. He also talks about coaching more advanced shooters through hold points, target connection, visual detail, and learning to stop being overly careful.

Dawn and Will go deeper into pre-shot and post-shot routines, fear of missing, anxiety, overthinking, staying present, and why one miss can easily turn into several without the right mental reset. Will also shares his involvement with the University of Texas team and the Aggie Clay Target Foundation, which supports Texas A&M Trap and Skeet through fundraising, resources, and future scholarship opportunities.

This episode offers valuable insight for Sporting Clays shooters, college athletes, coaches, instructors, and anyone interested in confidence, mental discipline, youth shooting, and the development of competitive clay target athletes.

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Will Van Dusen Links

Instagram:
 https://www.instagram.com/willvandusen/

University of Texas Trap & Skeet Team:
 https://www.instagram.com/uttrapandskeet/

Aggie Clay Target Foundation:
 https://www.instagram.com/aggieclaytargetfoundation/

Capital City Clays Instructor Page:
 https://capitalcityclays.com/

Phone:
 (903) 203-2468

Dawn Grant Links  

https://dawngrant.com/ 

https://mindmastered.com/  

https://ameliashotgunsports.com/ 

Free webinar here: https://dawngrant.com/pages/clay-shooters-mind-game-mastery