Just over a year ago, Preston Spainhour decided he would try his hand at the sport of shotgun shooting. Little did he know that hard work, determination and natural talent would lead him to where is today – on his way to try out for the USA World Cup.

“The first time that I picked a shotgun up was at my first school team practice with an unofficial Pulaski Academy team in March of 2012,” said Spainhour, who is a sophomore marketing major and vice president of the University Recreation Club Sports team.

With limited access to practice facilities the summer before his freshman year, Spainhour practiced when he could and began to show improvement. He enjoyed competitive shooting and knew that he wanted to continue when he came to college.

“I joined the University of Arkansas club sports team the week that I moved into my dorm,” he said.

Spainhour was eager to gain a breadth of knowledge and experience, and he devoted hours to practice and mental and visual training.

“For my mental training, the goal is to walk myself through the idea of winning at my match so many times that it feels like it has already happened,” Spainhour said.

During his first month on the team, Spainhour was shooting an average of 18/25 in American Trap. According to the Amateur Trapshooting Association, trapshooting is a specific form of clay target shooting that requires accuracy and skill to repeatedly aim, fire and break discs that are hurled through the air at 42 miles per hour.

Spainhour was introduced to a variety of shooting disciplines when he joined the University Recreation Shotgun club.

“Bunker Trap was the last I learned and was by far the hardest discipline of shooting that I have learned,” he said.

The first time he saw an Olympic trap was when the shotgun club attended the Lindenwood Tournament last March in Bridgeton, Mo.

“It was just a taste of bunker trap, but that was all it took to get me focused on chasing the Olympic dream,” he said.

In order to qualify for the World Cup Selection Match, Spainhour had to compete at the state level in the Arkansas Junior Olympic Qualifier in Tillar, Ark. This tournament is run by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and is open to anyone under the age of 21. The state qualifier was Spainhour’s first USA Shooting sanctioned match.

“I shot well enough to be invited to a week-long development camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the end of the 2013 summer,” Spainhour said.

Prior to attending the development camp, he competed in the Junior Olympic National Championships, which were also held in Colorado Springs.

“Junior Nationals was my first opportunity to watch the top shooters in the country compete, which is exactly what I needed in order to learn the game,” he said.

Having never had a coach, Spainhour based the majority of his shooting form off watching the best shooters and mimicking what they do. 

At the development camp, Spainhour learned invaluable lessons that improved both his mental and physical game.

“I realized the importance of my mental game and how to reduce the effects of nerves, negative thoughts, and misses in my shooting,” he said. “Some of the coaches that I worked with at the camp had coached over five Olympic teams, as well as competed in some, and that really helped to fine-tune my Olympic trap form.”

On the last day of camp, Spainhour decided he would try one round of Olympic double trap. He shot a 28/30, which is an internationally competitive score, and it qualified him to compete in the USA World Cup auditions.

Spainhour will be competing in the USA World Cup auditions from Oct. 3 through Oct. 11. If he qualifies at this tournament, Spainhour would officially shoot for the United States in the International Shooting Sport Federation in the 2014 World Cup series.

“Eventually, I would like to become a permanent resident at the Olympic Training Center and train for the Rio Olympics in 2016, but that’s a little ways down the road,” Spainhour said.

For more information about University Recreation Club Sports, email sclubs@uark.edu.