Natalie Rooney

No matter whether she has the sun on her face or the wind at her back, Natalie Rooney must keep focused on her target with a gun between her hands.

Hot or cold, breezy or still, the weather can become an unwanted opponent for a trap shooter. 

Rooney will make her Olympic debut in Rio where the heat is shaping up to be a major player.  “You have to remain accurate despite the conditions that you face,” the 27-year-old shooter says.

“I do excel a bit more in the colder weather, with the wind.”  Shooting in her hometown of Timaru, Rooney is conditioned to New Zealand’s typically windy conditions and used to the targets moving around in the breeze.

But to prepare for the heat of Rio, the women’s trap world No. 7 has been acclimatising by spending time shooting in the warmth of Italy, where she has a coach who’s helping her to fine-tune her technique.

“I struggle a bit in extreme hot weather,” she says. “But I also feel I shoot better in warmer weather, because my muscles are more relaxed and I can move a lot easier to the targets.”

Accuracy is everything in shooting, Rooney says. Being able to hit the target consistently is the difference between winning and losing.    

It comes down to the finest details: having a gun that fits you perfectly, flawless hand-eye co-ordination, composure, reaction and focus.

In a sport that’s all about hitting as many targets as you can, staying composed is crucial. Even when she’s lowered her sights, and is moving between the five target stations, Rooney has to be in “the right space” mentally.

“You have to be able to block out surrounding distractions, like whenever someone misses, a horn goes off,” she says.    

“You have to be able to react really quickly. When you call for a target, you have to be ready.”  

Although she’s been shooting for 13 years – drawn into the sport when her brothers started a secondary school shooting competition – Rooney is still working on perfecting her technique.

She’s also started working with a sports psychologist. Before now, she taught herself to handle the pressure. “It’s important to have a clear mind,” she says.

“I try to focus on putting my shells in the gun, looking at those shells, and focusing on them.” Or she fixes on a focal point in front of the trap, so that when she’s ready to pull the trigger, the only thing in her mind is hitting the target.

Her gun, a Beretta, is specifically tailored to fit perfectly to her body. “Everyone is different so it’s important the gun is tailored to you,” she says.

The 2016 Oceania champion loves the fact that shooting is a family sport; her whole family will go on weekends to a club shoot together.  She loves the variety, the people and the mental toughness trap shooting demands.

Encouraging others is one of Rooney’s goals. “If I can inspire anyone else to start shooting, then that’s a pretty big deal,” she says.