Peak Performance: Getting There and Staying There
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In this episode of the Faces of Leadership podcast, host Michael Warren sits down with Billy Barton, a Grandmaster in USPSA practical shooting. Billy shares his journey from backyard shooter to elite performer, offering invaluable insights into the importance of deliberate practice, pushing the limits of failure, and maintaining peak performance under pressure. The discussion dives into the mental and physical aspects of elite shooting, the value of training under non-ideal conditions, and the crucial role of continued growth and openness to new ideas in any profession. Tune in to learn leadership lessons that translate from the shooting range to everyday life.
Episode Guest
Billy has been shooting for over 25 years. What started as a love for firearms as a youth in the woods of VA grew into a lifelong passion for performance shooting. Billy's training roots are motivated by a lifestyle of self-dense and preparedness, but we believe that competition breeds excellence and focus on practical shooting training principles to push the envelope of what's possible behind a gun.
Billy started seriously competing in USPSA Carry Optics division in 2019 and was able to go from unclassified to Master Class in under 6 months, making the highest possible classification of Grand Master in 21 months. When the Limited Optics division was launched he was also able to achieve GM in that LO exclusively with his CO equipment. Since then he has focused on major match performance, collecting a number of major wins and podium finishes, with the latest CO Nationals finish at 25th place overall American.
Billy has had unique opportunities to train and shoot with some of the best shooters and instructors in the world, and is passionate about passing that knowledge and experience on to others. He has currently personally invested in over 300 hours of professional shooting training and continues to seek out new sources of information each year. He is especially grateful to have spent significant time learning from a handful of world champions including Ben Stoeger, JJ Racaza and Eric Grauffel. From this education Billy has built a curriculum not based on his personal techniques or any of the specific techniques that have propelled these shooters to success on the world stage, but rather designed to help shooters explore what will work best for them.
