Professional Focusing

I'm guessing that you focus your shots using the shutter button. That being the case I want you to consider a method that lets you focus independent of the shutter button. By so doing you can then re-frame your shot confident that your focus point hasn't changed.

Check your manual to see if your camera has a few programmable buttons. If so I recommend my favorite method, back button focusing. I've programmed the button indicated in the image to be my focus button. I still use the shutter button to start metering but once I've focused on a point that point remains unchanged as I make other adjustments.

I've programmed this to be my focus button.

Opportunism

"...the taking of opportunities as and when they arise" is a key part of great photography and one that is difficult to practice. Some opportunities are obvious but others require enough knowledge of the elements of a situation so that the shooter can anticipate some possibilities and be ready for them. A simple example is the shot below of David Toms at the 2011 Zurich Classic. He's on the tee box. I'm already in burst mode, quiet shooting, long lens, press and hold the shutter button. I don't enter contests but I often look at their results. I'll see a great shot of something and know that what the photographer accomplished was a reaction with camera settings and composition that captured not just the action but also the moment.

David Toms, 2011 Zuruich Classic