New and terrible - how do I get better? (Vancouver-area)

Practice , Practice , and more Practice.
Videos and DVDs will only get you so far.
Fitting your gun to you paterning your choke and choice of ammo and practicing will get you further than looking for advice on the WWW.
Watch some of the shooters at your club go through their pre-shoot routine.
It is methodical from the time they step up to the line till it is time to move to the next station.
Even if you find media aides you will still need to get out and practice what you ahve watched or read in magazines.
I shoot less than informal and manage from 15-19 and after three rounds I am lucky to break 50 % so take my advice for what it is...free advice.
Tight Patterns and Smoked Clays to You.
Rob
 
What kind of scores are we talking here? Is it 'can't hit the bird regularly' or 'can't hit the bird 25 times in a row'? Two totally different problems.

I think the most important aspect is stance:

feet shoulder width apart, gun shouldered properly, leaning forward, gun position in the correct starting postion (from position on, you should aim at the front left corner of the house, plus 1.5 feet, position 2 should be between the front left corner and center of the house and 1 foot up. Position 3 is dead center 1 foot up. positions 4 and 5 are the same as 2 and 1, but at the right side).

The big rookie mistake is follow through. You have to keep following through after you pull the trigger.

I like to shoot quickly, as this helps me, but others wait a lot longer.

The best way to improve is to practice more. Shooting more, like anything done repetitively, improves performance.

Also, one last thing: before you call the bird, get properly set up. Don't rush. Then take in a nice deep breath and loudly call the bird. Once you get to 20 busted clays per round the game becomes one of concentration.
 
FLHTCUI said:
Practice , Practice , and more Practice.
Videos and DVDs will only get you so far.
Fitting your gun to you paterning your choke and choice of ammo and practicing will get you further than looking for advice on the WWW.
Watch some of the shooters at your club go through their pre-shoot routine.
It is methodical from the time they step up to the line till it is time to move to the next station.
Even if you find media aides you will still need to get out and practice what you ahve watched or read in magazines.
I shoot less than informal and manage from 15-19 and after three rounds I am lucky to break 50 % so take my advice for what it is...free advice.
Tight Patterns and Smoked Clays to You.
Rob
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The above is an example of free advice from the www.

The thing that is wrong with Practice, Practice, and more Practice is that more often than not the newbie practices all the wrong s**t over and over again. Along with fitting the gun and patterning and choosing ammo without knowing what he/she is doing and mixing that with the free advice that spews forth from well intentioned shooters and the WWW the newbie needs a pro to debug all the bad habits learned. Books and CDs are great but if the newbie wants to take the shortest road to hitting more targets, he/she should seek out a competent instructor. Note I said competent and that does not always mean a professional.
 
Covey Ridge said:
The above is an example of free advice from the www.

The thing that is wrong with Practice, Practice, and more Practice is that more often than not the newbie practices all the wrong s**t over and over again. Along with fitting the gun and patterning and choosing ammo without knowing what he/she is doing and mixing that with the free advice that spews forth from well intentioned shooters and the WWW the newbie needs a pro to debug all the bad habits learned. Books and CDs are great but if the newbie wants to take the shortest road to hitting more targets, he/she should seek out a competent instructor. Note I said competent and that does not always mean a professional.
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Much of this thread proves CR's point. Lots of shooting and gun advice posted and while none of it is necessarily wrong and all the posters meant well it might not be what the OP needs to improve or could lead to bad habits that will become ingrained through practice. Without seeing the person shoot it's difficult to offer suggestions that might actually help.

There are a variety of different methods of shooting trap. A previous post outlines a stance and specific gun holds for trap. It's fine but I use a different system. It's not necessarily better just different. Go to a large shoot like the Grand and you will see every imaginable stance and gun hold points. They all work for someone but are not necessarily good for everyone.
 
Covey Ridge said:
The above is an example of free advice from the www.

The thing that is wrong with Practice, Practice, and more Practice is that more often than not the newbie practices all the wrong s**t over and over again. Along with fitting the gun and patterning and choosing ammo without knowing what he/she is doing and mixing that with the free advice that spews forth from well intentioned shooters and the WWW the newbie needs a pro to debug all the bad habits learned. Books and CDs are great but if the newbie wants to take the shortest road to hitting more targets, he/she should seek out a competent instructor. Note I said competent and that does not always mean a professional.
Click to expand...

I see the Expert has spoken !
Practice entails many things Sir !
phil drop by the VGC in Richmond sometime and watch some of those guys there.
From Winchesters1400's to Ludjics, there are all kinds and you might even find a pompass stuffed shirt who knows more than I and not afraid to share either ;)
Enjoy the Day.
Smoke some Clays !
Rob
 
Claybuster said:
What I've also found is that the advice or critiques from fellow shooters are often not that much help. It doesn't do much good if someone yells "You're behind" if he can't explain why I was behind and what to do to prevent it. A swing through shooter telling you how much to be in front of a target doesn't do you much good if you are shooting sustained lead or move/mount/shoot. Advice on eye hold from a two-eyed shooter if you shoot one-eyed or foot position from a left handed shooter if you're right handed isn't helpful. An experienced instructor should be able to offer help that is specific to you and aid in developing a practice plan that will help you improve.
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This really says it for me. I just flat out agee about "...help that is specific to you..." when you see an expert. Another thing I would look for in an instructor is whether he makes assignments, e.g. assigns readings or videos, before he or she sees me. Like you, I can't be less interested in someone's opinion of whether I am high, low or behind. The thing that settled it for me was Kline's DVD where he said "...read your hits, not your misses..." then showed the hits on film. One good thing I was shown by another, more experienced shooter that fits with this, is shooting 15 or so birds from #7 low house and reading the hits after patterning my shotgun to look for agreement in the results. If you smoke them, then you're gun is hitting dead center, but if you have chips off the sides or the debris goes up or down you are off center. Someone standing behind you can really help calling these shots, but it is the only situation in which I'm interested in another's opinion about where my shot is going. The nice thing about this test is that you are doing it under action which doesn't always agree with the patterning board. At least in my case it doesn't, though it is close. It develops confidence too. Naturally, you have to be reasonable with this testing and with your interpretation. It also makes sense to work on gun fit as has been said before in this thread. But, again, experts in this area aren't all that easy to find and there is a lot to fitting a gun because any change you make in a stock is bound to change something else. You need someone who has a very strong overall understanding of the mechanics of the thing and has reduced the knowledge down to a solid approach and can apply it to people with different builds and styles. Guys or girls like that don't grow on trees. I've been lucky enough to run into a couple of fellows that know a bit about it, though none claim to be expert. There are books that might help but, unfortunately those I have read aren't all that well written and can be hard to understand. Another $0.02 but it is Claybuster's fault for saying things so well:p. Fred
 
AS they told me
1) shoot 10,000 rounds...
2) repeat step 1 until you get to where you want to be..

PS I've never shot a perfect round...
 
I just remembered talking to a fine shooter about skeet some weeks ago and he had just gone to shoot with some friends after an hiatus of a year or so. He was struck by the fact that his friends, who met weekly, were still shooting the same scores. He felt that they weren't practicing actively to get better. It seems relevent to the idea of "...practice, practice, practice...". If the practice isn't actively designed in participated in to improve, then probably improvement will be slow if it happens at all. At the very least one should be trying things one at a time to see if there are benefits.
 
BCFred said:
If the practice isn't actively designed in participated in to improve, then probably improvement will be slow if it happens at all. At the very least one should be trying things one at a time to see if there are benefits.
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This is the best comment in this thread. A lot of what is called "practice" is actually just a group of guys shootin' clays and havin' fun. Nothing wrong with that.

Sometimes after instruction your scores will get worse as you try and incorporate it into your shooting routine. Trying to do it all at once only leads to frustration. Deconstruct what you've learned into manageable pieces and start working on them during your practice sessions one at a time.

This is where the unsought advice and critiquing from other shooters becomes distinctly unwelcome. It's not helpful if I'm working on one thing and someone else decides to offer an opinion about something completed unrelated.
 
Claybuster said:
This is the best comment in this thread. A lot of what is called "practice" is actually just a group of guys shootin' clays and havin' fun. Nothing wrong with that.

Sometimes after instruction your scores will get worse as you try and incorporate it into your shooting routine. Trying to do it all at once only leads to frustration. Deconstruct what you've learned into manageable pieces and start working on them during your practice sessions one at a time.

This is where the unsought advice and critiquing from other shooters becomes distinctly unwelcome. It's not helpful if I'm working on one thing and someone else decides to offer an opinion about something completed unrelated.
Click to expand...

Reminds me of GOLF
 
There are very few pieces of advice I think apply to almost all trapshooters. There are a few however I would like to share:

- Mount is very important! Don't cut corners.. Don't call for a bird when you're not ready.. And most importantly make sure your sight picture and feel are the EXACT same.

- Remember that it is a hell of a lot more mental than physical. If you keep asking yourself questions, or counting in your head while on the line, you're going to miss. Empty the crap from your head for this game.. Keep in mind that the machines are not capable of throwing a target that you are unable to break. After shooting a few rounds of practice you will see/shoot a target of almost every angle from every position. Once you know you can break em all, you just need to convince yourself it can be done.

- Use "The Force".. Everyone has their own "style" or "form", and know better than any coach or other shooter what feels proper.

- Make sure you are able to see the targets clearly! You cannot break what you cannot see.. If you have to look through a few shooters lenses to see what color will work best for you, do it.. I find a lot of shooters overlook something so simple.

- Lastly, free advice is worth the price you pay. Don't take any of it to heart though as 99% of it will not apply(most likely even mine). If you happen to pick up a small piece that suits, it can turn you from a "C" class shooter to an "A" class shooter in only a couple hundred rounds..
 
I am also new to clay shooting. Shot my first rounds of skeet and trap last sunday and had a blast. Can't wait to go again and try some of the pointers from this thread. (A little at a time) As a newbie advice is always appreciated. I think shooting is like anything else one is new at. Inorder to get better one must watch, listen and practice. My target numbers can only go up from here.

Gertsy
 
Go to a competent gunsmith who specailizes in clay target gunsmithing to fit your gun to you then go out with a good instructor to learn proper basics and then PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!! Not that I have done it that way myself, when I started into this game I was a teenager who had a ton of interest in it and a father who thought I was nuts for wasting ammo, lol! The best thing I did for myself was disassociate from the copious amounts of advice from shooters who couldnt hit jack#### and I watched very closely those who could and studied how they did it. I never asked them but when they offered a tip or two I incorporated it into my style of shooting. I didnt mimic them but used pieces to form a technique of my own. In my second year of shooting I joined the ATA(age 19) and learned one important rule.At a shoot, SHOOT TO WIN!!!!! DO NOT worry about shooting for class or what class you end up in, strive to do your best, it is "ME AGAINST THAT MACHINE" , not against anyone or anything else and I am NOT GOING TO LET IT BEAT ME!!!!!!!!
 
Fall Guy said:
Pattern your shotgun so you know where it is shooting and how it shoots with different chokes.
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I started shooting shotgun at 15 , and I sucked , most horribly ! I had never heard of patterning at that point , but ! let me tell you , get a nice big target , pattern your shotgun , and every time you fire at that clay , imagine it as what you were aiming at when you patterned the shotgun , and then aim appropriately. Mine shot a bit low and slightly forward of the target ,this is where most of the shot clustered, , I adjusted my aim accordingly when i fired at the flying clay and i do mostly 9 out of 10 now , a far cry of the 1 out of 20 or so i started at :)
 
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