New to Clay Shooting Questions

Georgecj

Georgecj

Member
Rating - 100%
4   0   0
Location
Toronto
Hello everyone, I am new to clay shooting (mostly trap shooting) and really like the sports. However, I have some questions and hope to get some insights from the experienced shooters here:

1) Many experienced shooters at the range told me that I shouldn't look down the barrel but use a hard focus on the target, which I did. But do you need to use peripheral vision to detect where the barrel is pointing in order to generate a proper lead (assume that the gun mount and gun fit are in a proper way)?

2) I guess this is kind of related to the first question. When focusing on and leading the target, do you lock your eyes and head position at a certain angle without changing it and only move the body by pivoting your waist? E.g., eyes at the bird but barrel pointing slightly to the right for the lead (I am right handed).

3) When pulling the trigger and following through, where do I look?

I know these may be dumb questions but really would appreciate any insights from you guys. I started trap shooting 3 months ago, and now often I can shoot 21-23 (windy days maybe 20-22), but once after a while the score will drop to 16-18 which is very frustrating. But the score won't improve or make sense if I am practicing in a wrong way. I believe your tips will definitely help me improve. Thanks in advance!
 
1) Yes. You should be able to see the relationship between the target and the barrel. Focus on the target and once your brain figures out where to put the barrel you will break targets consistently.
2) Focus on the middle distance, call for the target and hard focus on it. The gun barrel will follow. Otherwise, you will end up chasing the target or anticipating. Both are bad.
3) Look wherever you want. Once the shot has left the barrel its all over. I generally look over the barrel through my follow through. If you get in the habit of watching targets break it can screw you up at doubles.
If you shoot 22-23 on a good day you have the fundamentals down and a good gun fit. Now its just practice. Read a few books, The Stockfitters Bible, With Winning in Mind to name two Find Neil Winston's posts on Trapdhooters.com. He had some really good technical studies and advice. Most importantly, shoot a lot.
 
bdft said:
1) Yes. You should be able to see the relationship between the target and the barrel. Focus on the target and once your brain figures out where to put the barrel you will break targets consistently.
2) Focus on the middle distance, call for the target and hard focus on it. The gun barrel will follow. Otherwise, you will end up chasing the target or anticipating. Both are bad.
3) Look wherever you want. Once the shot has left the barrel its all over. I generally look over the barrel through my follow through. If you get in the habit of watching targets break it can screw you up at doubles.
If you shoot 22-23 on a good day you have the fundamentals down and a good gun fit. Now its just practice. Read a few books, The Stockfitters Bible, With Winning in Mind to name two Find Neil Winston's posts on Trapdhooters.com. He had some really good technical studies and advice. Most importantly, shoot a lot.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your insight, sir! Truly appreciate it. Regarding the reading, happy to report that I’ve already started Rollin’s stock fitters bible. I also am reading one by Don Currie. Hope that’s gonna clear up my mind a bit. Guess I have to spend a lot of time shooting and thinking then :)
 
Georgecj said:
2) I guess this is kind of related to the first question. When focusing on and leading the target, do you lock your eyes and head position at a certain angle without changing it and only move the body by pivoting your waist? E.g., eyes at the bird but barrel pointing slightly to the right for the lead (I am right handed).
Click to expand...

You don't want to be moving your head from the stock. That's the easiest way to miss.
 
Focusing on the target is one of the most important aspects of successful target shooting and a lot of shooters don't fully understand just how important it is. If you shooting 21 - 23 then obviously you're focusing correctly but the difference between a hard focus and a soft focus is the difference between looking at a particular spot on the target as compared to looking generally in it's direction. When you catch a baseball in the air with one hand you will not catch it if you don't have a hard focus on the ball, you'll also not catch it if you look at your hand. This is the same as looking at the gun barrel instead of fixating on the target so gun fit is paramount here because you have to trust that the barrels will follow your eyes just as you hand does when you catch a ball. Also, as we get older our eyes don't change focus as quickly as they used to and because we spend so much time looking at objects that are close to our faces, our eyes through muscle memory tend to focus quickly at that range and take longer to focus further out. Several years ago I changed the way I set up for a trap target and started focusing on an object that was beyond the trap house before calling for the bird. Once the target clears the house my peripheral vision picks it up and my eyes focus back to the target instead of out to it and this sped up my target acquisition and allowed me to shoot quicker.
 
Any opinions on the Trap Shooting Fundamentals Handbook by Remington?

They have a Skeet shooting Handbook as well.

Interesting how these publications are no longer on the Remington website, but all over the internet.
 
bluelynx said:
Any opinions on the Trap Shooting Fundamentals Handbook by Remington?

They have a Skeet shooting Handbook as well.

Interesting how these publications are no longer on the Remington website, but all over the internet.
Click to expand...

There is an old video floating around about the Remington trapshooting fundamentals.
It is about as good an introduction as anything.
And it's just interesting to watch because it's so old.
 
In any kind of shotgun shooting, you want to have a natural, comfortable and consistent shotgun mount. This way, your eye will always be in the same opposition relative to the shotgun. The shotgun must become an extension of your eye. You must almost forget that it is there. Where you look is where you will shoot. Then, when you move the gun, your entire upper body moves with it, so that the position of your eye relative to the shotgun does not change.
 
I didn't have time to watch all 28 minutes of the Remington Video but what I did see when I scrolled through it looks to be a very well thought out and uncomplicated tutorial. I love the way that the guy never takes his finger off the trigger all the time he's demonstrating, that would drive many folks crazy these days but it was another time and era!
 
pacobillie said:
in any kind of shotgun shooting, you want to have a natural, comfortable and consistent shotgun mount. This way, your eye will always be in the same opposition relative to the shotgun. The shotgun must become an extension of your eye. You must almost forget that it is there. Where you look is where you will shoot. Then, when you move the gun, your entire upper body moves with it, so that the position of your eye relative to the shotgun does not change.
Click to expand...

^^^ this ^^^
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom