Swing Momentum
July
2007
Shooting
Tip
by: Dan Schindler
Here’s another small step in our
set-up that’s often forgotten, then costs us a target. Or more.
Before the target leaves the trap, hopefully your muzzle is very
still, motionless before you call for the bird. When the trap fires,
your muzzle begins to move. It slowly accelerates, building speed to
match the target’s speed and possibly accelerating even further to
create forward allowance. So it’s fair to say as the muzzle picks up
speed, the swing is building momentum coming into the breakpoint and
the trigger pull. It is here where we really need that momentum to
either maintain a lead, or build it, pulling away.
While we all know the arms and shoulders are creating the swing,
what other parts of your body are contributing to that swing
momentum? Your hips and legs are. Provided, of course, your feet are
set properly. Set the feet improperly, as in too far back towards
the trap, and the hips can lock up at that critical moment when the
final lead is being developed. Said another way, when your hips lock
up, and you can’t rotate any further, your swing is decelerating
and precisely at the wrong time!
While your friends are correctly telling you that you are missing
behind, no one’s noticed that your feet are set improperly causing
your hips to lock up as your swing nears the break point. Book I,
Take
Your Best Shot, explains this nicely with a simple
diagram.
Setting your feet properly allows your swing to be fluid,
releasing your body (and muzzle) to move with the bird and past
it. You will feel better when your legs and hips drive the swing,
not just to the bird but through it to the X! |
