Think about it. Balance a shotgun on a pin. Move the back end à the front end moves. Hold that thought please.
First -- I ask that we mentally focus on a specific block of time -- when your gun starts moving -- all the way to the trigger pull. During that specific block of time -- using the second hand on your watch -- notice how long 2 seconds is. Now 3 seconds. Now 4. Can we agree that this block of "swing and shot time" usually takes place somewhere between 2 to 4 seconds and -- quite often - sooner? Seems right......... more>>
Where do our shooting skills come from? How are they developed and acquired?
With each trip to the course, each of us is building an inventory, or database, of muscle movements and sight pictures necessary to successfully complete a particular shot. At Paragon we call that,.....Familiarity. It is a mental inventory or database of sight pictures and swing movements - based on the target presentation in front of us. A presentation we will see again. And again......... more>>
It's not uncommon to load up our gear, head to the range, stand in the first box and ask ourselves, "What do I want to work on today?" Consider a more productive approach.
To get us on the same page - 2 definitions: "Practice" is more about reinforcing and strengthening a skill already learned. "Training" is all about learning and building an undeveloped skill........ more>>
Seriously now, take about 10 long seconds and do this. Slow down and think about what it feels like to paddle a canoe upstream. Against the current. Go ahead. Please. I'll wait. 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi, 4.........................
OK, it's nice to be on the water and the view is beautiful but if you're going to make it back to the cabin before dark, the paddling takes some work. Right?
Let's do the exercise again. This time paddling downstream. No worries, just go with the flow............................ The cabin is about 5 miles from where you sit, paddle's at your feet, just gliding, no worries, no falls in sight. Much better,........yes?
Which one best describes how you feel in the box on tournament day? 1 or 2?........ more>>
Any of this sound familiar? You lifted your head. You should be shooting a tighter choke. Less choke. You missed behind. Over. Too much in front. You haven't been practicing enough. You should have shot #8's here. You need to slow down. Swing faster. You need to trust yourself more. Give the target more. Less. And the list goes on
I respectfully propose to you that the above suspected reasons—likely didn't cause the miss. I ask you to consider that your swing—from the first 3 inches of muzzle movement went unseen in an errant direction. Muzzle chasing or hunting for the target—in the time you have left before the trigger pull—it will be difficult if not impossible to get the muzzle into the right place. Lost bird, and the inconsistency on your score sheet—X0X0000X........ more>>
This gets overlooked so much it justifies why we should take a minute to review. While there are some times when this isn't all that critical, there are more times when it is.
Please stand up and extend your arms out to each side, parallel to the floor. Gently turn your body clockwise—now counter-clockwise. No surprise—your body rotates—but only to a point and then comes to a stop.
The target is a crosser, 90 degree angle, left to right and moderately fast. The trap fires and your swing begins. Remember now, your body is rotating but can only rotate to the right just so far. How far it can rotate will depend on where your feet are set........ more>>
No doubt, shotgun shooting is an art, not a science. Swing pace and rhythm, timing of the trigger pull, eye-hand coordination, triangulating compound leads, these would indeed be hard to measure and quantify. Logic does not always apply and slide rule calculations to explain what happened will likely be impossible.
All of that said, certain part of the shooting equation can be articulated with specifics. For example, this particular part of the shooting equation must be clearly understood to gain any real consistency in Sporting Clays.
When you hit—or miss a target—do you know why?........ more>>
First, let me say that I don't like missing a target any more than you do. Watching a target sail to it's final resting place intact and untouched is always a bit unnerving and too often gives rise to thoughts of some personal shortcoming. Not my idea of fun and I doubt yours as well.
Most commonly, I see this phenomenon when I am teaching. Missed targets are the catalyst for a host of negative emotions and reactions from my student, none of which by the way are conducive to breaking the next target.
The key problem here is that we judge each success—or failure (a word I don't like)—by whether the bird breaks or not. That's understandable but counterproductive and completely missing the point in terms of building skills.
Here are a few simple suggestions to accelerate your progress and enhance your shooting enjoyment........ more>>
Sorry. Couldn't help myself with that title.
Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn't ask me which shotgun to purchase. Nice to be asked.
Shotgun quality costs and better quality costs more. So a moment or two pondering what you like and what you will use your shotgun for makes good sense. There are already a zillion words in print on the pros and cons of the over/under versus semi-auto's, so let's review two other considerations often overlooked, and one I feel crucial to we sporting clays shooters........ more>>
We've come to the end of our shooting method series. I hope you've enjoyed your time here as much as I have. I've purposely saved for last what I consider to be the best, most reliable, all around shooting method,...Pull-Away.
The pull-away method is a superb foundation method for multiple reasons. First, it starts the muzzle on the target. That's a great reference point. Being on the target puts the gun on the line and matches the target speed. Those 2 results equate to gun control, a fundamental requisite and primary objective in our game........ more>>
Welcome Back!
We're here again, talking about shooting methods. We've previously covered Maintained Lead and Swing-Through. This month we'll cover Churchill, an old and controversial shooting method.
Few have been able to accurately describe this method and how it works. But it does work and it has its advantages........ more>>
Happy New Year everyone!!
Last month we discussed the first of the 4 primary shooting methods: Maintained Lead. This month I thought we could talk about Swing Through. While more than a few good shooters favor swing-through as a base method, I personally see it as a specialized shooting method.
Let's look at its primary weakness. And it's strength. Ample gun speed. When gun speed picks up, it's exponentially harder to control. The higher the rate of speed, the higher the risk of compromising precision in the swing. Many who employ swing-through simply cannot control the gun, their sight picture or the shot. It's a dicey affair, with success hinging mightily on timing of the trigger pull. Get the timing right,...X. Get it wrong,...0. And the higher gun speed makes it increasingly difficult to time that trigger pull correctly, and consistently........ more>>
