Gun UP vs. Gun DOWN
March 2008 Sporting Clays Tip
by Dan Schindler
The fastest way to take random gun movement (RGM) out of your swing is to pre-mount your gun. As sporting clays shooters - when shooting gun up - it's important that we not forget to raise our head and relax the shoulders. Head up allows us to see - and shoulders down keeps much needed body movement in the swing. Gun up works in sporting clays.
However, the modified gun up position proposed above does not entirely compensate for the advantages of gun down. The gun down position offers advantages gun up can't. First, gun down - partially or all the way to the F.I.T.A.S.C. line - does a better job of clearing the gun out of your vision. You might not think it would, but it does. Secondly, gun down in all ways creates a more natural, instinctive swing. Underestimating the importance of that is to handicap yourself on the sporting clays range as targets dive and dodge on irregular lines of flight. It is here when gun down really earns its keep.
Don't forget, gun up or gun down, reducing RGM in your swing is always a high priority. With all the advantages of gun down, it also opens the door for more RGM. Taking your for-end hand To The Target (move first,…then mount and shoot) will greatly reduce RGM in your swing.
Both gun up and gun down have advantages. Learning which one to use on various target presentations will definitely put the odds in your favor.
February 2008 Tip
Involvement vs Commitment
I commonly hear stories of my student shooting a station very well, or a course very well, and suddenly concentration is gone. Result: 00 or worse. It is frustrating and usually occurs without notice. Why does this happen?
First, it's simply a matter of our attention moving somewhere else, away from the task in front of us. It can happen when we are distracted, or when we take a target or pair for granted. Our attention moves or our focus intensity slips..............
April 2008 Tip
P.O.I
What is POI? It's Point of Impact and there are multiple ways to look at POI. The first is the nature of your barrels to shoot straight and a second refers to proper gun fit.
Do your barrels actually send the shotstring on a straight line to the target? From a bench rest, as you would a rifle, does your shotstring hit the bulls-eye dead on, with 50% distribution on the top, bottom, left and right? Or is it slightly high, low or off center? If score is a priority in your game, this is an important piece of information. You barrels should be shooting dead on..............
