Eyes setup point

Hi Guys

I have been shooting trap for a year now and although i m getting better i had a massive failure this week. I was shooting at a new ground that i didnt practice before and my scores were a mess despite that i was feeling very good

The background was a mess and didnt allow me to see clearly. My gun hold point is at the end of the marker and my eyes in the middle of the banker

i messed 3 rounds before i realize that i had to put the gun higher.

My question. Is there a way to compare your hold points between layouts? Or you just need to go practice and find it?


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No easy answer we all suffer with new grounds and even layouts can vary only experience will prevail.

okay so it will come with time I guess just nees to be patient. The issue is that I was thinking I m doing something else wrong so I wasn't acting on it

As i say its a difficult one to answer i suppose the easiest way is to have your focus height set at were you first see the target as a whole and not just a blur. But be careful that you don't lose reference to the barrel by focus being much higher otherwise there is a danger from my experience of missing below. Play about during practice is the only way really or just simplify and always have same point of reference regardless.

I like you have only been shooting for a short time in real terms and have seen good improvement like you, I too have had big let downs

Now my method is to set my feet, then mount my gun and then take my gun hold and lastly look to my "eye focus point" which for me is crucial if I get it wrong I usually miss. I think if you look for the target too low (early), which means it could be in the blurred phase of what you are seeing you move your eyes to the target before you have seen it properly and you then move your gun to that target which you have not properly assessed the angle and trajectory causing the miss. I never look back at the barrels of my gun but at the moment of taking the shot, strangely, they are in my vision although I am focused on the target. It is difficult to explain but shooting the target seems to be an instinctive thing rather than a deliberate action for me and the times I start making deliberate shots I miss, mainly I think because if you shoot that way the chances are you have stopped moving your gun. Anyway I think it is best to let the target out and see it well before you start to move the gun to shoot it. Hope you get sorted next time out.

I should also say I have a low gun hold so I am always looking above my gun for the target never below it and I shoot mainly UT and OT.

John makes a good point, the shot must be instinctive any attempt at making a conscious shot will almost certainly be a miss. Good shots taken are therefore by definition difficult to explain its a sort of nirvana were it just happens, trying to force it will imo not work. The trick is to have a solid technique easily replicated then its just a simple matter of seeing the target correctly. It is my opinion that misses at trap are almost always due to not seeing the target correctly (as long as technique is good) there has to come a time when your mount and technique are unconscious therefore allowing all of your thoughts only on seeing the target. This leads us back to your question, were to look. It is imo pointless to be looking anywhere that the target is merely an orange blur, so one must look in soft focus at a height were the target becomes clear. Easy to say not easy to do as many variables come into play. Experience, good technique, confidence and commitment to the shot are primary concerns.

Worst of all is the reinforcement you get when you break one with a forced shot.....

I always start with gun on mark and look a foot above the gun and work from that point. If I miss it's because:- 1, I've jumped the target, so may raise the hold a bit . 2, looked back at the rib (lack of confidence) 3, I'm afraid to admit(and a lot aren't) the target has just beaten me -must learn and hit it next time or if I feel it's escaped from below the hold point, drop the hold point slightly. However what normally happens is that I revert to point 2. Plus consciously start looking for the clay And start digging big holes.

Then buy a new gun.... Doh....

Buy a new gun - - - - YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!

It's like swinging a racket or a club.  You can get away with a lotta slop in most of the rest but if you're not looking at the ball you ain't gonna hit it.  

Tab A / Slot B

I must say that while not being a top trap shooter by any standard but nevertheless I have found under practice conditions, holding the gun below the trench a little and looking a good height above ( further out ), my eyes have focused clearly on the target resulting in more and better breaks even though I am shooting in effect slower but again at 62, do I give a toss if I'm shooting a little slower------------I think not.

Phil

I can confirm that paul does indeed follow his golden rule of when all else fales by a new gun

ips said:

I can confirm that paul does indeed follow his golden rule of when all else fales by a new gun

Click to expand...

A proven course of action since the gun's invention

Absolutely but Paul does it so well.

Back to topic and also ties in nicely with another post. I have recently adopted a technique shown to me by Roy barlow RIP seams to be working well to date but in his memory i aint saying

Cheers Roy