Absolute beginner

Hello,

New to Clay's.

Been shooting over 50 years, if it goes bang there's a chance I'll have at least wanted a go. Mostly rifle, pistol and various mg's.

Recently retired and my son and two oldest granddaughters have persuaded me to take up Clay's.

The last ten years or so I've only been clay shooting a couple of times a year, but since retiring am going at least once a week so I can finally justify owning a gun of my own.

My two youngest grandchildren (8 & 6) and their Mum, are also keen to try so it's going to be a family affair as my wife's a fair shot as well.

Trouble is I'm rubbish, so I've sooooo much to learn. 

As well as shooting I also enjoy course fishing but these days tend to be a fair weather fisherman.

Be careful, it's addictive. Try to forget your rifle shooting experience. Make sure you focus on the clay, not the barrel. And keep the gun moving.

Two of my faults in one sentence! I do keep looking at the end of the barrel at the last split second.....and miss. My son says my follow through is very poor. I'm working on both.

I'm also late in shooting as I'm "thinking" it too much. 

Welcome and enjoy

Centrepin said:

Two of my faults in one sentence! I do keep looking at the end of the barrel at the last split second.....and miss. My son says my follow through is very poor. I'm working on both.

I'm also late in shooting as I'm "thinking" it too much. 

Click to expand...

Make a plan before you get in the cage. No reason to be late... Three key points that all coaches will tell you. View Point, Kill Point, Hold point. They will all have slightly different reasons on how to pick these so have a look around on YouTube and find what works for you. Smokin Targets is a good starting point. 

As has been said, focus on the clay and over time you will learn to become barrel aware, you will see the barrel/bead in your vision without having to move the focus backwards and forwards between gun and clay. 

Hiya , nothing wrong with being a fair weather fisherman !  Retirement is for fun not a penance , and these day’s wading up to the armpits to cast a fly in single digit temperatures falls into the latter category .
 

Two tips ,

1)  this is cheap and easy , take the bead of of the end of the gun , if it’s not there you can’t focus on it . You don’t need it . I know a couple of people who couldn’t break the habit of using it as a ‘fore sight ‘ who’ve done just that . 

  2)  this is more costly , see a good coach for a lesson or two . It not a weakness to do so , it’s an investment . 
 

oh, and point 3 , enjoy your retirement , you’ll find the clay grounds are packed midweek with people aged 55 to 90 . You’ll be able to turn up anywhere , have a coffee and a chat , and soon be shooting amongst  loads of like minded , unstressed , smiling people . 

Thanks for the advice, I welcome it all. 

I'm considering a couple of mid week lessons and looking round at who's instructing. I'm actually spoilt for choice where i live for the amount of clay grounds offering instruction. 

I'm also spoilt for choice on where to shoot as I have 3 clay shoots within 10 mins drive. A further 2 within a half hour drive.

Where abouts do you live ?  The guys on here between them will know and have used coaches at all levels ,  so can probably give you a steer as to who to use . Prices vary wildly , and to be honest for the first few lessons you don’t need to be paying for a world champ

MartynB said:

Where abouts do you live ?  The guys on here between them will know and have used coaches at all levels ,  so can probably give you a steer as to who to use . Prices vary wildly , and to be honest for the first few lessons you don’t need to be paying for a world champ

Click to expand...

NW Sheffield on the edge of the Peak District

Centrepin said:

NW Sheffield on the edge of the Peak District

Click to expand...

Look up Brian Clegg, he's over that side, Yorkshire way. Brian clegg shooting coach 

brilliant bloke and very knowledgeable indeed 

TK421 said:

Look up Brian Clegg, he's over that side, Yorkshire way. Brian clegg shooting coach 

brilliant bloke and very knowledgeable indeed 

Click to expand...

Just had a good read at his website, I like the idea of firing 200 - 250 cartridges under instruction and a half or full day to learn. That's got to be better than an hour and 25 clays.

As my lad keeps telling me, you can't learn if you're not putting lead in the air. 

I'll drop him a text tomorrow and hope I don't need a bank loan as he sounds an ok guy.

Thanks for the link

Centrepin said:

Two of my faults in one sentence! I do keep looking at the end of the barrel at the last split second.....and miss. My son says my follow through is very poor. I'm working on both.

I'm also late in shooting as I'm "thinking" it too much. 

Click to expand...

Something an instructor tried with me to find out if these were issues holding me back (they were/are) was to have me shoot gun down and send out various clays; chandelle, crossers, teal without my prior knowledge of the order or timing on report pairs an simultaneous pairs. The result was I had to focus entirely on the clay and just shoot without hesitation. I shot 25 straight whereas I would normally hit around 15-20 out of 25 of those target types/distance/speed. 

Certainly I can determine how I am missing and in each case it’s large down to thinking about shooting it whilst trying to shoot it. If I think about shooting it, then pause and then call for it,  and shoot without further thinking, I have much better success rate.

FYI I too am a novice  just 500 clays to date

Lloyd said:

Something an instructor tried with me to find out if these were issues holding me back (they were/are) was to have me shoot gun down and send out various clays; chandelle, crossers, teal without my prior knowledge of the order or timing on report pairs an simultaneous pairs. The result was I had to focus entirely on the clay and just shoot without hesitation. I shot 25 straight whereas I would normally hit around 15-20 out of 25 of those target types/distance/speed. 

Certainly I can determine how I am missing and in each case it’s large down to thinking about shooting it whilst trying to shoot it. If I think about shooting it, then pause and then call for it,  and shoot without further thinking, I have much better success rate.

FYI I too am a novice  just 500 clays to date

Click to expand...

That may well be why on a simulated driven game, when pairs came as random I cleared the stand and hit a lot that my friends found hard. 

"Pull" search the sky,  gun up, no time for further thinking, bang, move to 2nd clay.... I had a few comments on how did you hit that, i didn't even see it. I couldn't explain it, it sort of happened. We then moved on to easier stands and I missed the obvious and easy, and laughed at my own poor shooting.

This is why i think instruction would be beneficial,  i need to know why I'm hitting as well as missing.

I’ve been shooting for over 40 years . I’ve never stopped learning . I’ve recently suffered an intermittent fall off in shooting driven targets , which is a problem,  as I’ve got 7 days lined up with a syndicate on the real thing .  80 Targets shot with Mike Meggison at Kelbrook yesterday , and it established  what I thought , my left eye is sometimes taking over ( ageing is a bugger )  .  Problem diagnosed and tried a number of solutions .  Then a bit more work on stance, footwork  and game shooting technique. No cages , no ‘ pull ‘ and finished on 100’ midis , confidence restored .   All told £120 including my cartridges to get back on track , real value in the scheme of things  .  A great coach gives so much more advice than just how to hit a pre presented target . Mike is a bit far from you otherwise I’d have pointed you in that direction . 

Ages  ago when I did competitions I’d regularly see the aforementioned Mr Clegg shoot , he is a class act . 

 

Centrepin said:

Two of my faults in one sentence! I do keep looking at the end of the barrel at the last split second.....and miss. My son says my follow through is very poor. I'm working on both.

I'm also late in shooting as I'm "thinking" it too much. 

Click to expand...

Yeah - nobody with a brain ever does very well.  Then they figure out that there are better things to do   :hmm:

Centrepin said:

That may well be why on a simulated driven game, when pairs came as random I cleared the stand and hit a lot that my friends found hard. 

"Pull" search the sky,  gun up, no time for further thinking, bang, move to 2nd clay.... I had a few comments on how did you hit that, i didn't even see it. I couldn't explain it, it sort of happened. We then moved on to easier stands and I missed the obvious and easy, and laughed at my own poor shooting.

This is why i think instruction would be beneficial,  i need to know why I'm hitting as well as missing.

Click to expand...

If you read   Churchill's book that will become obvious

Wonko the Sane said:

   :hmm:

If you read   Churchill's book that will become obvious

Click to expand...

Winston?

Yeah, I know, I'll get me coat.......

wow what a thread.

Hello and welcome. Im sure youll pick it up.. Im still useless at straight crossing targets. But if its just for a laugh, all is good.