Shooting Methods

I thought this may be useful to the 'newbies' that are on this site or people just getting back into clay shooting after a lay off. It would be interesting to hear from Ed Solomons who is currently enjoying a 'purple patch' his views. I have always advocated that we should be able to shoot all the methods and apply them as necessary for any given target.Most game shooters  and people taught by a game shooter invariably learn 'smoke trail'.Most clay shooting beginners are taught 'The Method'.We then invariably progress to 'maintained lead' for longer distance targets.As we progress and improve our ability we develop our own style, John Bidwell developed and coined the phrase Move, Mount, Shoot, George Digweed often 'swings through', Todd Bender swears by Maintained Lead ( I would argue that he doesn't use that 100% of the time like he says he does).NOW, I hope you've stayed awake this far Edward? What method do you use? Comments welcome from everyone of course.Because, recently I have had a wonderful run of success both at clays & game, and I suddenly realised that I was not thinking about using a specific method. I was looking at a target or two whilst I waited my turn, deciding how much lead I thought each target needed (if any) and just calling for the target and moving, mounting, and shooting the target as the gun came into the shoulder/face, didn't think about lead or anything I just shot the clays 110+% focus. If they were close crossers I just swept through them and shot, distant birds I already had an idea of how much lead I was going to give them, called, applied the lead and shot. It all seemed so smooth and in plenty of time. /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-smile.gif/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-smile.gif/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-smile.gif I really would appreciate your views Ed and any one else about how you apply yourself and approach targets.Incidentally George made a good comment last week when he said just focus on breaking clays, don't miss a few and deduct them from a 100 and think I will be trying to shoot a 98 or a 96 now. Forget about the score, and the missed birds, just concentrate on each clay and build a score.

I have absolutely no idea which method I use, I guess it changes depending on the target I have also not been instructed on any particular method either

The target always dictates which method is the best to use, although personally i dont think about it, it just happens that way. Fast close targets are usually a small swing through as against quartering birds which is more a pull away job. if there is a lot of time then its maintained. i think teals are one of the worst because of all the different angles, heights and speeds so you adapt to each one slightly differently. thats my take./wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-laugh.gif

It's funny when i'm shooting well i have no idea on some targets what i'm doing, i use all methods but don't think about which one i,m gonna use,though i do roughly work out how much lead i think it's gonna need if it's a long target.

Funny enough, this was a conversation I had with Elvis in the pub yesterday. I believe you need to master a bit of everything be it maintained lead, swingthrough, spot shooting or whatever. For instance I would shoot a simo teal with longish crosser- Spot shoot the teal early to give you maximum time to maintain lead the crosser. I think maintained lead on birds you can see for a while is more precise and repeatable than swingthrough as all it takes on swingthrough is getting a little bit exited and fast and you are either in front or you stop the gun to compensate and you are behind. Horses for courses, driven birds would have to be swingthrough as try maintaining it when your barrels are blotting out the bird. Longish crossers, maintain or swingthrough or pull away whichever you are most comfortable with. I agree with the above posters that when I am shooting well I dont really think how I am shooting different birds, that just shows you are on top of your game and instinctively shooting relying on your experience and technique. Shooting isnt hard, we just put our brains to it and make it that way /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-laugh.gif/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-laugh.gif/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-laugh.gif Fuzrat

After how i shot today id warn anyone from listening but here goes...As all above I vary my technique depending on the target. For me the base technique is maintained lead, which I'd say makes up 70% of how I shoot. The rest is combinations of swing through (rarely), pull away and interception.I'm always a big believer in working with someones style rather than trying to push my approach on people. If they are really struggling on a particular presentation then I will try and get themShooting the method that I think suits the target best, but if someone is for example a reasonable club shot (70ish%) with no disaster areas I would encourage them to build up their own style and iron out and specific problems they have within their repertoir.I always say the right way to break a target is a very personal thing. If you are smashing (for example) teal consistently week in week out then leave well alone, regardless of if you shoot them how I would like. It's about getting results not trying to make a clone of me.Most people can be helped very easily before having to go in depth into methods and the finer points of technique. Shooting is a very simple game once you have mastered the basics, i see too many "experts" making the process far more complicated than it needs to be to either fill out the time or justify their hourly rate. Some of the stuff I read in the mags over the years has made me wince....

Early on I used maintained lead but it's only when you get to grips with all the different applications that your game really improves. Regardless of what actual method I use on a given bird, the absolutes are: line and matching the speed to the target. Lead and tempo come with experience. One of the easiest ways I find in getting people to hit menace targets is gently advising them to move their body and feet and more often than not their address position (often wrong by miles) rather than trying to tell them to swing or maintain as such. 

I have refocused on the basics of HARD focus on the target. If I clearly see the target no matter what it is is doing, is killed. I have been much more succesfull with this method. Ihad previouslu used all four methods while thinking which one would work on a certain target in my preshot routine. BAD Karma! "If you think, you stink"! HARD focus on the target lets our super computer the subconscious do the million calculations for success that our conscious mind cannot calculate. The best examples that imitate the hard focus: Cricket, do you look at the ball or the bat? (same in baseball!)Soccer, do you look at your feet or the ball? Tennis, do you look at the racket or the ball? And the best example when teaching the corporate crowd: In Golf, do you look at the club or the ball? Golf has all the same componenets of shotgun shooting: Foot position, grip or hand positionon the stock (Index forward please), head positon, hard focus on the ball (target), follow through. I have had a couple of corporate events recently and a complet newcomer today. I have them use the basics of feet position, hands, cheek down, HARD focus on the target and follow through. I don't mention anything about being in front, behind or over with novices. Once they get the feel for hard focus, it is automatic that they hit targets and birds. If they miss, usualy because they lift their head or stop the swing, I tell them so. On some targets due to their lack of experience, I will tell them to see a bit of light as the blurred barrel passes the target. They do hit a lot more than they way the other insctructors teached them. BTW, I did not miss any pheasant today using the hard focus! The Lone Canadian,Henry/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-wink.gif