Advice

Help Support :

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Fuzrat

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 9, 2011
Messages
3,459
Right Ladies and Gents, Advice needed. I've been out of shooting clays for a while and my last 3 scores since I got my new gun and started getting serious about it again have been 63 (hornet) 65 and 64 (both wylye) Incidentally my 3 second best scores. Pretty consistant you would think at first glance but on all 3 occasions I feel I have left between 6 and 10 out there. Silly things like dropping the last bird on a stand and hitting the first 2 or 3 pairs then losing 1 or both of them. Last bird on a stand today was the real close rabbit with the orange l-r and the rabbit jumped about 4ft in the air, I mashed it and was too busy congratulating myself and missed the l-r. I can deal with that as its something unexpected. Its the losing them after a couple of pairs that really bugs me. Looking to have a few lessons in the new year after I get the expense of xmas and phezzie shooting out the way. Any ideas for the meantime?

 
In all fairness Fuzrat you're experiencing the one thing that separates the great from the good. Regardless of skill level and experience, the one thing all of us need is Tempo/Rythm/Pace. The ones that get away are a result of not paying heed to those. Slow down a tiny little bit and formalise your time in the cage. Shoot the first, middle and last pairs with the SAME tempo. If you habitually miss in front towards the end (trying to make sure) then remind yourself not to as you prepare to shoot the last pair, say something like: don't overlead this one and then call for the bird.

 
This feels like it is about concentration, not technique. Do you have a pre-shot routine? Some repeatable actions that help clear your mind of the last shot? I have something I do which helps me to focus 100% - doesn't always work as I don't always follow my own advice - but when I shoot well, I know that I have been consistently doing the same things.Some athletes use the first line of a nursery rhyme - a few words repeated over and over in your head as you reload might help clear your mind of the last shot and stop you over thinking.Just an idea.

 
Thinking about it that makes sense, I shoot predominantly maintained lead and if I get a bit fast I will be accelerating away from the bird rather than keeping pace with it, thus missing in front whilst seeing the same picture as before. Hmm thats certainly food for thought

 
Matt, I used to spin my shells so the name on the top was lined up just remembered that. Will have to try it again to slow me down a little. Good ideas so far, cheers!

 
All good advice above.Need to see you to be sure, but I feel that people usually OVER concentrate, especially on last pair. (I did this all through today). This can make you lose the smoothness and often causes a slower gun movement; which makes the lead look the same, but causes a miss behind.. CSC3

 
Fuz - that's exactly my mechanism... line the writing up and slowly close the gun... that makes me ensure I'm focused. I need to do it 100% of the time to really get the benefit.

 
I remember now, I started doing the line up the name thing when I was shooting some trappy stuff to stop me watching the rest of the squad and trying to guess which bird I was going to get. Clever, that also makes some sense for the last bird or pair, trying to be too precise and make sure. I am pretty sure I am getting over exited and fast, must admit towards the end of the driven stand today it got like a bit of a flush /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-laugh.gif still straighted it tho /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-cool.gif

 
I believe a routine that you follow is very helpful,something that trap shooters adopt a lot,but equally applicable to sporting. I try not to 'shoot' everybody elses birds.I only watch the birds of the shooter before me.I find taking a deep breath before every pair helps as does the afore mentioned phrase of choice.This helps you pace yourself and slows you down,I try not to rush.The phrase I use is 'Die you bastard' as passed onto me by an excellent instructor! He even used it with most of his female pupils! Vic.

 
'Die you bastard' love it Vic /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-laugh.gif/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-laugh.gif will definitely give that one a try!

 
I have only ever known a couple of people who try LESS than they need to toward the end of a stand. The overwhelming majority try too hard, which is often worse. This is a huge area an would be a very long written piece so will just cover the basic points quickly. Get a pre stand, and pre shot routine and stick with it, if your shooting good, bad or indifferent. The whole point is to make it a constant.Once you are on them and breaking them well, keep your kill, hold and visual pick ups the same as before- don't introduce variables.Don't talk to yourself between shots, but if you feel the need to give yourself a talking too before your last pair choose your words wisely- or it will have the exact opposite effect. For example, if I tell you to NOT think of a zebra, guess what the first thing you think of is...Your brain doesn't recognise negative commmands. So instead of "don't hang on to your last shot" it should be "kill this bird the same as the last 3" or similar.It could of course not be a mental issue, and that it is technique. Sporting is all about repeatability and if your methods are not repeatable then straights will be hard to come by, and it's straights that build your score.That's £50 cheers bye x

 
Lining the shells letters up is a well known focus trick but it suits young eyes better. Most of us are better off keeping our eyes focused more or less where the shooting takes place.  I like to relax and chat in between stands but once walking towards the stand a conscious Zip up of your smile helps to put you into business mode for the next 1.5 minutes.

 
Thanks for that advice ,today i shoot westfield and i just could not focus because i was on a time constrant,when this happens i think i should not go shootin but you do.

 
Cheers Ed, Cheque is bouncing up the M1 at the moment /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-laugh.gif/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-laugh.gif

 

Latest posts

Back
Top