Looking for a Coach

[Michel]

Hi everyone.

I was wondering if anyone knows a good coach near Dartford area. 

I need someone with really good teaching skills, someone who can really assess and explain step by step what I need to do to improve and start competing, and not a type of lesson where you forget everything the next day.

I seem to have hard time figuring out how to aim. Sometimes its easier to shoot a target like I would a rifle, and other times I don't even see my barrel. weirdly enough it works most of times.  

Also having trouble determining the lead on targets. I shoot mostly at JJ's in Dartford, so when I go to bigger grounds, I struggle with long range targets.

All I need is a good coach for a few sessions preferably not more than 90 min. Drive from me. (Romford).

Please help.

 

[Fred Flintstone]

I can recommend a guy called Tom Heffernan, ‘Tom’s Clays’.

He is a CPSA qualified instructor and a real friendly guy. He does a lot of lessons down in Dover, where I met him, but I know he gets all over Kent. I’m sure he could arrange something for you.

 

[Fred Flintstone]

BTW... welcome to the forum!

 

[Michel]

BTW... welcome to the forum!

Thank you.

Learned a lot about clay shooting , cartridges, and clay grounds. very informative.  

Fun forum too

I can recommend a guy called Tom Heffernan, ‘Tom’s Clays’.

Fred, how good is he? does he work with new shots or does he coach people for competitions?

I've set a goal to be able to score at least 160 on next Essex Masters.

I normally shoot just above 50 out of 100 at registered shoots the moment. I know its quite poor, but i want to concentrate on competitions and make a little push.

 

[Charliedog]

Thank you.

Learned a lot about clay shooting , cartridges, and clay grounds. very informative.  

Fun forum too

Fred, how good is he? does he work with new shots or does he coach people for competitions?

I've set a goal to be able to score at least 160 on next Essex Masters.

I normally shoot just above 50 out of 100 at registered shoots the moment. I know its quite poor, but i want to concentrate on competitions and make a little push.

Do well to go from averaging 50 to 80 in 4 months buh, good luck with that quest

 

[Fred Flintstone]

Thank you.

Learned a lot about clay shooting , cartridges, and clay grounds. very informative.  

Fun forum too

Fred, how good is he? does he work with new shots or does he coach people for competitions?

I've set a goal to be able to score at least 160 on next Essex Masters.

I normally shoot just above 50 out of 100 at registered shoots the moment. I know its quite poor, but i want to concentrate on competitions and make a little push.

I’d give him a shout to discuss... 

 

[Will Hewland]

I agree that 50-80 in 4 months is a tough job. 40-70 is entirely possible but it becomes exponentially hard. Even with the best coaching you will need lots of shooting to practice anything that is learned. 

I can coach those exactly in your position. My interest is in competition shooters who want to go from C to A class. No idea for game shooters.  Preferred ground is EJC. 

 

[Lloyd]

Sounds to me like a situation I’ve been recently familiar with.  I still consider myself a novice. 

Your description of “aiming like a rifle and not seeing the barrels is weirdly better” is a remarkably familiar story.

Please don’t beat yourself up too much about shooting 50 Ex 100. It’s actually not that bad. 

I know of one shooter who has shot about 20,000 shells in the last 12 months has all the best equipment at their disposal, including their own land/traps and has a pretty decent Ex champion coach. It’s taken a good year to go from around 45/50% to around 65/70%

Nothing wrong with your ambition at all. My own goal is to shoot 100 straight, but for me that’s about first of all focusing on 30 - 40 yard targets. There are a lot of those to shoot and not many of the long range targets you speak of. Getting one or two bogey targets to improve just a small percentage can make a big difference to your overall score, particularly if it’s one of the more commonplace targets. 
 
Trying to learn how to kill 60 yard crossers is fun, especially when you put on so much lead you think you’re going to shoot in the next county and the target breaks (I found my perception of lead changed over time and what I used to think was ridiculous lead is now quite average), but you might have only two or three such targets in a comp. imagine if your perfected all the other targets... you’d be in for 97 and a potential win. Ok, that’s stretching it a bit, but in principle, focusing on those that are just a little bit out of your comfort zone will get you closer to your goals faster. And anyhow, you may still get lucky on a couple of 69 yarders so that’s a bonus. 

Aiming like a rifle and that working for you suggests your ok on targets like a straight up in the air teal or a straight going away or in-comers?

Those times when you’re not seeing the barrels and doing surprisingly well, is most probably because of where your attention is. When you miss those more difficult, longer targets, are you perhaps seeing the barrel more? It could be that your attention is primarily on the barrels and the gap to the target rather than just the target. 
There are different schools of thought. Some leading coaches will say you need to see the barrels. Others say you must not. Others say you must be aware of them but not focusing on them.

I believe it’s true that we all feel and see shooting differently. Getting a good coach that works in ways you don’t might be counterproductive. I used several coaches before settling on just the one and I don’t feel that was a mistake despite the popular  opinion that it was. 

I know when I was learning maths, some teachers got the message across and some didn’t. It’s been the same with shooting. 

If you’re willing to drive 90 minutes, then maybe another ten minutes or so is worth it if you want to spend a half or even a full day with someone like Ed Solomon’s who has an excellent track record and works out of Sporting Targets in Bedfordshire. He doesn’t  work with out and out novices, but if you can demonstrate you have competency to shoot safely and at least hit a reasonable number (and 50 out of 100 is more than adequate), you have a clear goal and know exactly which targets you want to work on he’ll help you. He’s £100/hr but in my experience it’s good value for money. 

He may very well steer you in a different direction to the one you think you want to go in, but I have learned to trust him on this.

Of course Ed might not be for you. You need someone who you can gel with. Ed has a pretty dark and irreverent humour, so it’s just as well that I do too.

Good luck on your quest. I’m rooting for you!