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#1 Reason for Missing Sporting Targets Not maintaining focus on the target THROUGH the shot. Target focus is a simple thing. Its either there or it isn't. You either never had it or you lost it. If you never had it the solution is simple---GET IT BEFORE you move the gun. If you lost it, more often than not the basic move of the gun was wrong (99% of instances -the move was too fast), therefore it pulled your primary focus off the target and onto the gun or the lead. John Higgins said something whose true meaning is becoming more clear to us as we teach the 1500-2000 people each year in our clinics, seminars and hourly lessons. He said You Americans are too intent on breaking the target therefore you never learn the basic move well enough to achieve consistency of any sort. He has gotten smarter over the years. I was reading an article the other day on the advances that have been made in golf equipment in the recent years. Exotic materials, oversized club heads, shafts with different amounts of flex etc. The writer went to great lengths in describing the advantages of all combinations of composite materials, shaft flex, and club head size and came up with what he felt was the best combination of all the current clubs. However at the end of the article, he said something that was very profound. If your swing is bad you will hit bad shots. Nothing will improve your game as much as improving your swing. This is so true in shotgunning as well. We see people buying all sorts of products to make them a better shot. They buy new guns, adjustable stocks, different lens colors, different chokes, faster shotgun shells, glow in the dark shot gun sights and the list goes on. The sad thing is that if they would spend more time working on the basic swing dynamics and mechanics their game would improve dramatically. But I guess that is not as easy as using their charge card to buy a few extra targets. My Uncle Dusty Garrett told me once that 90% of the fun of doing anything is having the best equipment you could possibly afford. Having the correct lens color for the situation you are shooting in is important. Using the correct chokes and load is important also. Having a gun that you are proud of and that fits you is of equal importance. We find that people shoot guns that they are proud of better than guns they aren't. However, I'm sure I could give Bobby Fowler a gun that he had never seen or shot before, with an unknown choke in it, with ammunition he was not accustomed to shooting and he could still break 10 out of 10-30 yard crossers. Why? He has a smooth subconscious swing (key words are smooth and subconscious). Something few of the people who shoot this game have. Its the consistency of the move that breaks the targets. You don't have to be smooth to be a great shot, but all great shots are smooth. The more precise and consistent your swing and mount are the easier it is to move the gun with the speed and direction of the target. The more the gun mirrors the target line and speed the easier it is to maintain critical laser focus on the target. The better the focus on the target the more targets you will break--PERIOD--DOT.
Foot Position I'm always concerned that my foot position is not correct when I call pull. How do I know where to put my feet? Richard Edson, Dickinson, Texas One of the first things you want to do when you get to the station you are shooting is to decide where to break the targets so that you can put your feet in the correct position. That way you will be in balance at the break point. You will need to point your left foot (right foot for left handers) in the direction of the place you want to break the target. The other foot needs to be placed to the side and back 1 or 2 inches or whatever is comfortable for you, so that there is a line between the back heel and the front toe and that is the place you want to break the target. Your feet should be about the distance apart as your armpits. If they get too much wider, you are not able to move as well to the bird. If the wind comes up and you have to make an adjustment in the swing you are not able to as easily as if your feet were closer together. With your feet closer together, this also helps you make a good gun mount. The gun is able to move to your face more easily if your feet are not too far apart. Try it and see. Put your feet really far apart and try to make a good perfect gun mount. Then put them closer together and see if it makes a difference. Standing straight with only a slight lean in your stance (with your nose over your toes) will also help in the gun mount. The shoulder then is in line with the stock and the gun ccan slide up to the cheek easy. All these hints will help you make not only a good gun mount, but will help you in your decision on where to break the target. Once that has been established you don't have to think about it again and you will be lined up correctly with the target and not breaking your back along your swing. This also prevents that rainbow effect in your swing. Swing into your stance and a good gun mount will occur, and even more important more targets will break as a result.
Good Bird Hunters Aren't Necessarily Good Clay Shooters I am a bird hunter, a good bird hunter, but I was invited to a charity clays shoot and didn't shoot very well. I always thought I was a good shot, but that shoot made me question my ability. Is there a difference in bird hunting and shooting sporting clays? You are not alone. Most bird hunters come to the sporting clays ranges thinking that they will just tune up for the hunt. What happens is that they hardly ever do really well at clays. They walk away frustrated and making remarks about their lineage, when all they need to do is to understand the reason. Bird hunters crash and burn on the clays course because their eyes do not maintain focus on the clay target. On a live bird their eyes will naturally go to the fastest moving thing on the bird-the wings. This gives them something to focus and keep their focus. They also have a head to look at on a live bird. Their eyes can then move to the head of the bird and put the barrel where the bird is going. A lot of hunters and shooters don't realize that if they do not look at the head (or leading edge of the target) that their eyes naturally will go to the back of the bird. If they are looking at the back, and the gun goes where your eyes are looking, then the gun will go to the back of the bird and you will shoot behind what you are shooting at. How many times have you seen tail feathers come off the bird? Make your eyes go to the head of the bird and the gun will follow. Another question bird hunters have when they come out to a lesson, if why do I miss the first shot, but usually hit the bird on the 2nd or 3rd shot? Once you have missed the first shot, your first impression is to bear down and really see the bird and by then the gun has finally gotten into your cheek. The first shot doesn't always get to your face therefore the shot is missed, but then you get the gun up to the face and are then able to hit the bird. A note to help your bird hunting. Please practice your gun mounts before you go. I can not tell you how many hunters we see that are bruised up and down their arms, because of improper gun mounts. They come to our clinics and ask why they hurt so much, because the gun got to their shoulder wrong. Last time I looked the shoulder was closer to your collar bone, not your elbow. Get that gun out and practice with it before you go on your hunts. It will make for a more enjoyable time and more hits per box of ammunition.
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