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I got an interesting phone call the other day from a man named Larry. He asked if I had a try gun. When I confirmed the rumor he asked if I did stock fits and I said yes. He then proceeded to tell me that 15 years ago he shot both skeet and sporting competitively. He was AA in both and was the best around. (I've never met an X skeet shooter who wasn't AA when they quit and 15 years ago sporting classes were determined by average and depending upon what you wanted your average to be you either went to one club or another!) So the fact that he was AA in skeet and sporting 15 years ago didn't impress me very much. He said he had two friends that he wanted to give a gun fit to because he felt gun fit was the most important thing in being successful with a shotgun! I disagreed. He asked me to explain. I began to explain that gun fit is more a product of how good the gun mount is than anything else. I might as well have been speaking Spanish to a man from Mars. He disagreed again. I asked him to let me finish. Vicki and I work with gun fit on our students an average of 10-12 times per week SUCCESSFULLY. We find that it might take someone 2 weeks, 2 months, or up to 2 years to get a good gun fit. Because if they have no consistency in their move or their mount the only thing that can be done is what we call a novice or beginning gun fit. Adjust the length of pull, cast, drop and pitch to get it close so the shooter can shoot without getting hurt. Then the student must shoot the gun 1000-5000 rounds and get used to the fit and improve their mount and then the gun fit becomes better. You don't have to have a perfect gun fit to hit targets with a shotgun. Although gun fit is important it is far from the most important thing in being successful with a shotgun. For example, you could give Tiger Woods a 5 iron that did not fit him and he could hit the ball well with it. Give him one of his custom made clubs and he would be able to perform better with it. In order to achieve a perfect gun fit, you must have a perfect gun mount. If you don't have a perfect move and mount, it is impossible to have a perfect gun fit. As the mount and move improve the gun fit can also be improved. Larry began to see what I was talking about and although he never completely agreed with me his two friends certainly agreed! Gun fit is a journey, an evolution. The quality of the move determines the quality of the fit. One secret: don't try to get a perfect gun fit before you plan on losing weight. A 10% fluctuation in body weight will cause a gun that fits perfectly to fit not so perfectly.
Why Do I Shoot Sporting Clays? There are many reasons that people shoot sporting clays. It is fun and relaxing. We feel that there is some psychological benefit to breaking things and making noise on a clays range. We are also convinced that you just meet a finer class of people around a shotgun. Did you ever stop and think why people compete in recreational sports? We feel that people enjoy the risk of winning or losing, but there is no chance of a monetary loss. In their jobs everyday there is risk and typically there is a chance of monetary loss. Because they constantly deal with the risk of monetary loss everyday, when they can take a risk and there is no chance of any great monetary loss, they get the adrenaline rush without the risk. This is why people do sports. They fish, hunt, play tennis, golf, run marathons etc. As long as they don't put excessive amounts of pressure on themselves to perform--everything is OK. They have fun win - lose - or draw. It is only when they pressure themselves to perform that problems occur. Ordinary people turn into zombies. They loose perspective. They forget its just a game. The frustration of underperformance causes people to do and say things that they normally wouldn't do or say. Things like throw shells, open or close their gun in a forceful way, say things about themselves or their heritage that is not true, etc. Smiles turn into frowns. Personality shifts occur in the nicest people. They turn into a person you are afraid to talk to or even be around. The desire to improve drives many people to spend lots of money on gadgets and new equipment in the hopes of improving their scores. All they have to do is relax and have a little fun. Shooting is made up of vivid subconscious images and feel--not complex technicalities. When problems occur the first place most people go is technical, not feel. It should be just the opposite! If a shot is rushed, erratic and panicked, it should feel slow, smooth and in control. Its a simple game--focus on the target, smoothly put the gun where it is going and pull the trigger. Watching what people do when they miss makes us wonder if the person they turn into is really who they are and they are just doing a good job of covering it up, or is there something mystical about a clay target hitting the ground whole that enables that target to take over your mind and make you do and say things that you otherwise would not do or say. It is after all, just a game. It is supposed to be fun. If you are not shooting sporting clays to have fun you will not find or achieve much success. We find that the difficulty of this game shows us a lot about the psychological make up of the people who shoot it. Spend a little time defining why you do this! Write it down! There is something about writing things like this down that helps one keep things in perspective. If the reason you do this is not 100% personal (only to please yourself not others) then you are doing it for the wrong reasons and your successes if they happen will be small and short-lived. Ill leave you with something our friend and student Mike Buoy wrote to us earlier this year. He found that his shooting had improved dramatically and he was having more fun when he realized...I stopped being so anal about winning. When I felt this emotion kicking in I stopped and asked myself this question--- What will change tomorrow morning if I don't hit this target? NOTHING. The sun will still rise. Relax and have fun!
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