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Hartmann’s Hint #63: Seeing the Target

Seeing the Target

How often do you recognize that you didn’t really see the target as you shot? Either you blinked at the wrong time or your barrel came into your primary focus and your eyes were drawn to the barrel.

I believe that my greatest fault (in shooting) is, at times, losing sight of the target for one reason or another. I know that my gun has a beautiful barrel and that I can look and admire it when I’m not on the station calling for a target, but I still have a tendency to let it get in the way.

One of the ways that I try to keep this tendency under control is by holding the gun a little lower at my hold point. I look up and back toward the house I’m shooting, and I am able to see and lock my vision on the target without my beautiful barrel getting in the way or drawing my focus away from the target.

When teaching newer shooters, I start them out with lower hold points. When teaching more experienced shooters, I have them move their hold points a little lower, and they seem to get their game back under their control and bring their scores back up to where they were more satisfied with them.

Holding lower probably won’t hurt your scores but holding too high could.

Stay safe,

Barry Hartmann

Barry Hartmann is an NSSA Master Level and NRA Certified shotgun instructor who teaches American skeet and wingshooting. You can contact Barry at threeat8@aol.com or 918-803-2393.

 

 

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Hartmann’s Hints: Young Skeet Shooters

Young Skeet Shooters

I help train young skeet shooters along with my friend and SCTP team head coach, Joel Blankenship. One of the things we encourage in these young shooters, after they have attained a level of confidence in their shooting, is entering registered shoots. Several of the youth we have trained have shown skill levels that make them competitive. Some have shot on squads where they haven’t known anyone on the squad, but after the first time shooting with these squads, they are welcomed back like they were long-time friends and many times are ask to shoot with some of the same shooters.

Recently, the father of one of our shooters told me how people were walking up to his son at the Oklahoma State Shoot and welcoming him to the shoot. They asked him how he was shooting and generally spoke with him like he was an old friend. This, of course, made the father feel proud and it made the young man feel like he belonged and that he had attained some skill as a skeet shooter.

One of the things I’ve noted over the years that I’ve been shooting registered skeet is that we are a friendly and welcoming group of people. Even knowing this, I am still impressed with how these young people are received and welcomed. These youth are the future of our sport, and they are really great kids. Please continue to welcome and support them.

Stay safe,

Barry Hartmann

Barry Hartmann is an NSSA Master Level and NRA Certified shotgun instructor who teaches American skeet and wingshooting. You can contact Barry at threeat8@aol.com or 918-803-2393.

 

 

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Host an NSSA Youth Skeet Camp at Your Club

Youth Camp
Photo by Tim Le Cras

NSSA wants you to host a youth skeet camp at your member club, and we’re offering cash to help offset the cost of targets and ammunition. NSSA will provide $1000 to member clubs for expenses, as well as assistance in planning and possibly the services of our Chief Instructor.

Most camps are held in June and July while youth are out of school for the summer. To take advantage of the financial assistance, there must be a minimum of 10 youth, ages 12-18, but 20 or more are preferred. Ages depend on the maturity and size of youth. Instruction at the camps should be aimed at beginning and intermediate level students.

Clubs need to provide a field for each five students, i.e., 20 campers need four fields.

Youth will shoot approximately 22 rounds of skeet during a three-day camp. (Two-day camps are also an option.) Cost to the participants is usually $150 to $200, determined by the cost for targets, shells and anything else that’s included, such as breakfast, lunch and refreshments.

When his schedule allows, Chief Instructor Ralph Aaron will conduct the camp for your club at no charge. Other local certified instructors may also be available. One instructor is needed per five students. Depending on your location, the instructor program may be able to furnish four youth model Remington 11-87s for the camp.

If you are interested in hosting a youth skeet camp to introduce new shooters to our sport and to help grow our organization, contact Ralph Aaron at rpaskeet@yahoo.com.

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Ask the Instructor: Practicing for Nationals

Practicing for Nationals

 

I’m going to Nationals in October and would like to know how I should be preparing for it. Should I practice differently?

 

Most shooters think practice means shooting a round of sporting clays. I take a wee bit of exception to that notion. Shooting one last round at your local club before heading off to the National Shooting Complex is unlikely to improve or tighten up a specific part of your game. Practice, on the other hand, works on a specific part of your game in preparation for competition.

There are several practice areas I typically assign to my students as I encourage them to focus on one or two specific aspects of their game between lessons. A detailed explanation of all the various types of practice is best left for a magazine series, but examples include pre-shot routine, gun mount and movement, visual focus, commitment to break points, and pre-shot planning.

Additionally, you might want to focus on about a dozen different types of target presentations from time to time, based on your confidence level when engaging each: rabbits, teals, descending / transitioning targets, trap targets, crossing targets, quartering targets, rising targets, incoming targets, tower shots, below-the-chest, plunging targets, and more. The target presentation that you should prioritize in practice is the shot in which you have the least amount of confidence.

Ray Floyd, World Golf Hall of Fame inductee, former Ryder Cup Captain, and winner of multiple PGA Championships, is one of my students. During one of our lessons, I asked him, “What’s your favorite club, Ray?” He answered abruptly, “I don’t have one.” He went on to explain that if he ever had a favorite club, that would mean that some other aspect of his game had a weakness. Ray’s goal was to never have a favorite club or a weak shot.

Generally, shooting a round of sporting clays will not help you improve your game at the rate most of us desire. Dissect your game, identify the biggest areas of opportunity, and dedicate some practice time to each one. In an ideal world, we should be equally confident in all types of target presentations and in all aspects of our game. While few of us may ever fully realize this utopian level of preparedness, the confidence we need to win must be built through practice.

Don Currie is NSCA’s Chief Instructor, an Orvis Wingshooting School instructor, and Master Class competitor. To get free shooting tips and videos, sign up for his monthly newsletter.  You can also see more tips from Currie at www.doncurrie.com.