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Ask the Instructor: Hitting Kill Spots

Hitting Kill Spots

 

My break points tend to vary a bit. I usually break the targets in the same general area, but I tend to pull the trigger when everything feels and looks right. Is that okay? Shouldn’t I put more emphasis on focusing on the target rather than breaking the target in a certain place?

 

Commitment to break point is one of the essential requirements of consistency in sporting clays. If, at a particular sporting clays station, you break the first target of a pair in a different place each time, then you are shooting a different target each time. If your break points are inconsistent and random, the target will likely be at a different angle, different distance, different trajectory or possibly at a different speed when you pull the trigger. As such, you will need to change another aspect of your move to compensate for the different break point.

The key to consistency in sporting clays is to break all target pairs at a given station the same way and in the same place every time. Committing to your chosen break points starts with sound break point selection. Develop your plan for engaging the targets as you always do, ensuring that you landmark your break point. As you visualize the flight of the target, select a point along the flight line, just before the break point, at which you will apply acute focus to the target. Consistent timing of your focus is another essential element of consistency. Make sure that your interval of intense focus is relatively short (no more than 1 to 1.5 seconds) and that you can maintain sharp visual focus through the break point and shot execution. On targets with a longer flight time, timing your focus becomes an important factor in ensuring that your eyes don’t relax or “give up” on the target by the time it reaches the break point. “Dragging” the barrel past your break point or “riding the target” in an effort to measure and make the shot look perfect will weaken your commitment to break points and detract from your consistency.

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.

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Ask the Instructor: FITASC Mount

FITASC Mount

 

In FITASC, is the first move to the target a bayonet move, or is the first move a lift with both hands to the cheek and break point as you match gun speed to target speed?

 

I don’t like the term “bayonet move” because it implies that we should thrust our shotgun at the target and shift our balance to the front foot — which is ill-advised. Allow me to rephrase your question to the following: As we mount the shotgun in FITASC, should we mount and move simultaneously using both hands to move to the cheek and break point, or should we use a more aggressive, one-handed move? The answer is, it depends.

In FITASC, a shooter can use one of several techniques to break any given target. Each move must be initiated from a “legal” low-gun ready position. As a FITASC shooter, we may have to use a technique that differs from the move we would use in sporting clays in order to adapt to this limitation. For example, if we are presented with a crossing target with a long window, we would not need to adjust much from our default technique for engaging crossing targets, whether we use pull-away or sustained lead. In this case, we would assume a good ready position, call for the target, then mount and move to the cheek and target (or insert point) with both hands moving equally and together.

What if, on the other hand, we are presented with a fast trap-like target thrown from a trap machine 20 yards in front of us? In sporting clays, we might choose a pre-mounted ready position, but in FITASC we might opt to hold our muzzle at the same level as the break point and primarily use the back hand to get the gun to the cheek and shoulder, using the muzzle bead as a hinge, so to speak. While we can’t vary our draw length in FITASC (distance between the comb and the cheek), we can adapt our move to the character of the target.

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.

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Ask the Instructor: Barrel Length

Barrel Length

 

When I first started shooting skeet 40 years ago, everyone shot a 26-inch barrel. Now 28-, 30-, 32- and even 34-inch are the popular lengths. My sporting clays guns have 28- and 30-inch barrels. What is the difference in breaking targets? My 28-inch will reach out as far as needed for standard targets. Is the sighting plane or lead different with a longer barrel?

 

Ballistically speaking, there is no difference in shooting a shotgun with a 28-inch barrel length versus a 34-inch barrel except that the wad and shot exit the barrel 6 inches earlier. The decision on barrel length is situational and should be based on three factors in order of descending importance:

  1. Proportionality and balance of your shotgun. Balance is important because it determines how your shotgun moves. A properly balanced shotgun puts the shotgun’s center of gravity between your hands, usually at the hinge pin. Shooting with a well-balanced shotgun will enable you to move the gun more naturally and efficiently to the target with less physical effort.
  2. Your chosen shooting discipline. If you are more of a skeet shooter or quail hunter, you may want to consider shorter barrels (28 inches, for example). A shorter barrel is slightly easier to swing for closer or less predictable targets. Barrel lengths tend to be longer in sporting clays, driven bird, duck and goose hunting than in skeet or quail hunting, for example.
  3. What you are accustomed to. Here is where the discussion of sight plane and sight picture arises. Even though we don’t look at the rib or consciously aim our shotgun at moving targets, every shooter has a subconscious sight picture — the brain’s subconscious view of the barrel-target relationship. Throughout our years of shooting a shotgun at moving targets, our brain amasses a subconscious database of images with different barrel-target relationships at different target speeds and distances. If you decide to change shotguns or barrel length, you will need to allow your brain time to adapt.

So, increase your practice time and shoot lots of targets for the first couple of months after changing guns or barrel length.

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.

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Ask the Instructor: Eye Shift

Eye Shift

 

While shooting sporting clays with a low gun, should the eyes alone shift when moving from the hold point to the pickup point? Or should the head move so the nose is pointing at the pickup point and the eyes remain centered?

 

Proper shot execution requires acute visual focus and a head and muzzle that are synchronized with the target through the break point. Movement to a target must include an acute visual fix on the target, together with a brief period prior to shot execution when the head is quiet and synchronized relative to the target. There is plenty of science behind this statement, chief among them being Joan Vickers’ text, Perception Cognition – The Quiet Eye in Action. In this book, Vickers chronicles how the eyes of elite athletes operate during sports activities in which they must intercept a moving object. A summary can be found at bit.ly/ATI-Vickers.

So what does this mean for the clay target shooter? If possible, use only the eye muscles to move the eyes to the visual pick-up point. Your peripheral vision is exponentially more effective at initially acquiring targets than your direct vision. Turn the head only to the extent necessary to settle your eyes on your visual pick-up point. If it’s necessary to move the head to position the eyes on the visual pick-up point, keep your head as synchronized as possible with the body and target throughout the move and execution of the shot. One of the most destructive errors shooters commit is moving the head down to the gun at the end of the stroke. This upsets and interrupts the flow of information about the target to the brain. Acute focus, a quiet head and a quiet muzzle will feed the brain the high-definition imagery it needs.

I always say, “If the camera is quiet, the brain is seeing a clear image.” Minimize head movement. If the head and gun are synchronized with the target at the break point, the quality of the image will be sufficient to break the target.

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.

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Ask the Instructor: Loose vs Tight Focus

Loose vs Tight Focus

 

What’s the difference between loose focus and tight focus, and when should you use each?

 

There are indeed two types of focus. Peripheral focus (or ambient focus) is characterized by relaxed eye muscles and provides for a wide field of view. We use ambient focus for reading, computer work and driving. It is the predominant mode for our eyes throughout our daily lives and under most circumstances. Acute focus (fovial or central vision focus) involves the conscious and intense contraction of your eye muscles to narrow your focal field of view. You are likely to use fovial focus when repairing a chain link necklace with very small links, assembling a small scale model or performing other close-up work. The relationship between peripheral and central focus, and the importance of athletes leveraging both when intercepting a moving target, has been extensively researched and well documented. In clay target sports, a shooter must use his or her peripheral vision (loose focus) at the visual pick-up point and, once the target is visually acquired, apply acute central vision focus through shot execution to kill the target.

If you have been shooting sporting clays for a number of years, you have likely noticed that your ability to visually acquire targets has improved over time. Once you get to a certain level of technical ability, much of your success will be determined by your ability to correctly employ both your peripheral and your central vision — your peripheral vision at the visual pickup point to acquire the target and your acute central vision focus through shot execution. One of the most common reasons for a miss is a lack of visual intensity on the target through the break point. This soft focus usually occurs because the shooter either fails to apply acute focus after initially acquiring the target or the shooter allows his acute focus to soften just prior to shot execution in order to “check” the lead. Acquiring clay targets with your peripheral vision and following through visually to kill the target are critical elements of success in clay target shooting.

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.