You've gotten good responses...and some good links...but what I tell folks that ask at my local indoor handgun range, etc ...are some basics / but all the clay target games have a lot of derivations to them:
a. Skeet is one, sometimes 2 targets in air at once. Targets move hard from shooters left to right ...or right to left. You have to shoot one target moving one way..then reverse your swing and shoot the 2nd target going the other way. Skeet is commonly shot with 12ga, 20ga , 28ga or .410...
b. Trap is usually 1 target at a time. Targets basically move in front of shooter and go downrange vs back and forth like skeet. Trap is usually a 12ga game.
c. Sporting clays is like Golf with shotguns. You walk to each station ( 12 - 18 stations on a typical course)...6 to 8 targets per station. Targets may drop in from behind you - like a duck dropping into a pond / targets may launch up in air off the ground - like a quail / targets may bounce into view like a rabbit ...and in all kinds of combinations.
You can use any shotgun - in any gague - that you could shoot in the field / you don't need a lot of specialized guns to have some fun /ideally you should be able to load 2 shells in the gun ....so yes, come out and join us.
The abuse from my friends aside...( Trap shooters are boring - and lack talent and imagination ...
) but in any event ....yes, real men do shoot Skeet ! - but truthfully, I like all the games....well, not Trap so much ....