Trap Shooting Tips?

[Twoface1911]

Any tips that you could pass on? Lately my scores have been dropping and id like to know what your doing to get your scores up.

[leadbutt]

Have you run back through the basics???? Stance, cheeck to stock hand aliment??

If any thing changes so does your scores

[zippy13]

Leadbutt is right, a change in scores typically indicates some sort of other change: Have you had any physical changes -- had your eyes checked? Have you let your hold points* wander? Using different loads? Using a different gun or changed something on the existing one? Changed from heavy winter coat to a light spring vest, or from light jacket to T-shirt?

*If you're not experienced enough to know about changing hold points, then you need not worry about fluctuating scores -- it's common with new shooters.

[porrpk]

if any of you could provide a short brief on the 'correct' alignment for each station on trap that would be a big help.

I was listening to this old (old as the sea) gentleman at the range try to explain this to me, but I think his dentures may have been loose or he was just old and I had a difficult time understanding him...

[zippy13]

porrpk

For the new shooter, finding your positioning takes a while and eats up a lot of time and money -- especially if you don't have a clue and the instructor has loose dentures. Since one pic is worth 1K words, here's a link to an illustrated pamphlet, by Remington, to get you pointed in the right direction on the trap field.

Good luck,
Pete

http://www.remington.com/pdfs/trap_f...ntals_2004.pdf

[BigJimP]

I use the remington info for new shooter as well - it should help you a little.

One of the big things to me - is stance. Feet shoulder width apart / on station 3 if you drew a line accross my toes it would go right thru the center of the trap house. ( I'm right handed ) on station 4, I move my right foot back about 2" / on station 5 another 2". As I go to station 1 ( I move my back foot about 4" ahead of left / then 2" less on station 2 - and I'm back to straight at station 3.

But there are lots of issues / eyesight, etc like others advised.

I would start keeping a log / by station and by round. Weather and wind that day / sunny, cloudy, etc / color of lens you were wearing on shooting glasses - then chart the misses ( hard left at station 1 ), straight away on station 3 etc ..... / look at it at the end of a week / again at end of 2nd week ---- see if there is a trend.

If you're right handed - and missing hard right targets - you might be pushing gun away from your face, your hold point may be off, maybe hold point is too hgh ....... but that's the problem - there are too many variables. Lots of good DVD's out there too on Trap Shooting.

[porrpk]

zippy, BigJim,

thanks alot, good info. I like the idea of a journal, kind of like what I do for golf. Funny, but I find a lot of similarities in the two sports.

My buddies and I fantasize about this game....
golf+trap+sniping

when you tee off, everyone in your foursome gets to take a shotgun blast at your ball, then after everyone has teed off, each player gets one shot with a scoped rifle at any ball they choose. hitting the ball on the drive just moves the ball off course, hitting it with the rifle equals a drop and two stroke penalty.

when the apocalypse comes, if you survive, bring your guns and meet me at the golf course!

[Rembrandt]

Most trap shooters hold their shotgun at the top of the trap house before calling the bird.....try holding it lower, at the bottom of the house in the grass before calling for a target. This enables you to swing up on the target faster and break it quicker out of the house. Shoot on rising targets, never after it reaches the apex and begins dropping.

[zippy13]

The vast majority of the ATA shooters I've competed with hold their gun one to three three feet above the trap house. Frequently the better shooters will hold even higher, some near the horizontal. The object is to have a hold point that results in the minimum amount of gun movement between hold and firing points. By minimizing your gun movement, you reduce the time involved. From your hold point you identify the angle of the rising target, swing to see your lead, shoot and follow through. In all cases you're taking the target well before its apex. IMHO, advising a newbie to hold significantly lower than is typically recommended is counterproductive. Perhaps they do things differently where Rembrandt shoots.

[Rembrandt]

Not sure if it's a regional thing or not Zippy.....I learned it from one of the top ATA shooters in the midwest.

[zippy13]

^ Perhaps it was a method to work out a specific problem. The super low hold might work wonders for someone who's continually "jumping" the bird.

[BigJimP]

I'm with Zippy on this one ...

holding too low - is going to cause the bird to get away from you too quickly - and in many shooters, a tendancy to make a quick "slap" move at the target vs a controlled swing and follow thru.

I can see holding right at the top of the Trap house - so you never lose sight of the bird - but not clear down at the grass. This may be a case of what works for a particular Top shooter ( with their great eyes and reflexes, may not work for us mere mortals ) - but I wouldn't recommend a hold point that low for a new shooter unless you could stand at their shoulder and see a consitent problem first hand that it might help correct.

I think a return to basics / keeping a log on misses - is probably a better idea for this shooter. Its a fine line between - "practicing hard" and "just shooting" .....and when I find myself "just shooting" my scores suck. All of those little things add up - but changing a hold point more than a few inches, could make it a lot worse in my opinion.

[broncobob]

Are you right handed or left? If you're right handed then you should be right eye dominant, do you shoot with both eyes open? You should have someone
at A gun club,who shoots high scores to work with you and see if your score drop is correctable.Here is something you can do to find out which eye
is the dominant eye,take your finger and point at an object with both eyes
open then close you right eye, if you were using your right arm and finger to point at the object your finger will look as though it has moved,with your finger still pointing close your left eye and open your right,your finger should be dead on the object,this means that your right eye is dominant and if you are right handed then you are good to go.

[Jimbo-Indy]

Had the same problem last night. Started off doing fine and got worse as the eveng progresses. An older gentleman, who is a very good shooter, was kind enough to stand behind me and point out things I was doing wrong. Seems I was raising my head (coming out of the stock) rather than locking the gun into the proper hold. Maybe there is an experianced shooter who would help you if you ask nicely.
Have you patterned the gun/load lately? It's good to know where your point of impact will be with your favored sight picture.

[Nate1778]

Quit drinking midway through the matches.........





































That's a joke guys, cool the heels,,,,,,,

[zippy13]

Nate1778

Joke, or not, there are many newbies reading these posts.
Most gun clubs, and competition regulations have a common rule: Taking your first shot of alcohol means you've already had your last shot at clay.