Seeing is believing…but not always truthful. If we are missing targets, we would stop and look for the reasons why. Obviously, either in our set-up…or our swing…maybe both…something’s wrong. We already know these targets can be broken…and we aren’t. That we are making errors is obvious. Once the errors are found and corrected, targets begin to break. Predictably. Equally important…when we are breaking targets…are we asking ourselves why the target just broke? Was that X…1) a coincidence or 2) a planned and correctly executed swing? Here’s why I believe we should know if it’s 1) or 2). If it was an ...
As I work with students of all skill levels, I’m frequently asked if I prefer gun up or gun down? My answer will depend on my student’s skill level and what types of shooting he participates in. Wingshooting, of course, we’ll start with gun down. Sporting Clays, I prefer gun up with certain caveats. If my student spends a lot of time in F.I.T.A.S.C. events, we’ll likely be working from the gun down position. From the starting position, gun up or down, what must remain constant is “muzzle control.” By that I mean, during the gun mount, the trigger hand must not disrupt what the fore-end hand is doing, which is guiding the gun. To best ...
In December 2015, I wrote a Tip titled "T&T." Tempo and timing–tempo of the swing and timing of the trigger pull. I’d like to re-visit that Tip and expand on it. Why? Because patiently building the correct swing speed is nothing less than vital to increasing our X count and our consistency.From the T&T Tip: ".....synchronizing of the muzzle and target creates a swing with precision, putting the muzzle on the right line and at just the right speed. Tempo - matching gun speed to bird speed - is the purest form of gun control, putting the muzzle into the right place at just the right time."It is difficult for me to remember a student who arrived with too little gun speed. ...