Had fun shooting clays this weekend, first time.

Technique

fiznat asked:
..... Anyone got any pointers on technique, .....?
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fiznit,

I shoot some competition - One of the very first things I was taught was foot placement. To maximize your swing - your back foot should never be any futher back from the front than ONE FOOT (i.e. the toe of the rear foot should be on line with the back of the heel of the front foot.)

See for yourself. For a righty, grab your right wrist with your left hand. Extent your right arm out straight and point with right index finger (Vise-versa for lefty). Rotate your point left and right, marking both the extreme points you can swing.

Do this with your back foot toe close to the front heel - Then, with the back foot toe 12 to 18" away from the front heel. You'll notice a big difference in the amount of left and right swing you can rotate.
 
Welcome and great you have taken up up an addictive hobby. Now go to your local gun club and try targets on the trap, skeet, 5-stand, and sporting clays..................:D
 
Had fun, right? And were safe. Good start.

Vary the angles, try some doubles, start from low gun,etc.

A standard clay with the center punched out flies erratically. Mix a few of those in with non punched targets for a lot of fun.

An old thread on Proper Mounting Techniques may help your form and shooting.

Enjoy....
 
Thanks for the comments guys! I think we are definitely going to try some of the different kinds of clays. Throwing crossways is sometimes problematic at this range because on the weekends it is so packed, throwing that way often means putting clays in front of other people. We do need to increase the difficulty a little bit though. We're no fantastic shooters but even on our first day out we were hitting most of the clays...
 
One thing that I notice with toss-your-own videos, the shooters are often too close to the target launcher. How often does the hunted bird flush to your side? That's a reason Trap targets are launched some distance (16 to 27-yards) in front of you. Skeet's Low-7 is about as close as you get to the targets.

Unfortunately, with toss-your-own target shooting, moving the machine well in front of the shooter brings up some logistical problems. Unless the machine is automated, the loader/puller is constantly going back and forth in front of the guns.

If, where you are shooting is so congested that you can't have crossing shots without bothering your neighboring shooters, then I'd look for a new spot or head to a Trap and Skeet club. Also, if your neighboring shooters are that close, I'd have safety concerns. You may be confident about you and your buddies' safety habits, but what do you know about the guys next to you? I've never heard anyone complain that the fences between gun club Skeet fields are either too high or too long.
 
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