I'd been working until the wee smalls Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, but two cups of Powersludge and 5 hours of sleep sufficed. So, I headed to AGC for a few rounds of trap. Weather here in Md was moist, and the crowd was a little sparser that usual, with the guys owning the high dollar guns being in large part absent. Most shotguns in the rack were field guns, various trap 870s(We ran an 870 line here once, I took second) and some O/Us. One of those was a Beretta with the Precision Fit "Robostock" owned by an elderly shooter I knew who had some guests there for their first try at trap, and maybe first time at shotgunning. The old shooter greeted me and we talked a bit until the line was over, then set up for our turn.
One guest of this shooter was a young man in his late 20s, at a guess. He set up on Post 4 with my acquaintance coaching. He was using a loaner gas gun, and the stock was a bit long, but workable if he placed his support hand close. Unfortunately, he wasn't using good form, and hit exactly ONE bird out of 25 and seemed less than pleased. I can identify with that.
A little conversation and coaching before his next round had him leaning into the gun, raising his elbow so the butt stayed in place better, cheek firmly on the stock,etc.His coach told me the guy was lefthanded, right eyed, so he was shooting RH.
He, I later found out, hit another 1/25, and was thoroughly disgusted, though acting in good manner.
I shot another couple of rounds, scoring one good and one bad, and was ready to leave when the Robostock guy asked me to coach the young guy through a round. I gathered this coach was out of ideas, and I wasn't pressed for time, so I returned to the line and started working with the man.
He had again shifted his weight to his rear foot and dropped his R elbow. So I corrected that, and we commenced to go for it.
NOTE: All of the 4 other shooters on the line has been asked if this was OK first. Nobody had a problem with it. Many veteran trapshooters do. Ask first....
He was missing them widely,and getting more disinterested.
Imagine being a young man in your prime, and doing miserably at something while those around you, some in obviously poor health and of great age, do much better. I could see the motivation draining out of him, and nothing seemed to help.
So, finally I did what I should have done right at the start, checked his eye dominance instead of going on what I was told. I instructed him to close his left eye. He shot, the bird busted. I slapped him on the back and we grinned at each other.
And so it went, he had been through at least 10 birds before this Satori and missed them all. He hit most of the rest, finishing up with a 12 for the round instead of 1 or 2. And quite a few of the hits shattered the clays, he was centering them.
He walked off the line looking taller and obviously enjoying himself. I returned him to the RoboStock guy and told him that it looked like while the guy was right eye dominant and left handed, he probably wasn't strongly right dominant,with the left eye trying to take over in times of stress, and some further exploration should show whether he should shoot R or L handed.
I got my hand shaken several times, and filled with warm fuzzies, I climbed into the Dodge and let the pony run for home...
One guest of this shooter was a young man in his late 20s, at a guess. He set up on Post 4 with my acquaintance coaching. He was using a loaner gas gun, and the stock was a bit long, but workable if he placed his support hand close. Unfortunately, he wasn't using good form, and hit exactly ONE bird out of 25 and seemed less than pleased. I can identify with that.
A little conversation and coaching before his next round had him leaning into the gun, raising his elbow so the butt stayed in place better, cheek firmly on the stock,etc.His coach told me the guy was lefthanded, right eyed, so he was shooting RH.
He, I later found out, hit another 1/25, and was thoroughly disgusted, though acting in good manner.
I shot another couple of rounds, scoring one good and one bad, and was ready to leave when the Robostock guy asked me to coach the young guy through a round. I gathered this coach was out of ideas, and I wasn't pressed for time, so I returned to the line and started working with the man.
He had again shifted his weight to his rear foot and dropped his R elbow. So I corrected that, and we commenced to go for it.
NOTE: All of the 4 other shooters on the line has been asked if this was OK first. Nobody had a problem with it. Many veteran trapshooters do. Ask first....
He was missing them widely,and getting more disinterested.
Imagine being a young man in your prime, and doing miserably at something while those around you, some in obviously poor health and of great age, do much better. I could see the motivation draining out of him, and nothing seemed to help.
So, finally I did what I should have done right at the start, checked his eye dominance instead of going on what I was told. I instructed him to close his left eye. He shot, the bird busted. I slapped him on the back and we grinned at each other.
And so it went, he had been through at least 10 birds before this Satori and missed them all. He hit most of the rest, finishing up with a 12 for the round instead of 1 or 2. And quite a few of the hits shattered the clays, he was centering them.
He walked off the line looking taller and obviously enjoying himself. I returned him to the RoboStock guy and told him that it looked like while the guy was right eye dominant and left handed, he probably wasn't strongly right dominant,with the left eye trying to take over in times of stress, and some further exploration should show whether he should shoot R or L handed.
I got my hand shaken several times, and filled with warm fuzzies, I climbed into the Dodge and let the pony run for home...