We have shooters from all over the world fill out our shooter form on our Knowledge Vault website on a weekly basis and ask questions that cover just about everything you could think about – from mental performance to gun mount to follow-through to choke and so on.
While each gets a personal answer from one of us three, some have evolved into relationships that go beyond just another question that we answer and turn into a video tip in our Quick Tips section or talk about in our podcasts. We see easily half to two-thirds of the shooters whose questions we answer in one of our clinics, or even one-on-one sessions at different locations around the country, and more than once a year.
Gil asked him when he shot trap, what his method of getting the gun in front of the target was. He responded swing-through, adding that he did the same in skeet and had reached the proverbial wall in both and could not get better.
“Do you look
down the barrel as you mount the gun to make sure the gun is mounted correctly
and then look back for the target?” Gil asked.
“Yes, sir.”
We all knew what his problem was.
In trap, you know the point of origin but you do not know the line of the target. So you can shoot trap effectively swinging through the target. But then most of the shots in trap are going away from you and are very narrow angles. To shoot trap at the highest level takes a lot of commitment and thousands and thousands of practice targets and a lot of time.
In skeet, swing-through is not quite as effective as maintained lead due to the many crossing trajectories. But the game is very repetitive and all targets are known distances, directions, and speed. The largest reason maintained lead is such an advantage in skeet is that you must run 100 straight in the main event and then win in a shoot-off, shooting doubles at Stations 3, 4, and 5.
When shooting doubles from the center stations, if you can break the first shot 15 feet before the stake with minimum movement, then when you flick your eyes to pick up the second target you will see it coming to you and it will appear to slow down as you move with it and match speed. The reason minimum movement is critical is because every bit of movement and speed of the movement on the first target in doubles must be overcome to switch directions, and efficiently and effectively hit the second target of the double.
There is one more huge similarity in the targets in skeet and the targets in trap: the targets are all the same speed. The targets in sporting are rarely the same speed, angle, distance, or even the same size, which makes for some optical illusions that will never be found in trap or skeet.
Now, before you trappers and skeeters get your dander up, I am not saying they are simple games or easy to master. But you must admit they are the same, whether played in Frozen Butt, Alaska, or San Antonio, Texas. High two is high two and wide right on Station 5 is the wide right on Station 5, regardless of where the targets are thrown or shot!
When played at their highest levels, you will find that less gun movement is a common thread in all great performances, and not looking down the barrel of the gun in the set up is another not-so-frequently mentioned but essential fundamental in all clay target sports.
When you break down all the clay target games to their base level, everything in the games is designed to make you speed up everything you do when practicing and performing them. Tournament jitters in any of the clay games make your heart rhythm increase and your breathing get short and labored and your hands shake with anticipation. And most detrimentally, your eyes bounce from one thing to another, making it impossible to see the target clearly shot to shot.
While experience in playing the games and more deliberate practice will lessen the felt pressure (which is self-induced) nonetheless, it will still be there and will tend to make you rush and speed up your mount, the amount of time you take between shots or pairs, as well as the amount of time you take between stations.
During this chosen situation that you paid to
put yourself into, what you do just a little in practice will be done a lot when
playing the games for score, especially the better you are shooting.
Having to look down the barrel to make sure the gun is mounted correctly is something that we see that is detrimental to high-level performances. In fact, it ensures that the barrel will be more noticeable in your shots!
Our good friend and renowned skeet coach Terry Hetrick of Double Guns of Nashville says, “Never put anything in your pre-shot routine that you don’t want in your shot!” and we could not agree more, especially when it comes to the muzzle of your gun.
Our student Dean Troutte from California had a realization when he had a breakthrough in his sporting practice a year or so ago. He shared it with us on one of our Coaching Hour podcasts. After having an incredible practice at all levels, one afternoon Dean called and said he had a breakthrough: “You are either in the cage with the gun or downrange with the target – and you can’t be in two places at one time!”
He had finally practiced his gun mounts and done the OSP flashlight drill and three-bullet drill every night for long enough, that when we commented that muzzle awareness in the setup causes a problem, he just stopped. BAM, a new level of awareness in his game. He still does the drills and his gun mount is the strongest part of his game and creates a consistency that will not be experienced otherwise.
Skating when playing hockey gives you mobility on the ice. In fact, it gives you more speed and agility than you have when walking and running. And you better not have to think about what you are doing with your feet when ice skating – or what’s worse, look at your feet.
Dribbling in basketball does the same thing for mobility on the basketball court. But you had better be able to dribble with both hands effectively without looking at the ball or thinking or you can’t play the game.
So, why do shooters postpone their moving to the level of the game they desire so much because they refuse to learn to move and mount the gun? This is the comment we hear often when we see shooters that shoot gun up. And when they mount, they are looking down the barrel to check the alignment of the bead sights.
When we ask why they have to keep looking at the barrel to see if the gun is mounted correctly, and mention they should learn to mount the gun so they don’t have to constantly check the gun in the setup, we hear “I don’t need to learn to mount the gun because I shoot gun up!”
News flash: the amount of muzzle awareness in the shot will always be equal to or greater than the amount of muzzle awareness in the setup!
Let’s face it. When shooting a shotgun at a moving target, you must be focused on the target and the gun must be ahead of the target to hit it, right? So, when you pull the trigger you can’t see both the gun and the bird because they must be in two different places, right? Doesn’t it just make sense to learn to move and mount the gun at the beginning of learning the game and eliminate the crutch of checking the barrel and then looking back at the trap for the target?
The visual anomalies that are caused by checking the barrel before you call “pull” is an unending list, and the out-of-body experiences it creates have been puzzling shooters for decades. We guess it will never end.
Our friend from the trap field did email back after doing the gun mount drills and let us know that the drills were not as easy to do as he suspected. He did not realize just how much he was looking at the end of the barrel in the setup! If you are one of those who is trying not to look at the barrel in the shot but continually checks the barrel for alignment in your setup before calling “pull,” try not looking at the barrel and see what happens. You, as well as our friend who is coming over to the dark side, will be surprised at just how much you are really looking at the barrel in your setup.
And believe us when we say that the better you are shooting, you are not going to check the gun less. It’s your choice.
Mastering what you do with the gun is the most basic fundamental in shotgun shooting, and what you do with the gun must be done without thinking. It is the one thing the either accelerates or holds back how fast you learn and improve. It either allows you to begin to understand and implement the subtleties of the game or hides them from you forever.
Dribbling in basketball and skating in hockey without looking at the ball or your skates gives you mobility on the court and on the ice. Everything you do with the gun must become like holding your breath when you swallow in order for you to really concentrate on the target.
You only have 100 percent of focus, and every bit you put on the gun comes off the target. Like our student Dean said, you are either in the cage with the gun or downrange with the target – and you can’t be in two places at the same time.
