About hitting moving targets in general:
Rifle shooters learn to stand with their feet spread apart a bit further than the width of their shoulders. This LOCKS up their legs to the waist, giving them a solid " Platform " for off-hand shooting. The rifle is held across your chest, with your feet angled only 10-15 degrees to your target. Knees are locked. The only movement is from the waist UP.
Since most MLers start out as rifle shooters, this is the kind of off-hand stance we learn, and use, We might be able to hit a straight away target if it doesn't rise too much or too fast, but anything moving to one side or the other is usually a "miss".
Shotgunning requires a different stance. If you have ever boxed, or dribbled a basketball, or engaged in marshal arts, the stance and body position is similar to what is needed to hit moving targets with a shotgun(or rifle).
Your feet are no further spread apart than the width of your shoulders.
You angle your body to the center of the arc( where you expect to break the target!) of your targets so that your feet are a comfortable 40-45 degree angle to that center line.
Your left foot is a half step forward of your right foot, toward the target's path( reverse for LH shooters).
Your weight is forward on the balls of your feet.
For most people the forward knee is unlocked. The dominant foot becomes the "rudder" that shifts the body to one side or another in response to the movement of the target.
Some successful Skeet shooters unlock both knees and shoot from a slight "crouch"- particularly when facing the 90 miles per hour Clays thrown in Olympic competition. American Skeet machines are set to throw the clays at only 60 miles per hour.
In Skeet shooting, you know ahead of time the path the clay will fly off the machine, affected only by gusty winds. In Trap, the angle of the target can differ, both from the 5 different stations, and the movement of the Trap machine's arm across an 85 degree arc.
IN some Trap sports, " Bunker Trap" machines, and "Wabble Traps" not only traverse across that 85 degree arc, but also can move up and down thru a similar arc. You occasional will see these machines used on some Sporting Clays ranges.
Maximum flexibility in your stance is required to move on these harder-to-hit targets, but practice on these kinds of clay target machines can be the best "Practice" you can do for the more formal shotgun sports, as well as for hunting live birds. Think DOVE, a species that can turn on a dime, and give you 9 cents back in change! :shocked2:
There were NO SHOOTING COACHES at the clubs and ranges where I learned to shoot. I had to learn by first spotting the shooters who never seemed to "Miss" a target, and then watch them carefully to learn what they did differently than other shooters, and what I was doing. I made friends with good shooters( anyone better than me! :grin: ) and asked stupid questions.
As my hits increased and misses went down, other shooters began to compliment me- often because I was the first Left-Handed shooter they had seen( shooting LH guns) and hitting lots of targets. I observed, and watched the best shooters more, and adapted my stance to what I saw more than one of them doing. If it worked for me, I kept the technique; if it didn't, I tried to figure out why not, or find a technique that did work. I still credit two old friends- bot now dead-- for helping me pull my scores out of a slump with the simplest of comments based on what they saw me doing wrong. Both those men held State and National titles as champion trap shooters- the most common shotgun sport in this area of Illinois.
Both saw merit in training a good shooter to be competitive at their level, so that they would have another shooter make them shoot their best at both practice, and at competitive matches( ATA Registered Trap shoots). I out-scored both men only a couple of times, but was always honored to shoot against them ( and both were the first to congratulate me for beating them). Classy guys.
Both told me you only learn to be a better shooter if you shoot against Better shooters!! :shocked2: :hmm: :surrender: In their minds, shooting against poor shooters only teaches you bad habits. :shocked2:
:idunno: :hatsoff: :hatsoff: I believe they are right. :thumbsup:
