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Shooting
Techniques
Tweaking performance form
your doubles gun
Increasing your
Level of Performance
70/28 Rule
How to handle help from others when on the line
The eye to gun to target
Tweaking performance form your doubles
gun
BY Joe Ljutic
Most
all shooters once they have established what they are satisfied with as
a properly fitting stock for their singles gun usually incorporate that
same stock configuration on their doubles gun. That seems logical
and in most cases it works well for the majority of shooters. At
least they think it does. As we all know doubles is a different game
that shooting singles. The biggest factor being after firing the
gun at the first target we must locate and shoot the second target in a
somewhat limited amount of time. And sense the vast majority of
doubles shooters are not the seeming make it look effortless, quickly
hanging a pair of soot balls in the air before your eyes class AAA
doubles shooters. I can recommend a couple of small adjustments
that can help to improve your doubles scores. First of which is the
length of pull (stock length) of your doubles gun. I see a lot of
shooters that more often have there doubles guns 1/4 - 3/8 of an inch
shorter than there singles gun thinking the shorter length will make the
gun more maneuverable for doubles. Over the years I have
experienced more success with my doubles gun stock .250 (1/4")
longer than the stock on my singles gun. Now sense most recoil pad
manufacturers pads offer a series of the same pads in graduated lengths
(usually .200 difference from pad to pad) the length of your doubles gun
can be easily changed simply by fitting a new longer pad or adding a
spacer between the existing pad & stock. What advantages does the
added length provide? First off it will provide a more secure hold
(grasp) of the gun when it is mounted in preparation for the first shot.
The more securely the gun is held the more control of the gun you will
have. So hold the gun to your shoulder, face and grip it about 25%
tighter than you normally do for singles. Second item, when the
first shot is fired you will feel less felt recoil on your shoulder and
face because the recoil is absorbed more in your arms and the gun will
have less of a chance to get away from you when the first shot is fired.
Another helpful adjustment is to add 1 - 2 _ inches more down pitch to
the stock of your doubles gun than your singles gun has.
Down pitch will help make the barrels hang level to produce a flatter
swing towards the second target. This can be very helpful if the
second target is level or on the way down when being shot at. Last and
most important for a doubles stock is to leave the recoil pad FULL SIZE
as LARGE as POSSIBLE in length (top to bottom). A full size large
pad can reduce felt recoil tremendously. Competent gunsmiths can glue
pitch spacers or regular spacers to recoil pads and produce any length
and pitch specifications required incorporated directly in the recoil
pad. So it is very easy to change down pitch and length by simply
changing recoil pads. Shooters using combo1s will find simply
switching recoil pads easy enough. Experiment with length and
pitch and pick up a few targets in the doubles. Remember, breaking
targets is the name of the game. Back
to Top
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P=ACT...Increasing
your Level of Performance is a Result of Awareness, Choice and Trust. By
Gil Ash of OSP shooting school Houston, Tx: 281-897-0800
Awareness of exactly
what you are doing is the First thing that must be understood by you in order
for you to improve. In this phase of learning an experienced teacher becomes a
mirror by Asking questions to make you aware of what he/she sees is causing
inconsistencies in your performance.
Questions like.....
Were you aware that your hands were not moving the same speed in your gun mount?
Were you more aware of the target, the gun, or the lead?
Were you aware that your balance point shifted as you shot the bird? - etc.
The goal is to make you more aware of the reality of what you are doing so you
can begin to correct the problem yourself. The most important part of this phase
is that you feel the problem.
The next step is choice. In this phase the coach feeds you information like a
gas pump putting gas in a car. The information has to do with ways to change
your approach. It then becomes your choice to change. It is most important that
you understand the risk in not changing and the common sense benefits of making
the change. Then you can accept the change and implement it with 100%
confidence.
The last step, and for most people the most difficult, is trust. You must
practice what you have changed so that your new move becomes subconscious. It is
important that you have an increased awareness of how it feels when it is right.
Then and only then can you trust it. Bottom line, you can't trust what you can't
feel.
Shooting is a subconscious function. The more subconscious trust you have in
your move the better you will perform. There is a common misconception that in
order to improve the student must have trust in the instructor. This statement
is True! However, in order for the student to reach their potential....the
student must learn to trust themselves more. Back
to Top
70/28 Rule
By Gil Ash of OSP shooting school Houston, Tx: 281-897-0800
Whenever our students say they have trouble with long
crossing targets, we ask them to show us their move on a 25 yard crosser. They
typically hit 6 or 7 out of 10. How can one expect to break any kind of long
target consistently if one cannot shoot a close simple one every time?
In Golf there is the 60/60 rule. That is: 60% of the shots happen within 60
yards of the hole. The Professionals work on their short game while amateurs
practice the long shots. In Sporting there is the 70/28 rule. 70% of the targets
are presented within 28 yards of the shooter. Shooting a 10 out of 10 on the
close ones goes a long way to helping one become more consistent on the longer
targets. The game is won or lost on the short targets not the long ones. If you
kill All of the targets within 28 yards and 1/2 of the rest--your score is an
85! After all, its our experience, that most "40 yard crossers" are
actually broken at 28 yards. Back
to Top
Etiquette...How
do I handle having a lot of "help" from others in my squad when I'm in
a shooting stand? By
Gil Ash of OSP shooting school Houston, Tx: 281-897-0800
What do I do when I'm in a shooting stand and am
having problems with a target, and get a lot of "free advice" on where
I am missing. How do I handle this?
We get this question a lot in our travels around the country. Everyone who
shoots a shotgun wants the person shooting to do well. What they don't realize
with this advice is that they may not be helping. We tell our students,
especially the ladies, to politely ask that the person watch your birds, but not
offer any thoughts unless asked as you are trying to self coach yourself and
self correct. If you are lost on a target and don't have any idea as how to
correct it, then ask the person to make a suggestion.
It is better, however, for you to stay forward and focussed on how to hit the
target and not to be so concerned with where you missed it. Stay within yourself
to make the decision on how to correct what you are doing. Once you turn around,
your mind comes away from your objective and you lose focus on what you are
doing. It is too hard to get back to the present. It also starts to create doubt
in your mind that you don't know how to hit the target. Once that doubt enters
your mind, you might as well throw your shells in the bushes because you are
probably not going to hit that target. Have confidence and trust in your ability
to hit the targets. Don't let other people make your decisions for you.
Stay forward and focused on hitting the targets. That is your job, not someone
else's. Spectators sometimes get a little overzealous and forget any kind of
etiquette on the course. They can get your mind off of what you are doing in
that stand, by interrupting your thoughts. It is hard enough to become focused
on the target without a lot of outside interruptions. Please remember when you
are on a clays course, that everyone has their own reason for being there
whether for practice on specific birds or just for fun, so don't offer any
advice unless it is asked for. Back
to Top
Eye
Dominance
By Gil Ash of OSP shooting school Houston, Tx: 281-897-0800
Student Question: About ten years ago, as I was closing in on 50 years of age, I
"discovered" (through self-diagnosis), that I had what I call
intermittent cross dominance. This condition manifested itself when I was trying
to shoot crossing targets at Skeet - 3, 4 and 5 using a high gun/sustained lead
method. When I began shooting sporting clays, the problem seemed to get worse,
especially on long crossers. I tried to correct the problem by squinting my left
eye in order to establish the proper lead. What should I do? (Si Bloom, Miami,
FLA.)
Si Bloom is not alone. Almost everyone who shoots at one point in their career,
has this problem, and it manifests itself on targets that they are the most
uncomfortable with i.e. long crossers, curling targets, dropping targets, window
shots and the 2nd bird on pairs. Although we are sure this problem does exist it
is our experience that the number of people who actually have it is much less
than those who "think" they have it.
When someone tells us that they are afflicted with intermittent cross dominance
our 1st question to them is how do you know when it happens? The response
usually goes like this...I'm shooting targets great and all of a sudden I see
the gun! My question to them is how do you know where to put the gun if you are
not looking at the target? Then comes the "Deer in the headlights"
look because of the realization that the last thing they saw before they pulled
the trigger was the gun.
We teach our students that the more precise you are with lead the less visual
concentration you have on the target and the worse you will shoot. A high
percentage, if not all, "intermittent dominance" problems can be cured
by understanding the differences between shooting the "target" and
shooting " the lead".
When one shoots the lead they are more conscious of the bird/barrel
relationship, which means they are less conscious of exactly where the bird
really is. The eyes go back and forth between the gun and barrel like a ping
pong ball, to make sure the lead is precise and the trigger is pulled when the
exact lead is seen. When this happens the last thing that is seen is the gun and
the gun stops as the trigger is pulled, but the target keeps going and going and
going, like the Energizer Bunny.
When one shoots the target they are consciously Focused on only the target and
they are aware that the gun is moving with the target and is ahead of the target
when they pull the trigger. The conscious mind is Focused on the target and the
subconscious mind puts the gun in the correct place to break the target.
Let's look at one example that I'm sure you all have experienced--at some point
in your shooting career you have all shot at a single target with 2 cartridges
in the gun. The target comes out, you swing with it, you are sure the lead is
correct, you pull the trigger and the target doesn't break. Then out of anger,
haste or for some unknown reason you just shoot right at the 2nd shot and it
breaks!
- We all know the gun had to be ahead of the bird to hit it!
- Would it be fair to say that on the first shot you were
more aware of the gun than on the 2nd shot?
- Would it be fair to say that you were sure of the lead on
the 1st shot--the one you missed?
- Would it be fair to say that you shot at the target on the
second shot--the one you hit?
We have all had this happen to us more than once, but because
we didn't understand what happened on either shot we passed it off as cosmic
alignment of the stars or Luck! However, in reality, you just experienced the
difference in conscious and subconscious shooting. Perhaps the easiest way to
understand this is to compare shooting to how a computer works. We input data
into the Central Processing Unit (CPU), it is processed and then output via the
screen or printer.
When you shoot, the eyes are the input side of the computer and the gun is the
output side. The brain is the CPU. The CPU converts visual information to a
physical Reaction. It is imperative that target input occurs through the shot.
If the eyes come off the target and go to the gun or the lead, the input stops
and therefore the output must stop. If the input to your computer stopped, would
you expect the output to continue?
We tell our students to be precise with focus and sloppy with lead. In our
experiences, the more subconscious the lead the more targets you will hit. We
also tell our students the more precise the Focus on the target and the more the
gun moves the same direction and speed of the target the larger or more
forgiving the window of opportunity becomes for lead to occur.
The next time you miss a target don't worry about where you were, deal with why!
Ask yourself what did I see- target, gun or lead? If the answer isn't target
that is why you missed. If you saw only the target ask yourself did the gun feel
like it was moving the same direction and speed as the target? When this occurs
everything should feel like it is moving in slow motion. If not- gun speed is
the culprit.
I realize that this sounds way too simple, but in our experience, it is Fact.
More targets are missed due to lack of target Focus and improper gun speed than
all the other reasons combined. After all, if the correct lead is not applied at
the correct place and your gun speed is not the same as the targets speed then
the right lead becomes the wrong lead. Back
to Top
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Shooting tips of the
Century, below:
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Shooting tips of the
Century...
The most committed win!
Yes...
you can!
Go ahead risk it, say hello!
There's always Today!
"If you think you
can, or if you think you can't... you're right!"
Do it big, or stay in bed.
Be anchored to
some ideal, philosophy or cause that keeps you too excited to sleep.
Practice being excited!
Have the guts to go!
More powerful than the will to win is
the courage to begin
Do one thing after
another, one at a time.
Never try to catch two frogs with one
hand
When one must,
one can!
Change your thoughts and you change
your world.
Your friend is
the man who knows all about you, and still likes you.
Shoot as if it is impossible to fail!
When things go
wrong, don't go with them!
Forget tomorrow, today is the day!
Don't fear what you
want.
He conquers who endures!
Big shots are only
little shots who keep shooting!
The real sin is to persuade
oneself that the second best is anything but second best.
Success seems to be
largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.
"To be what we are, and to become what
we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life"
Robert Louis Stevenson
If you always do
what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got!
“Far
better it is to dare mighty things,
even though checkered by failure,
than to live in that gray twilight that
knows neither victory nor defeat...”
Teddy Roosevelt
Gun control is not
about guns;
it's about control!
Press on!
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not:
Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will
not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not:
the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination
alone are omnipotent!
Hit just one more
target, why not!
The squeaky wheel doesn't always get
greased, it often gets replaced.
From self alone
expect applause.
Some Brain food:
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence then is not an act, but a habit...
Aristotle |
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