[Vincent_hansen]

This year I have had a horrible season, one of my coaches looked at me and said I was shooting to fast and at the flash of the bird. We seemed to remedy this with moving my hold point to the center of the top of the traphouse at everyststion and holding my gun on the very end of the foregrip, going from 17’s and 18’s to a 20 and 23 for our meet on a really windy night that week. However that next week at practice I had a rough first round with an 18, ending the round with 3 3’s, went on to shoot a 22 after the 18 shooting how I felt not thinking too much about it. Then at the meet following that practice I shot 2 14’s, I will admit I gave up on the last round and just shot the bird not really trying. Keep in mind I have grown about 6 inches since last year and lost about 50 pounds. Could it be that my gun just doesnt fit me anymore? Could I be impatient and not really seeing the bird before I swing and shoot?

 

[Troutbum60]

I would say from the information you provided there is an excellent chance your gun no longer fits you. Is your gun adjustable? If so, seek someone qualified to help you make the necessary adjustments. I bet you will see immediate improvements.

 

[T.E.N]

What you have going on is a classic case of out growing your gun (my opinion). I've seen this many times when I was coaching youth teams. Don't let it get you down, you will make a comeback. Troutbum60 is absolutely correct,

 

[Abolt243]

It's also possible that with that kind of growth spurt and weight change, your reflexes and muscle memory haven't caught up with your body yet. You might have also had a change in vision acuity due to weight change and body growth. Get the gun fit to you by someone qualified, maybe check your vision, and keep on shooting. You've proven that you're capable of the mid 20's, you just have to clear your mind and let your training take over. Keep your head down, swing and keep shooting!

 

[Troutbum60]

I have a young man on my youth team that was one of my top shooters last season. Over the winter, he got involved in weight training. He put on a solid 25 pounds between a growth spurt and lifting. At our first practice this spring he experienced several issues in his shooting. Luckily his gun is fully adjustable and after some adjustments, we had him back to shooting in top form.
Be sure not to overlook issues of pitch in the stock due to weight loss or gain. Failure to correct this will cause a most unpleasant shooting experience.

 

[Frank C]

Maybe bead checking???

 

[Vincent_hansen]

Update for you all, Shot a 22 at practice on Saturday, had a coach stand behind and watch me, he had me just slow down after I shot a 2 on the second station. (im guessing you can do the math on the rest of the stations) Had a meet tonight and not completely sure what I shot but pretty sure it was an 18 and a 14. I realized on the last station and on saturday that the ones that I hit well were ones I waited until the birds were very clear in my vision before I moved my gun. Also realized to night that the ones I drove my gun into as if I was shooting bunker I crushed. I have a feeling that my head is not staying with the gun when I swing if I am not driving the gun with it. Which I feel is an indicator of bad gun fit. So after the advice given to be above I purchased an adjustabled butt plate so I can get my gun fitted.

 

[WadHopper]

Where are you looking prior to calling your target?

 

[Vincent_hansen]

I am looking about 3 or 4 feet above and in front of the trap house with a soft focus.

 

[Jo2]

One of the things that you have to realize is, that regardless of how your gun fits, you have to see the bird clearly before you can shoot it. Throwing the gun at a target that you really haven't got a hard focus on is a recipe for disaster. It has been said to me that, if you are moving on the flash of the target, you are sensing that the target is escaping, and you feel that you must move quickly on the target to catch it. Under these circumstances your gun often gets in the vacitity of the target before it is in 100% focus and you just pull the trigger because it's time, not because you're where you have to be on the target.

If you can control the sequence of events that happen when you call for the target, the first thing that you have to do is hold the gun still until you have a good hard focus on the target. Once your eyes have focused on the target your reflexes/muscle memory takes over and your gun moves effortlessly to the correct lead, resulting in a broken target. One excercise that you could try with your coach is have him throw a target, without your call, when you appear to be ready with your gun mounted over the trap. This eliminates the situation where your que to start your gun movement is actually your call rather than seeing the bird properly. I think that seeing the bird properly will slow you down.

Having said all that, if your gun fits (and your point of impact is correct) it's a lot easier to hit a target than it is if it doesn't fit.

 

[WadHopper]

I am looking about 3 or 4 feet above and in front of the trap house with a soft focus.

Before reading this, understand I'm still learning but here's some things that helped my consistency.

My guess is you're allowing your peripheral vision to dictate your move which in-turn leads me to believe you're moving your gun well before actually "seeing" it.

Try picking out a spot, be it a branch, clump of weeds, a hole in the trees, anything definitive that your eyes pick up easily upon taking your post. This should be in a general area, ideally in the middle of the target path on that post so angles don't surprise you. Focus on that then when others call their targets, follow the target from that spot through the break and immediately move your eyes back to that spot and be ready for the next target, repeat. My theory is that this will allow your subconscious to tune your timing based on where you're looking with the end goal to smooth you out when it's your turn.

IMO, not moving your gun means your eyes are on target and the rest will follow. I've often noticed that my gun doesn't budge on a broken target/no target which invokes confidence. I've also had others mention that on slight angles my gun doesn't appear to move. I perceive a slight push to it but others don't. Sometimes I believe some think they have to move, chase or swing through it. Meh, to me less is more. Trust your eyes with the end goal to eventually have your gun shooting where you're looking which isn't as easy as it sounds, especially if you don't have the adjustments to do so. And as you grow, it will change - I think you're discovering this now.

A couple more questions...
What gun are you shooting? Brand is irrelevant, I'm looking for what (if any) adjustability options are present.
When you miss (for the most part) do you have any idea as to why?

Also, don't be hard on yourself if you're not breaking the scores you think you should. The only way to get the negative thoughts out of your head is to focus on what you did right. Too often I read, "what am I doing wrong?" rather than helping shooters build off of what they're doing right.

 

[Vincent_hansen]

Wad Hopper, I have a Citori Cx with adjustable comb and patterned it a couple weeks ago. It is shooting where I thought it was