[Jaburg1]

Question for you A and AA shooters and/or coaches.....

*My scores can range from 23/25, 46/50, 89/100......or I'll shoot a 18/25, 37/50, or 38
*My gun fits and feels VERY good
*I don't have an eye dominance issue

I feel like I'm much better than this..... don't we all? Haha, but I honestly do

For the last 2 shoots....maybe 3, I have either smoked the target completely, or I've missed. I honestly do not recall any chips over the last 100 -150 targets; I'm sure there were a couple, but I don't recall them. I'm not bragging, but the target is either "gone", or it sails away to breed. I'm also hitting my hard angles pretty good.

By the evidence, it seems as though I'm raising my head, or at least peeking.

Sooooooo, it's easy for me to take the good advice of you experienced guys to keep my head down. But how do you actually do that? I mean, what technique do you use to ensure you are locked and never raise up? To me, it doesn't feel like I am raising my head, because I'm feeling constant cheek pressure, so I don't know how to correct the error.

Summary..."don't raise your head", "don't peek", "don't roll your head". What do you actually do?

 

[Savage99Stan]

Since I have a very kinky beard, I have Velcro on the comb of my stock. Just don't shave three days before an event. Just kidding. If anyone can definitively answer your question, they will become millionaires.
Seriously, I get my gun into position, pull it tight, and tell myself that "this is the only bird you have to break to win .......".

 

[West]

Jaburg1
You need to understand why you are lifting your head.
That's what separates the AA or AAA shooter from the rest of the pack.

If the target is getting away from you, its an eye issue.
Either not looking in the right place or not keeping your eyes still when you call for the bird.
You will lift your head.

Are you trying to a little to hard to crush the target?
A little too aggressive and your eyes are over whelmed.
You might be getting just a bit too aggressive, its a balancing act.

Shooting singles you want to have a good pre-shot routine.
You want to see the target clearly and make a smooth move to the target.
Stay within your comfort Zone.

You don't need to be push it to the edge of aggression when shooting singles.
For example Singles should never be shot as aggressively as the first shot of Doubles

Its All Good.

West

 

[Rollin Oswald]

West offered very good advice.

I have another possibility as tot the cause of head raising, gun fit and or gun mount.

Do you lean your neck forward to put your cheek on the comb or, are your head and neck in a naturally erect posture. If yo lean your neck forward when you shoot, there is a tendency to, without thinking, raise your cheek during swings to improve the comfort of your neck and be able to see targets better.

The best way to identify a neck lean is to ask an assistant to look at the position of your eye pupils in their sockets when your gun is mounted. Do to that, have them look along the rib of your mounted (and hopefully empty) gun from just beyond the muzzle. If you have your eyes wide open the assistant will be able to tell if the pupils are in the vertical centers or in the upper portion of their sockets.

If they are in the upper portion, consider raising your gun mount, shrugging your shoulders when you mount your gun or having a pad adjuster installed on your gun so the whole recoil pad can be lowered. Any of the three suggestions will promote shooting with a natural head and neck posture - IF - you are leaning your neck leaned forward and as a result, need to look "up" to see targets.

 

[F3trap]

Take a 20$ bill put it on your comb. If the 20$ bill falls off while you are shooting then you have to give it to a squad mate. This helped me keep my head on my gun.

 

[Cowboy Rick]

Take a CLINIC from a TOP PRO !!!

 

[Trapshooter]

A fish hook in your mouth tied to your stock.

 

[Setterman]

Continuation on Rollin's comment...If you dip your head to put your cheek on the stock, the rear neck muscles are stretching, and will get tight and tired. With recoil, they will eventually tell the brain it's uncomfortable and you'll pick your head up without even knowing it.

You want to bring the comb to your face, not your face to the comb.

 

[Jaburg1]

Jaburg1
You need to understand why you are lifting your head.
That's what separates the AA or AAA shooter from the rest of the pack.

If the target is getting away from you, its an eye issue.
Either not looking in the right place or not keeping your eyes still when you call for the bird.
You will lift your head.

Its All Good.

West

Thank you for the insight..... I definitely am not trying to crush the target, nor do I feel as though I'm being to aggressive, but I think you've hit on something with the eye issue. Often times I debate where to hold the gun and where to set my focus when calling for the target, and I switch to a couple different things during each round. I've received some good coaching about soft focus, which I'm continuing to work on, but what you said about keeping my eyes still and letting the bird get away from me may cause some of this head raising I'm going through.

I'll note this as one of a couple things to work on at my next practice

 

[Jaburg1]

Take a 20$ bill put it on your comb. If the 20$ bill falls off while you are shooting then you have to give it to a squad mate. This helped me keep my head on my gun.

That's actually something I can try right away....although I'm not giving the $20 away Lol. The nice thing about this is that it keeps the "head down" issue top of mind and is something tangible.....not just cheek pressure, but doing it to hold something in place or you'll lose it

 

[Jim Tyner]

Relax your neck to actually read your head on the stock. Then, only move the gun by using the big muscles of your torso.

 

[JEB]

Try pushing your cheek hard into the stock and be aware of the contact throughout your swing. Some folks, me included on occasion, bring their cheek down onto the comb. I find that lateral rather than vertical pressure works better.
JEB

 

[Remdog1187]

If your barrel insertion point is incorrect for that brief moment and the target path is obscured, you will have a natural tendency to "search", lift your head. Invariably that will lead to a loss.

Focus hard on the leading edge of the target, insert, pull trigger.

That is a basic fundamental. I blew it twice today like that. Both times resulting in a lost target.

 

[aggjohn]

Once again'stay focus!' The easiest time to come of the gun is following a loss bird; you want to 'see' if this one will break.
If you see someone else lose a target, fight the 'let me see if I can kill this bird.' Easy to say hard to do all the time.

 

[Perazzi_MX8]

I thought even someone like me was smart enough to train myself to stay into the gun for 1 second after it goes off. I say to myself "one" after the shot and then move the gun down. I was terrible with it and the gun came down as I shot before but I have learned. I also think if you have to cover targets up you will have a natural tendency to look and see if you hit it.

If you shoot a few rounds of Bunker you will learn to stay on that target for the second shot sometimes if you miss with the first. It helped me stay focused after the shot. I have shot with Bunker shooters who always fire 2 shots at the one target by shooting the biggest piece for the second shot. If no Bunker traps are near you simply shoot singles and stay in the target and pretend to shoot the target twice. If your club and other shooters are OK with you loading two and shooting twice during practice try that or shoot alone and do it.

 

[Jaburg1]

Try pushing your cheek hard into the stock and be aware of the contact throughout your swing. Some folks, me included on occasion, bring their cheek down onto the comb. I find that lateral rather than vertical pressure works better.
JEB

Good point,.....although I do feel cheek pressure when I mount and swing, I arrive at that pressure in a couple different ways when I mount the gun; it's not 100% the same way every time. This is another point I just wrote down to attend to at my next practice on Wednesday

.

 

[Jaburg1]

West offered very good advice.

The best way to identify a neck lean is to ask an assistant to look at the position of your eye pupils in their sockets when your gun is mounted. Do to that, have them look along the rib of your mounted (and hopefully empty) gun from just beyond the muzzle. If you have your eyes wide open the assistant will be able to tell if the pupils are in the vertical centers or in the upper portion of their sockets.

.

Hmmmm interesting.... although my gun feels perfect in balance and dimension, it's only my interpretation. I've never had anyone else check my eye alignment like that from the front with this gun. I never considered that as a contributor to raising the head. I'll do that today

 

[hmb]

Sounds to me like you could be cross firing. How did arrive at the conclusion that you
do not have an eye dominance issue? HMB

 

[Jaburg1]

Sounds to me like you could be cross firing. How did arrive at the conclusion that you
do not have an eye dominance issue? HMB

Valid question...... I constantly test this, it seems, several times a week. I guess one could question this enough to eventually doubt themselves, but every test I've done always leads me back to right eye dominance. There was a video posted here on this forum where a doctor in his office led the process using each hand, left and right, and I still came out the same.

 

[hmb]

When every thing looks good when you pull the trigger and the target keeps on flying, the chances
are you cross fired. Try shooting a few rounds using one eye and see what happens. HMB