[senior smoke]

Hello:
How many times have you shot a tournament and things are preceding very well. Target after target you are breaking, and suddenly you hear the trap boy or girl yell "lost". You wonder what just happened, everything looked good as I was pulling the trigger? Instead of seeing a smoke ball, the end result was watching the target sail away unbroken.

Recently, I was shooting a 30 bird event at my local club. I shot the first 15 targets from the 16 yard line, and the the remaining 15 from 24 yards. I had a good score going but like I just mentioned above, I started hearing the puller call lost target. I started saying to myself, that the target should have broken, what happened?

A friend of mine was watching our squad shoot, and he said he could tell plain as day why I was missing my handicap targets. He said I was not maintaining constant cheek pressure on my stock. He said a lot of times people will here that they are lifting their head. He said very few people actually lift their head off the stock when shooting. What they do is actually relaxing the amount pressure that they have on the stock and sure enough they will miss a target, usually shooting over the target. If what he says is true, and I believe he's correct, how do shooters maintain constant cheek pressure so targets are not missed?
Steve Balistreri

 

[grntitan]

Keep your wood glued to the wood.

Matt

 

[vpr80]

I find it a major problem of mine that I need to really focus on. Have the exact same thing and I usually immediately notice that I eased up on the stock causing a miss. The next target I am back on it and smoke balls again. It really has to do with mental concentration and staying in form, but it definitely happens to me when I relax.

 

[senior smoke]

vpr80:
With each shot I will have to remind myself to glue that cheek of mine to the stock. Wonder if the top shots go through a check list of some kind on every shot?
Steve

 

[leadhead358]

It's a good routine to get into. My coach for sporting clays has me doing a routine every time I get in the box. Drop shells in gun, clear mind of anything, head in gun, gun ahead of bird, bird above muzzle. I have been saying this to myself every time and my scores have improved over the last year.

 

[dverna]

If your eye moves 1/8 of an inch, the POI will move about 4.5 inches at 40 yards. I doubt slight variations in check pressure will cause many misses.

Move the eye 3/8 of an inch, and POI will move 13.5 inches.

I suspect that is why many good shooters try to have the head "erect" - this minimizes the potential to move the head in addition to providing a better view.

Don Verna

 

[Stl Flyn]

I think the key to good consistant shooting is to be routine. Do everything the same between shots, hit or miss. While waiting to shoot, concentrate on the targets being thrown for the other shooters. This stops your mind from wandering on to other things, and gets you into a rythem for visually picking up targets. Our brains can't process visual concentration and think of something else at the same time. When you mount your gun, do it the same way every time, push the cheek into the gun, and so on. It seems that when I hit them all, the round goes very fast, because I am not thinking, I am concentrating all the time. Think about this. When you see you can't think, when you think you can't see. Sounds wacko I know, but it is true.

 

[senior smoke]

Stl Flyn:
Interesting theory.
Steve

 

[grntitan]

" When you see you can't think, when you think you can't see. Sounds wacko I know, but it is true."

I disagree. If you where unable to see and think at the same time, you would not be able to pull the trigger because you are focusing on the target. Then when you pulled the trigger you would not be able to see the target. My theory anyway...

Matt

 

[Unknown1]

It's the aliens I tell ya. There's out there in their little cloaked cruisers messing around with the targets. Mystery misses! Blame 'em on the aliens!<center>

</center>

 

[Stl Flyn]

Think of it this way. Our brains can't process two different sources of information simultaineously. When our brain processes information from one of our senses it can't process information from the others at the same time. It may however go back and forth, or from one to another 100 times a second. Our brains can't concentrate on two different senses at once. Sight, smell, hearing, etc. Nor can it concentrate on one of the senses, and use thought process at the same time. Jon

 

[DTULL]

MIST GETS IN YOUR EYES, THAT'S WHY YOU MISSED A TARGET

 

[Stl Flyn]

Its the mist in my eyes after I miss the target that bothers me.

 

[dhip]

I think You've just solved my slump.I'm gonna really,really concentrate on my cheek pressure.As stated above,start breaking them then I tend to relax,not change mount or anything,just relax.With that said,I bet I relax the cheek pressure while doing that.Thursday night will tell,,,If this snow ever stops.

Doug H.

 

[Stl Flyn]

Matt,

That makes sense to a point. I believe your motor skills or physical movement are controlled by the other side of the brain. There has to be some correlation between the two sides. Example, eye-hand cordination. When you concentrate on an object to pick it up, your hand goes to where your eyes are focused and you pick that item up. Your thought side already told the physical side what to do. Then you are concentrating on the object,(sight)until your hand touches the object. Kind of like catching a football,GO-PACK-GO. Your mind already knows you want to catch the ball. You take your eye of of it before it gets to your hands, you drop it. WOW, this is getting deep. Jon

 

[likes-to-shoot]

Thats one problem I have and another one is if I'm shooting good I tend to slow down trying to protect my score. What happens then is I either start to aim the shotgun or follow the bird instead of shooting when I should.

 

[Stl Flyn]

Dhip,

Really, concentrate on your cheek pushing down on the gun first, then look towards the house, concentration should now be looking for the bird. Your cheek will still be forced against the stock without thinking about it. PULL!!!!! Really, really concentrate totally on the bird. Move the gun toward the target rotating only at the hips. There should be no arm movement before you pull the trigger. When the barrel crosses the sight plane of the target your eye hand cordination will force you to pull the trigger. Keep the gun moving at the same speed through the target, after pulling the trigger. This also helps keep the cheek on the gun. Piece of cake, right?

 

[Stl Flyn]

Likes-to-shoot,

The thinking should be done when you call pull. After that it is all concentration on the bird. If you are thinking "Don't miss" when the bird is in the air, don't even waste the shell. If you are thinking "I can't miss these next birds", before you call pull, you probably will think that right before you pull the trigger in a panic. That is what causes a flinch. I shoot best when I do not think about missing during the round. Even after I miss. It seems to me the easiest score to shoot is a 24. It may be because you know the 25 is gone. Less reason to think about missing, maybe? Jon

 

[RobertT]

Flyn, very well said, I agree with you completely. Now, if I can just get that red head off my mind.

Robert

 

[Old Cowboy]

I agree with Flyn too