My shooting was rubbish! Where was I going wrong?

I was not moving the gun quick enough and the clays were hard to hit – I was pulling the trigger as clays disappeared behind the tops of the trees!

I think I spent too much time making sure I was looking correctly down the rib, which I was. Think its time to give up on ?making sure? and go back to the old plan of calling pull, picking up the clay, and firing.

Where do you think I was going wrong?


Shooting UK coach
ROB EATON
You need to ?hard focus?. The clay has the manufacturer?s name written on it. Try to read it every time without fail and never take your eyes of it for any reason at all.

Get into the stand.

Feet position at five past two.

Find your ?pick up? point, that’s the place where you first focus on the clay.

Put the muzzles on and slightly under the pick up point.

Then move it slightly in front of that, about a yard or so and remember it.

That’s your ?hold point? where you hold the gun and call pull. Before you call pull though, mount the gun into the kill zone and wind back to your ?hold point?.

That will give you some muscle memory. Slip the gun slightly out of the shoulder with out lowering the muzzles. Call pull when YOU are ready and nobody else.

The clay is thrown.

As soon as you see the clay, start to move the gun?s muzzles with the clay and at the same time the stock towards the cheekbone and shoulder in that order.

It?s called The Moving Gun Mount. If you put the gun into the shoulder first it will often go into a different part of the shoulder each time causing you to miss all over the place as well as making the head drop over the comb.

Keep the head still and put the stock comb into the cheek.

Use the cheekbone as a mounting reference point.

The shoulder will be there waiting for you. If you have a long neck then you may have to drop your head a little but only ever drop it forward towards the top lever, never over the stock.

But this is where your gun fit can be out by doing so – but it?s better than any alternative apart from a proper fitting.

Hard focus on the clay (name) and use whatever technique you use.

ALWAYS come up to the clay from your hold point never down.

Use your instincts to shoot as they are better than you at judging things.

Never think about pulling the trigger, don?t start analysing stuff just shoot on instinct every time.


Trust your instincts, its imperative.