When clay shooting I always miss High House One!

This would be two higher if only I could hit High House One ? the easiest bird of the lot! I haven?t got a clue why I miss it so regularly. Can you help?

Clay shooting
JOHN BIDWELL
If you can hit High House Two and Low House five (often thought to be the trickiest of the lot) then you must be doing something really silly and simple to miss High One!

You obviously know your way around a Skeet range so why not experiment a little to find out exactly what it is that?s going wrong?

To me it sounds as if you know it?s an easy one and you?re adopting a sloppy approach to breaking it.

?Easy? targets get you like that.

A pound to a penny you?re doing one of two things: either you are holding the gun too low and looking too far out for the bird, or you are doing the opposite ? holding too high and trying to see the clay early.

If you are guilty of the first ?crime? then you will invariably end up shooting at the clay too late and ?poke? at it rifle-fashion, or lift the gun in the opposite direction to its line of flight.

Conversely, looking too high means the target will get the ?jump? on you, forcing you to chase after it.

When you do manage to make contact the gun will stop, causing the shot to go high.

Remember that the place to hit this target is just over the centre peg and the way to do this is to address the muzzles to a point mid-way between the High House and the centre marker.

Now look a foot or two above the barrels and ?push? the muzzles into the bird when it comes into view.