5 tips to improve your scores

‘Completing the shot’ is a phrase used to describe what happens after we’ve pulled the trigger.

Sounds crazy to upcoming shots because surely when we’ve applied the lead needed, pulled the trigger and the payload is deployed skywards that’s job done?

Nope. That’s only half the shot.

Clays are always moving so if you see the lead, track the target, pull the trigger and stop, there’s only one place your shot is going to go – behind the target. It’s basic physics.

You might chip the back edge of a slower moving target if you’re lucky but with a screaming crosser or something similarly fiendish, the second you pull the trigger and ‘stop the gun’ you’re only completing part of the shot. You’ve already committed to shooting where the target is at that point in time – but the clay keeps on trucking.

Shot can travel at an incredible +1,200ft/second but unless you keep the barrels moving after you’ve pulled the trigger you’re effectively cancelling out the lead you’ve seen.

At times you need ultra-precision. A long range crow needs a laser-like focus on the target and the gap underneath so the clay drops into the shot with perfect timing. Almost like a rifle shot.

Sometimes the same can be said for a teal-away when you shoot it at it’s peak (if you’re not smashing it on the way up).

But at most other times, measuring the exact lead is not going to help. Our brains are smarter than we give them credit for.

Think about when you throw a ball of paper into a bin or when you throw a tennis ball to a friend – you don’t do a maths equation of angle, velocity and distance. You trust your instincts and apply the correct force to throw the item in the right direction at the right speed and the right angle to land the object exactly where you want.

OK, so you might not get the paper in the bin first time but with practice you’re only going to get better.

But there’s no obvious maths equation needed, right?

Our eyes and brain work in tandem to do an instant calculation based on events of the past, unsuccessful and successful, to get closer to the right answer – a smoked clay.

Footwork and body angle is another big basic to get right.

How many times have you stepped into the cage, called “pull” and then found yourself tied in a knot halfway through the swing? We often set up for where the bird starts out rather than where we want to break it, so if you aren’t unwinding your body into the shot, you’re fighting your own flexibility.

Reading where you need to kill both targets when shooting a sim or pair on report is also key. Position your body facing right in the middle of both so you can swing easily at them without hitting your physical limits.

The minute you start to fight your own flexibility you’re changing your shot(s). So you’re probably going to miss.

So for now, pick the mid-point between the two kill points and position yourself there. Relax your stance and point your toes to the middle of where the magic happens.

You’re shooting well, clays are breaking and you’re feeling unstoppable – then the rattle happens.

For whatever reason you just can’t hit the targets any more. Pair away, pair away and if you’re lucky you’ll chip your way through the final two.

What’s happened? What did you do wrong? Too much lead, too little? Was it a battue or chondel and you didn’t notice? Maybe it was a midi rather than standard?

The questions keeping coming and all combine to invoke the ‘rattle’.

You go to the next stand with your mind racing searching for answers. In all honesty, nobody can change the past misses – but we can all influence our future hits.

The top shots have a strong mental routine whereby they fully acknowledge the misses, put them to them to the back of their mind when they step out of the stand and refocus back on to the job in hand – building their score. This much-practised routine means they avoid the rattle.

It’s not about forgetting the misses, we need to think about them to get better, but you shouldn’t do that mid-round. That’s one for the clubhouse and the journey home.

Finally, if you skip your pre-shot routine you’re setting yourself up for a tough time.

If you step into the stand while still laughing at a joke or thinking about that missed sitter on the last layout and casually mount your gun, you’ve missed a critical success factor of clay shooting.

We all have different pre-shot routines: Some visualise the balls of dust as the clay explodes, some slow down the targets in their minds, some breathe and settle their shells in the chambers neatly. Some even mutter a mantra under their breath.

But whatever your routine is, it should be about directing your mind towards the process so that you can execute your shots perfectly.

If you don’t have a pre-shot routine yet definitely read up on the deeper purposes behind them and learn what works for you. Our mind is a muscle that needs charging up and focusing on what’s about to happen.