wizbang Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Been shooting a pistol for a while and I am a follower of Brian's book. but going to skeet has been a un-nerving experience.Are there any books/vidioes out there on a Beyond Fundamentals level that really explains what's happening when you shoot a clay bird?? Is Brian going to write one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 If you have ever seen him with a scattergun, you know he could... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intel6 Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 While I know there are books out there, I am not sure if they are on the level of Brian's book. I just learned the old fashoned way by shooting. Didn't hurt that I used to work at a trap and Skeet club when I was in high school. After getting hooked I just put the time and effort into it like any other sport. Getting to my first 25 with a 12 ga. was relativly easy but it took a bit more time to to reach 25 with my .410. Neal in AZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 The only thing I know about shotgunning is that thinking and breaking birds rarely if ever coincide. The guys I took lessons from both discouraged me from reading books - probably for a good reason. Actually seeing the bird and getting a consistent, proper mount are good fundamentals to work on. I've still never seen the bird spinning yet, but hope to some day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Snyder Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 we shot a bit of skeet when the STC was still down here in Florida.... a couple of suggestions... most skeet ranges have "older" shooters that can be of tremendous help with tips on comb height, consistently mounting the gun and maintaining sight picture... sustained lead v. swing thru... stay away from the trap shooters.. when you start out there are two rules....RULE 1.... you can't get far enough ahead of the bird (especially in the middle of the field)... shooting at night where you might be able to see the shot column helps... we tried to spray paint shot white with a bit success... RULE 2...keep your head down... (true story) older gentleman watches us shoot a round.... goes to his car and returns with a length of mono fishing line with a couple of #2 fish hooks attached... offers to lend it to us.... instructions .... attach one hook thru your cheek, and other hook thru your scrotum.... guaranteed to keep you from lifting your head.... regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishlad Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 If you go to Shotgun Sports online they have videos from Skeet champions that show you their techniques. I would probably avoid any of the skeet books that detail, diagram the bird path, exact lead required, and all that nonense...that's "skeet for geeks". That may work for regular sheet targets, kinda, but you'll find it useless for other clay target sports that are faster or more varied IMHO. Shooting moving clay targets is easy if your gun fits, focus on the target...not the bbl, body swings like a tank turret from the ankles on up, swing through the target and fire...always keep moving-before-during and after you fire. Practice will give you your bird-bbl relationship and when to fire...you'll know when. You can do many things wrong and still hit the target , but you will miss all the time if you stop moving the gun when you press the trigger. That's probably the equivalent of "jerking" the trigger in pistol shooting. I haven't read Brian's book, but I understand it gets great reviews and deals with the "mental" aspects of shooting. If that's the case, you are 75% "there". In the "old" days, required reading for competitive shotgun shooters was not any skeet or trap book, that was like reading the funny papers, it was a book on tennis. Basically it was a book on the "mental" aspect prior to hitting the ball, so it applied to any sport and... beyond if you wished. Good luck and have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 That's a great post Irishlad. Pretty much sums it up. And it's funny you mentioned tennis book... I was at one of my first big National Championships (The Bianchi Cup), probably around '82, when a friend (and shotgun wizard), John Satterwhite, recommended reading The Inner Game of Tennis to improve my pistol shooting. And an interesting note is that I can still remember him summarizing the book for me, right after recommending it. He said something like - What you'll learn from that book is that you need to do exactly the same thing in practice as you will do in the match. Which is true, but not what I got from the book at all. But then years later I remember thinking - yea, maybe that's what he was saying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishlad Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Ah, that's the book on tennis...good memory Benos. I don't know John, but I met him once and watched him shoot. I even "stole" a little bit of his technique...when he wasn't looking. He was one of those unusually talented shooters of which there are few "created/born" in a given time period IMHO. Including him, I have personally seen only two, perhaps three in my "time". Always a good discussion when drinking beer. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBaneACP Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 I think I'm going to do an episode in Season 3 on taking up sporting clays as a die-hard pistol shooter. My current plan is to cloister myself with Gil and Vicki Ash down in Texas and shoot enough rounds until I don't look like a complete idiot. Maybe I should pack for a couple of months. I'm hopeful that my sessions will Bill Rogers, who is adamant that he teaches pistol the same way he teaches shotgun, might help. mb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George D Posted July 25, 2004 Share Posted July 25, 2004 I haven't read Brian's book, but I understand it gets great reviews and deals with the "mental" aspects of shooting. I think that what Brian talks about in his book can be applied to any sport. I have found that reading books that devote entirely to technique is not often of help as they detail what works for the author. That may not be what works for you. In the movie "The Legend of Bagger Vance" he talks about finding the "field" of everything that was and is, finding the one "authentic" (golf) swing that you are born with and not allowing thinking to get in the way. To (mis)quote Bagger, you can't make the shot break the clay, you have to let it. You need instruction on basic technique and safety of course but after that, IMHO, the "field" is the place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizbang Posted July 28, 2004 Author Share Posted July 28, 2004 gotten a lot better lately, by shooting a shotgun just like a pistol, following the front site to the clay bird, then pulling away. alot more natural for a pistol shooter ( at least for me). it doesn't contradict a pistol at all. the other methods swing thru and sustained lead where giving me fits. now that i am decent with pull away i find that i will use the other methods as needed, mainly when i don't concentrate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted July 28, 2004 Share Posted July 28, 2004 Good for you...when you have one in hand,,,try another...you will need them all to become a really accomplished shotgunner.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 A couple concepts that really helped me sort it out - Don't move the gun (toward the target) until you see the target clearly. Once you've seen the target, never, ever, look anywhere but right at it. If you're style of shooting includes mounting the gun after the target is thrown, really work on the mount. Practice every day, just like you do your draw. You gotta turn into a machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike H Posted May 15, 2005 Share Posted May 15, 2005 This post will probably never make it to its intended target. But----- I picked up skeet a number of years ago when I got away from competitve pistol. A couple of videos that I found very helpful were two from Todd Bender. He is definitely the man when it comes to skeet. The videos cover everything imaginable on the skeet field. I'll try to find mine and get the actual names of the video if interested. I'd definitely consider a trade for some of the newer pistol videos, if mine haven't been loaned out, never to be seen again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay1 Posted May 15, 2005 Share Posted May 15, 2005 I'm coming at pistol shooting from the opposite direction in that one single season I shot over 10,000 rounds of 12 gauge ammo. I shot skeet and sporting clays. I have hired coach in that game which did wonders for my shooting. Remember that most star athletics, professional sports players of all types have coaches. There are some very good DVDs similar to what Matt Burkett can do for us action pistol shooters men like Marty Fischer, George Digweed and Dan Carlisle. I really enjoyed Dan Carlisle's Complete System For Successful Shooting. Here's a link if you are interested: http://www.shotgunsportsmagazine.com/video...ting_clays.html I also feel strongly that most shooters are made and not born. In other words the sooner that we men get over the macho concept that includes the thought that if we have balls we know how to shoot inately. The concept that if you just do it more than the next guy you will get much better doesn't hold water in my way of thinking. You will get better faster with knowledge of proper technique and practicing the right thing instead of ingraining flaws that will take some time to unlearn. These are just my thought on the subject and are not written in stone anywhere. Good luck developing your own style. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calhunter Posted May 15, 2005 Share Posted May 15, 2005 Two biggest pitfalls I see in Skeet Shooters is once your on the bird don't look back at the front sight and don't stop the gun when you trigger the shot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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