World champion ends shooting clinic today

NINETEEN-TIME SPORTING clays world champion Ben Husthwaite will be looking to successfully wrap up a special tutorship assignment with local shooters at the Jamaica Skeet Club in Portmore, St Catherine, today.

The shooting great, who was brought here by the Jamaica Skeet Club, has been in Jamaica since last Tuesday giving lessons on how to improve their shooting skills and mental strength.

The sessions, which are taking place in the middle of the local shooting season, are aimed at helping to prepare local professional shooters as well as amateurs to better compete locally. It will no doubt help them grow in confidence and technique as they represent Jamaica internationally.

According to Husthwaite, the shooters will be taught, among other things, “how the gun’s gonna move.

“We’re gonna control every aspect of the gun movement. We’re gonna actually start to make precise, planned movement; it’s almost like following a GPS in a car,” he shared.

Husthwaite continued; “You follow signals, we’re gonna do the same thing, we’re gonna have a plan before they call for the clay, and we’re gonna insert the barrel into a certain place around that clay before we move into what is called lead way.”

Husthwaite stressed: “You shoot ahead of what you are shooting at.”

One of his enthused students, nine-time national champion Ian Banks, said that after his lesson, he will be targeting his 10th championship this year.

WORLD CLASS

Meanwhile, Husthwaite had high praises for the Jamaica Skeet Club’s programme, noting some of the junior shooters are world, class in their current age category.

Husthwaite has been here some 16 times. He has the word ‘Jamaican’ tattooed on his arm, and the Jamaica Skeet Club’s logo on his back.

The shooters have been receiving individual instruction in groups no bigger than three, with the sessions fully booked before Husthwaite arrived.

Jamaica Skeet Club President Khaleel Azan said the club decided to bring back Husthwaite, who was last here in late 2015, to help fine-tune the skills of the local shooters.

“Husthwaite is one of the best instructors and shooters in the world,” Azan was quick to point out.

FILE Ben Husthwaite (right), 19-time world shooting champion, instructs national shotgun champion Christian Sasso (second right) on how to anticipate the position of the clay and where to shoot at the Jamaica Skeet Club in Portmore. Looking on are Leighton...