Getting your form back
David Turner gives his top tips to help you return to form when you get back to shooting following the coronavirus crisis lay-off
Iwrite this article in week five of the lockdown and have in mind the difficulties returning to shooting will present after what will have been a long lay-off. Some of us will have lost our ‘edge’ and will need to sharpen our skills. Almost all of us will be out of practice.
This article is intended to highlight a few of the more common tendencies and unwelcome techniques that are likely to show up and catch us out, resulting in poor performance. That said, I’ve found a lot of game shooters who don’t shoot from one season to the next actually doing quite well when they pick up a gun again, especially given a summertime layoff. Some seek professional help with lessons just before their first shoot of the new season. This type of shooter is probably a good ‘natural’ shot and simply needs to get his or her ‘eye in’, as it’s often referred to.
Others, me included, need to practise. I enjoy shooting all sorts of targets, from clays to game, so why not shoot a lot? It’s no coincidence that those who shoot regularly usually shoot well.
A day to forget
“A successful shot depends on a smooth and fluent swing”
A couple of months ago my son took me pigeon shooting. I had not shot for months and it turned out to be a fiasco, with a poor performance from yours truly. My son was able to observe my tendencies and unwelcome techniques and sort me out on the fly and with some real and testing targets. In fairness, the pigeon weren’t really interested in decoying and were extremely wary, which meant we were often shooting at fleeing, jinking targets. Those who decoy will know what I mean and how difficult they can be.
With this in mind and observing pupils as an instructor, I’ve come up with a few common traits and tendencies to watch out for and five tips on how to resolve them.
Jerky or snatchy
TIP 1
What I mean by this is jerking or snatching at a target, usually at the moment the trigger is pulled, thus upsetting a perfectly good swing or stroke. It can be caused by nerves, particularly when shooting a few clays with friends, especially if they take the rise out of you, as so many do. Who said friends?
Whichever technique you use – pull away, swing through or maintained lead – a successful shot will depend on a smooth and fluent swing. To jerk or snatch will inevitably ruin the whole movement.
Remember the saying ‘stroke it don’t poke it’, and think smooth at all times.
Head lifting
TIP 2
This can often go unnoticed and I’ve known some shooters who swear black is white and that they don’t do it. However, a short video clip of them shooting can often reveal a great deal. Smart phones make it easy to take such clips from various angles. You’ll be amazed at what you see.
Hanging on a target
TIP 3
This can become one of the worst habits, which is caused by the need to ‘make sure’ of the shot. It can cause a slowing up of the gun speed in an entirely unconscious attempt to ensure you hit the target. Experience indicates that if you try to ‘make sure’ then you will probably miss.
Exaggerating lead
TIP 4
Following a lay off I tend to under and overestimate lead values, then wonder why I miss a target. I’ve also discovered that a lot of shooters tend to underestimate the required lead for a more distant target and overestimate closer ones. If we take the example of a crossing Skeet target from station 4, which we know to be 22 yards away, on average that will need 3ft to 4ft lead, which means that a more distant crossing bird of similar speed, say 50yd, will need at least twice that. A lot of those who struggle with longer targets are guilty of never applying enough lead for these.
Easier targets
TIP 5
It’s easy to turn up at your local ground and shoot the testing targets you were used to, only to get a bit of a shock when you don’t do well. Maybe it’s a good idea to start with easier ones that you may have forsaken as you have improved over the course of time. Go back to basics and succeed with these before you move on to more difficult targets.
So, to sum up:
• Start with easier targets before moving on to more difficult ones
• Think about lead values and distance. Try not to over or underestimate
• Try not to ‘make sure’
• Don’t lift your head to see the target hit. Ask a friend to film you from different angles
• Think smooth and ‘stroke it, don’t poke it’ If you would like some help, please give me a call. I’m always happy to chat and offer advice, free of charge.