EnHance your shooting: lesson seven
Top Sporting shot and coach Matt Hance continues his instructional series, this month turning his attention to the ins and outs of the FITASC discipline
Having covered technique and method in previous lessons, we will now take a look at the wide range of other Sporting disciplines that are on offer. First up, FITASC Sporting – my favourite.
This is often called the F1 of Sporting clays, and it will certainly test all aspects of your shooting ability. Newcomers to the discipline soon discover that any flaws in their technique or ability to read targets will be magnified in FITASC Sporting, as the discipline tests exactly this and, to the highest degree, also your ability to shoot from a gun-down position.
One of the most obvious differences between FITASC Sporting and other Sporting disciplines is the requirement for the shooter to start with the gun out of the shoulder. The FITASC Sporting rules dictate that the highest part of the stock – whether that be top of the pad or top of the comb – be held below the FITASC line (as marked on the shooter’s apparel), which is 25cm down from the top of the shoulder. This is strictly monitored and the referee will make it clear that the gun should not be moved on the call, nor on the sound of the machine, but only when the target is visible.
Another difference is the fact that the shooter stands in a hoop and not in a cage. This is because the FITASC Sporting discipline was originally designed to simulate hunting live quarry and so not only are the targets set accordingly, but also the shooting stand/ hoop affords the shooter the ability to move 360 degrees (when safe to do so). Hence, so long as the shooters stay inside of the hoop, they can change the direction that they face. This may be advantageous as one may find it easier to take a driven target as it drops just a few feet behind you, or to move within the hoop to change the direction you face between shots in a pair.
The targets
In front of the hoop will be placed a menu board listing the targets that will be thrown from the peg. A FITASC Sporting layout – or parcours, as it is known internationally – comprises 25 targets, but unlike in English Sporting this can also include ZZ/Helice targets. The beauty of FITASC Sporting, and why I like it so much, is the variety of targets that one is exposed to.
Over the years, FITASC Sporting has evolved from what was more commonly known as the ‘old system’ to the ‘new system’. The old system is still widely used in this country, as it requires fewer traps (20 traps for a 100-bird event) and less space. Even so, all international and major FITASC Sporting competitions are run using the new system,
not only because it is considered harder to shoot, but because it also allows more competitors to be shooting at any one time.
A layout under the old system utilises five machines per layout, labelled A to E. The first shooter in the squad will step into Peg 1 and view all five targets, before shooting all five singles with full use of the gun (two shots at each target). He or she then steps out of the hoop for the second shooter to shoot their singles and so on until the squad has shot all the singles. The second shooter in the squad then returns to the hoop to shoot the doubles on this peg; doubles can be viewed if simultaneous or following. Doubles in FITASC Sporting may include on-report pairs, sim pairs or a following pair (also known as a rafale pair); a following pair is a single target thrown twice, the first being released on the shooter’s call and the second on the rotation of the machine.
Once the squad has shot all of the doubles on this peg, shooter three in the squad then becomes the first shooter on Peg 2. The process is repeated with the fourth shooter becoming the first to shoot the doubles and so on until the round is complete. However, usually only one double is shot on Peg 3, to make up the round of 25.
On the other hand, under the new system, a single 25-target layout is made up of 15 traps. This is because under the new system, each peg has its own five traps labelled A to E; hence, the shooter is faced with potentially an even more diverse variety of targets. Squad rotation is the same as the old system in that, while they will be the first to shoot the singles, the first shooter will be last to shoot the doubles on Peg 1. The layout target format is represented by the table below. I should also mention that a whole section of the FITASC Sporting rules is dedicated to the target ‘trajectories’ that are permitted. In short, it is seen as the discipline was invented to simulate hunting, all targets must be considered ‘sporting’. Thus, no target should be thrown ‘beyond the effective range of the shotgun’ and it must also be possible to fire two cartridges at each target while the target is in range. Nonetheless, FITASC Sporting is known to present the biggest and most testing targets of all the disciplines.
Technicalities
Breaching the FITASC Sporting rules – mounting the gun before the target appears, for example – will result in a verbal warning from the referee, along with a yellow card. After a first warning, any rule-breaks that occur thereafter on the same layout and the referee will issue a red card, which results in one lost target.
At each single target the shooter may fire two shots, as the shooter is permitted “full use of the gun” on each target. Whether the target be broken with the first or second shot, it is worth ‘one’. It is within the rules for the shooter to make two shots at one target in a double, in which case the target may be scored or lost – ‘one’ or ‘zero’.
While the shooter must always start with the gun below the FITASC line in the singles, in the doubles shooters may hold their guns as they please – mounted or otherwise – in
between the first and second targets; and indeed, they may position the gun as they please in between shots at a single target.
Under no circumstances may the gun be dry-fired or mounted at a FITASC Sporting shoot – not even in the car park. If you do want to test the mechanics of the gun, this may be done on a stand or area specially designed and laid out for this purpose.
Until the early 2000s we could use up to 36g cartridges, but now the limit is 28g as a maximum load with a maximum shot size of 2.5mmn (6½). But it is common for FITASC Sporting shooters to shoot more than one cartridge, with differing shot sizes, to accommodate the extreme variety of targets in the discipline.
Overview
As FITASC Sporting commands the shooter to start in a gun-down position, he or she must be familiar with this and must therefore be able to formulate a plan with suitable hold and kill points. Needing to mount the gun quickly and efficiently also requires the shooter to have a natural and good mount, which therefore demands a well-fitted gun. Basically, this is a gun that sits comfortably in the shoulder pocket, comes up to the face properly, with the correct length of pull, and one that allows the shooter to have a natural and relaxed hand position on the grip, as these can all affect the mount – something that the FITASC Sporting shooter must be able to consistently achieve.
As is highlighted by both systems, and especially the new, FITASC Sporting is a discipline of great variety. Indeed, over a 100-target FITASC Sporting event you will shoot 60 different targets, whereas in your average round of English Sporting – made up of 12 stands with a mix of eight and 10 pairs – you might only see 24 targets. Hence, the shooter must be competent in shooting a great range of targets from numerous presentations and be able to suitably plan each shot, utilising (most probably) all of the techniques.
Thus, arguably one of the biggest challenges of FITASC Sporting is the shooter’s ability to read a minimum of 60 targets accurately and to then execute their plan correctly on the first opportunity they have, and then again in the doubles.
Unlike in English Sporting – where one might have three pairs to correct the mistakes made on the first pair of a stand – in FITASC Sporting you will rarely shoot a target more than twice and so a lot of experience is required to be able to read the target correctly the first time. This challenge, along with the amazing competitions, is what forever draws me back to FITASC Sporting and is why I believe it is the most challenging of all the disciplines.
As I’m sure you’re aware, 100x100 are becoming commonplace in English Sporting, whereas only two 100/100 FITASC Sporting scores have ever been posted, to which I am pleased to put my name to one of them.
“FITASC is often called the F1 of Sporting clays – it will certainly test your skills”