16ga.com ~ View topic - Lead vs Swing or How to best hit a flying object

3crosses wrote:

I have never thought about it much. I just seem to point the barrel in front of the bird and pull the trigger. Not sustained lead, not swing through, Just point in front and shoot.

And I am not a bad shot.

Some skeet shooters I know refer to this method as "pointing out". It may seem like no swing is involved, but trust me, the swing is there or the pattern would end up behind the target.

Pointing out works okay for some going away targets if the shooter knows where and when the target will first appear and what it's line of flight will be. First station high house and seventh station low house skeet targets can be pointed out and successfully broken, but pointing out without swinging means a lost target. The same pointing out technique can be used for first trap doubles targets from stations two through four.

I shoot trap doubles and tend to take the first target on starions two through four with a minimum of swing, so some would say I'm pointing these targets out. I know where the bird will first appear, and I know where it is going. I set up my hold point well out along the target's expected line of flight. I then shift my eyes back (w/o moving my head) and take a soft focus at a general location just in front of where I first expect to see the streak of the target as it emerges out over the top of the trap house. Picking up the streaking target with a soft focus gives my brain a chance to rapidly and firmly focus my eyes on the target and turn it into what my mind perceives as a solid moving object. If done correctly, my focused mind does not have to chase the target. I'm concentrating on it in an instant, and once there, I concentrate my awareness only on the target. My innate sense of timing keeps my coordinated swing accelerating ahead of the target. The shot breaks when my innate sense of timing tells my subconscious mind it's time to pull the trigger. Except for my set up and call for the target, the entire shot is taken without conscious thought.

Pass and shoot seems to work better for me for first trap doubles targets from stations one and five. This is most likely because those two targets are emerging lower from the outside edges of the trap house. The line of flight is more oblique, so the targets appear to be flying more rapidly. My mind needs a bit more time to focus on the target, and my swing needs a bit more time to accelerate through and on ahead of target's line of flight.

The pointing out method sometimes works for some shots at game birds already in flight when we can clearly see their line of flight and speed, but it rarely works well on flushing game birds. This is especially true in dense cover. We rarely can predict exactly when a bird will flush, what it's line of flight will be, or how fast it willl accelerate.

Forget the pointing out method for pointed birds or those located and in close by a flushing dog on hup. Move, mount, swing, shoot in one smooth coordinated motion is the best technique here. Placing the eyes over the spot where the bird seems to be setting and taking a soft visual focus helps our minds to quickly pick the bird up and establish a firm focus and concentration on it as it flushes and becomes visible. It is best not to firmly focus the eyes on a visable setting bird either. Keep your vision softly focused a few feet over the spot and let the bird tell your brain where it is going when it flushes. This way, you will never have to chase it with your mind. Your coordinated swing and innate sense of timing will do the rest.

Member Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 328

I remember when I was a wee lad of about 17 or so. I was playing in the Championship Flight of city golf championship. At that time we played match play.
The person I played in the semi's was the defending champion. I screwed him all up when I asked him after he had made a particularly great approach shot. I commented "Great shot!" "Do you mind my asking if you inhale or exhale before you swing". I went on to win the match.

Which begs the correlation of asking a competitor, whether you " sustain a lead or do you employ the swing through method in taking your target".

Me, hell I just point in front!

*Last edited by 16gaugeguy on Fri Oct 31, 2014 7:37 pm; edited 1 time in total*

I've shot with clowns who can't beat others with ability, so they try to crawl into others' heads with half assed questions between shooting stations. I ignore these jerks, focus my mind on the task at hand, and crush the targets at the next station to dust. That usually shuts them up. If that doesn't work, tapping them in the crotch with a hot trap gun barrel accidently on purpose usually does the job. OOPS!!! SCOOOZY!! BEG YOUR PARDON!!! Laughing

Member Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 1863 Location: Wisconsin

Tap me in the crotch with a cold barrel by accident, and I'm likely to snap you like a twig. Reno

Reno, I'm jesting (see the emoticon). Even so, I very much doubt you are one of these clowns who are ignorant enough to persist in trying crap like that during a registered trap shoot. It's most likely a very moot point not worth belaboring.

On the off chance you are, then you will most likely be the only one on your squad. Most of the folks I shoot with and I won't be shooting with you. So I'm not overly concerned about us two ever reaching critical mass at a trap shoot. Besides, I doubt you could out run me with a pair of badly swollen croakers. Laughing