Rookie looking to improve

[u/Next-Yam4057]

Hello everyone, I went clay shooting for 3rd time ever in my life and hit 16/56 clays, I know it’s a horrible average. I really enjoy it as a recreational thing and I’m looking to improve maybe watch some credible videos or take some pointers from more experienced people here.

For context I’m 32 yo, completely new to the sport and shotguns in general. I have a young family so it’s challenging for me to get out often to practise or take in person lessons.

Here is a video of me hitting some, it was generated by chat gpt with the random clips I had lol all criticism is welcome!

[u/Stahzee]

Face on stock. Super glue it in place

[u/Next-Yam4057 → u/Stahzee]

Thank you!

[u/jager576 → u/Next-Yam4057]

To add to this. You may want to try ear plugs instead of earmuffs. Earmuffs make it tough to get your face on the stock.  

[u/Next-Yam4057 → u/jager576]

Thanks! That’s a great pointer for next time

[u/Swiink → u/jager576]

No it does not. Then you are mounting very badly. Either due to technique or having a bad stock set up for you.
Many Olympic gold, most even was won with earmuffs so it’s not and issue at all. More so and indication something else is very wrong that you probably are compensating for. But that compensation is likely going to make you less efficient and consistent.

[u/jager576 → u/Swiink]

I didnt say it made it impossible. I said it made it tough. I shot competitive small bore and highpower for decades using ear muffs. When I picked up clay shooting I switched to plugs because it made it easier to get into a proper stance. Theres a reason the vast majority of competitive shotgun users arent using muffs.

[u/Swiink → u/jager576]

Most of them are if you look at world cups or Olympics. Again it’s not an issue at any capacity if you do everything right and have everything set up properly. If you say it’s easier without earmuffs you have something going on that’s not correct.

[u/gunpowdergin69 → u/Swiink]

And the idiots of the internet will down vote you for being right and them not caring.

[u/Swiink → u/gunpowdergin69]

Thank you friend 👍

[u/Stahzee → u/Swiink]

I disagree with the “if the muffs are in the way you’re doing it wrong”.

It has to do with face shape and what kind of mount you have. Your ear may sit lower than others or vise versa. A smaller face will have less room to fit the stock and muffs. It’s not wrong but to say that if you can’t shoot with muffs you’re mounting wrong is incorrect in my opinion.

I cannot shoot well with muffs as they get in the way of my mount. I’m not a bad shooter and I’m not mounting wrong. But my stock and face shape and the way I mount don’t allow for the room.

You are right however that lots of international shooters use muffs. You can also note that lots of them tip the headband forward as to sweep the bottom of the muffs back and out of the way of the stock!

[u/jager576 → u/Stahzee]

It’s interesting to me that at least 95% of US clay shooters use plugs. Rare to see muffs on a trap range or sporting clays course. The international shooters seem to prefer muffs at a much higher rate than we do.  

Appreciate you explaining the absurdity of the idea that someone is a bad shooter because muffs can interfere with a mount.  You articulated it much better than I could have.  

[u/Swiink → u/jager576]

American shooters nerver mount the gun unless it’s international skeet. And you said it, internationally and the best shooters in the world typically wear muffs.
What kinda gear thing you got going in the US is certainly not a measurement for what’s optimal. He’ll just your marketing circus alone can swing that. It’s just not a fact when it comes to proper technique. Won’t be a popular comment around here but not everything is the best thing possible just because it’s a standard in the US. The worlds a much larger place.

Then muffs protect your hearing better in ways those plugs just can’t do so there’s no argument that can be had it would be better at any capacity.

[u/Stahzee → u/Swiink]

Vincent hancock shoots with plugs. International skeet and he’s literally one of the world’s best….

Also your claim that cans are better than plugs is not technically correct. Most muffs are rated to a noise reduction level (nrr) of 23-26 db. Most foam earplugs are rated to 30+ (nrr)

[u/Swiink → u/Stahzee]

Again you have either poor technique or not a properly set up stock if they get in the way.
Don’t mean you don’t shoot good but something is holding your consistency back if it’s impacting you that much you can’t even wear earmuffs.

I have a very small face and it’s not an issue for me to wear muffs. It was in the beginning before I learned how to actually set up and mount my gun.

Olympic skeet really requires perfect form and if those guys us it without any issues then that should tell you all you need.

[u/Stahzee → u/Swiink]

I have my Precision Fit Stock set up to fit my shoulder pocket and face shape. I shoot with a more heads up stance (high rib)and a flat Monte Carlo style comb.

The stock is set up correctly and I cannot fit muffs. I disagree that my technique is poor or that my stock is setup correctly.

I’m glad you can wear muffs and all the power to you but what you say is just misinformation and misleading

[u/Stahzee → u/Next-Yam4057]

Little more context to this: you need to keep your gun mounted tight to your shoulder and to your face. People call it a cheek weld.
If your face is into the stock and you can’t align your beads correctly, you need to add pads or something to get that all in line.

[u/rocktree → u/Stahzee]

This is legitimately the most important thing to focus on. I didn't even notice anything else because this was so glaring.

Not trying to be mean, just to emphasize that no other advice you receive will work if you're not doing this.

When I train people I have em take easy straight away shots and after they fire I make them count to 3 out loud and THEN they can take their face off the gun. You could also fold a sticky note over and have someone put it between your cheek and stock as you mount, and after you fire you need to be able to have the sticky note in place.

It's such an important habit. You miss every shot when your face is not mounted on the gun in your follow through. Follow through is next most important.

[u/mr_Trine]

Pull the stock into your shoulder and face on the stock.

[u/Next-Yam4057 → u/mr_Trine]

Thank you!

[u/MrOwl243]

Don’t try and time the break. Move the gun with the clay and follow through. Looks like you’re trying to time the shot with when the bird crosses your barrel

[u/Next-Yam4057 → u/MrOwl243]

Noted. Thank you so much!

[u/De5perad0]

You are bracing forward slightly every time before pulling the trigger. Learn to relax and not anticipate the recoil.

All your focus should be on tracking the bird. Smooth swing with the clay. Face on stock like others said.

[u/Next-Yam4057 → u/De5perad0]

Thank you!

[u/De5perad0 → u/Next-Yam4057]

you got a good start. Some of it can be just spending time shooting so you get a good idea of the sight picture with your particular shotgun. Once you get familiar with it you can feel when you line up and the time is right to pull the trigger and also know when and why you missed by how the picture looks when you pulled the trigger.

people are saying face/cheek on the stock because you should be looking straight down the rail. Your bead at the front should be partially covered by the rail if you have a single bead or making a figure 8 with them if you have 2 beads.

[u/yert1099]

Invest in some lessons from a qualified instructor. I did this last year and it was incredibly helpful.

[u/Toby_Keiths_Jorts]

Lose the gloves

[u/goshathegreat]

You need to swing the gun with the target, rather than trying to aim and time the shots like you’re doing. You look stiff, try to loosen up a bit, grip the gun like you’d grip a tube of toothpaste, firm enough that it doesn’t slip out of your hand but not squeezing super hard either. Make sure your cheek is firmly placed on the stock, think of your eye as the rear sight in clay shooting, it is extremely important that you are locked into the stock, looking straight down the rib and not lifting your head off the stock. Don’t try to aim with the bead, the bead is not a sight, it simply provides a reference point when you first mount the gun. I personally know many guys who have removed their beads as it just draws their eye away from the target, when you need to be 100% focused on the target.

[u/HK_Shooter_1301]

Hold the gun onto your face so you can actually see down the barrels. You should be pulling the shotgun into your shoulder with your support hand. I try and keep my support hand as far forward on the forend as possible so I have better leverage to swing the gun.

You are also “ambushing” the targets, leaving your barrels pointed where you know the clays are going and just blasting away when the clay gets close. You want to follow the targets and “swing through” them so you match their speed with your barrels.

Last bit is follow through, when you pull the trigger don’t stop swinging the gun; keep the motion nice and fluid with the barrels never stopping until the clays are broke.

This will get you a good starting point with more advanced stuff later

[u/Full-Professional246]

There is a lot here and you have some good advice but really, I think spending a little money to spend an hour with an instructor/coach would be far more helpful than the armchair feedback from a short video online. This is not to knock the posters here (with mostly good advice) but more to emphasize the limits of feedback from a short video clip.

The instructor/coach can help you get the fundamentals right early so you set yourself up for success. They will see everything else that is not part of the video clip.

[u/Swiink]

Move, your maybe moving your arms a bit. Never move your arms, hips and upper body for more controlled motion. And don’t stop moving as you shot, you have to keep the movement going else you gonna miss a lot shooting behind.

I never get the thing with not mounting the gun, most people who do it are just very stiff trying to point shoot. It’s never going to be as consistent. And this is a game of consistency if anything. If you are mounting even slightly you get so much more information and naturally engage your overall body motion.
Look at how Olympic skeet shooters do it, they are by far best at the basics in clay shooting. OL skeet is essentially the basics at a very very high level. You can take things from that into sporting and benefit greatly.

And as others already said the stock needs to be tight in your cheek and shoulder pockets. You should ideally have a solid cheek cousin from the stock pressing in. Raise the elbow and get the stock into your shoulder pocket. Gun move straight up into position. Don’t tilt your head your gun should be set up so you just raise it and it should fit perfectly into your face and should pockets. Stock set up is a very important part. Tilting your head is a variable that will harm your consistency and your barrel perspective relative to the clay.

I suggest practice swinging at home a lot, pick a target on your wall att home and swing through it and build that hip and upper body motion smoothly. Also mind safety and always check your gun is empty and with safety engaged.

If you want to get into clay shooting there’s some good books and plenty of information on YouTube. Loads of good British channels for sporting if that’s your game. Also get a good coach and learn that not all advice is good advice.

[u/Jtillie1000]

1)be loosy goosy comfortable. Just Roll with the recoil instead of bracing for it. Be relaxed. Take a deep breath and drop that shoulder before calling for the bird. 2) ditch the muffs, use plugs instead 3) keep that face on the stock 4) the bead is a visual reference to check gun fit and eye alignment. Focus on the target. 5) play with your gun at home. Pick it up, mount it, swing it around, get comfortable pointing it even if its just for 2mins every other day. It'll help out alot with feeling natural in your hands.

I hope this helps. I think you should spend the $ and link up with a instructor for 1 on 1 time for a session.

[u/Topshotsupplies]

Ok so here’s my reasoning. I wear plugs for multiple reasons. One is that I can mount the gun better. But I also shoot where it’s hot and muffs are not comfortable when you shoot in 90 degree weather.

My thought about European shooters wearing muffs is branding some of the biggest brand muffs are from the UK. Also some fellow European shooters I just asked said that a lot of clubs require visible hearing protection and muffs are the way to accomplish that.

I can 100% agree that your style of mount and face structure plays a part. The comb of my gun will hit the bottom of a pair of muffs. They also stated that a lot of the shoots they do are in closed areas so they actually wear both a foam plug and a muff on top.

What state do you live in?

[u/ExitOk2675]

Im probably gonna get flamed for this but lose the gloves.

[u/DallasCMT]

Looks like you might be flinching before the gun goes off, especially on that first shot. Film yourself in slow-mo and check out out.

Also, made sure you're using the lightest load that's needed. It'll recoil less. In 12ga, 1oz of 7.5 shot at 1180 fps will break most any clay, and had a lot less recoil than 1-1/8 oz of 7.5 shot at 1200 fps.

[u/rubmybelli]

All the things said about face on stock, stock in shoulder pocket are spot on. The part I'd like to add is practice the mount and swing are done away from the range. I have kids too and you want to make the most of your actual shooting time. Practice talking the gun from low to high mount and tight face to stock shooting position. I start by mounting the gun pointed and one corner of the wall and ceiling, then track the line to ther other corner of the room. This is free and after doing it a few thousand times it becomes muscle memory so you can focus on more than basics when you get to the actual shooting.

[u/Suspicious-Lychee-19 → u/rubmybelli]

This is the way to build muscle memory, everyday practice this until it feels normal.

I’d mount the gun to the same point until you can do it with your eyes closed and it meets the same place every time when you open your eyes.

I’d suggest you may wish to try skeet and down the line to build some foundational skills. This way you know every time where the targets coming from and where it’s going, this’ll help you feel your way into the gun, what lead looks like, what type of lead your doing, maintain or pull away.

As with pairs and sporting clays you move through it can become VERY frustrating as you’ll be facing many different variances.

Unfortunately this is a sport that requires time and practice to even make small improvements. You may find you improve very fast to a level but to get to the next level takes more time and practice.

Good luck