Bead or no Bead?

[Will Hewland]

I remember watching two guys shooting at Upavon, when I first started. Bloke in the cage is missing. His mate says 'c'mon you arse, shoot it properly'. The next two were good kills. So Cleavers top tip for Sunday is 'shoot them properly' (or be an arse..)

 

[ips]

Interesting coaching technique that Mr clever.

I shall now use that as my pre shot mantra

 

[Les53]

Interesting coaching technique that Mr clever.

I shall now use that as my pre shot mantra

Yeah, and Holland & Holland will be using it in no time at all.

 

[scotty38]

Guess I'm an arse :jester:

 

[** Pending Removal **]

well here goes.....our research has uncovered something that has certainly explained a lot of why all shooters struggle at certain levels and then move on to higher and higher levels of performance.....we have stumbled onto what we feel is the underlying reason why shooters get stuck at certain plateaus and just cant seem to go higher....it has to do with a 4 letter word ..... fear....the instant a shooter lets fear come into their game for what ever reason the muzzles come back to the bird....fear puts the muzzles between the eyes and the target.....let me explain.....when the eagle chases two rabbits both go free......

                                                      1                           2                            3

lets see where your eyes really are when looking at the lead.....in the above line of numbers....focus on the 1.....now focus on the 3 ......now focus on the 1 & 3 at the same time......because you can only focus on one thing at a time you will find yourself looking at the 2 when focusing on the 1 & 3 simultaneously ......we call this a 50/50 focus ratio

1            2                                           3.....this would be a 75/25 ratio with 1 being the bird and 3 the gun..

1    2                                                   3......this would be a 90/10 ratio

1 2                                                      3....this would be what we would call 95/5 and what we have found to be ideal.....eyes on the front of the clay....

what we have found is that a persons score on 100 targets is equal to their average focus ratio on all 100 targets......hold on I'm getting there....dont get your knickers in a knot....practicing my british......there will be certain targets that you have hit hundreds of times  and as you step into the stand there is no fear of missing and the targets are launched and you run the station with a focus ratio of 98/2....and same on the next station with a ratio of 95/5.....but now on the next stand there are targets that you had a miserable time with at your last practice and at the last tourney  or for what ever reason your confidence was shaken on this pair...where does your focus go....what is the first thought????.....does that voice in your head say just look hard at the target and let it happen or does it want to know what the lead is....????????????????

the more you want to know about the lead the more the focus ratio goes toward the gun.....now be honest with yourself.....It does go to the lead doesn't it....and when it goes to the lead it is really going to the gun isn't it.....now come on be honest.....and with a different amount of confidence on each station based on your experience and attitude guess what you will have .......a different focus ratio on different targets.....we call this a sliding focus ratio.....sliding ratios are not good....if you average all your focus ratios together on all 100 targets you will find that average to be equal to your score....

the ah ha for us was the way it always shifts due to fear.......toward the gun.....the first place we see this is in the hold point....it moves back to the trap insuring that the target will beat you when it is thrown and thus putting you behind the target which means that the gun must now move faster than the target to get ahead and what do you think does to your focus ratio....the eyes always go to the fastest thing in the picture....guess what that is in this instance????????????

at the end of the day it is the retina that actually anticipates the targets line and speed (the lead) and that data is then given to the subconscious brain in a continuing stream of constantly updated information as long as the shooter is focused on the target....it is the quality of the focus that determines the preciseness of the out put.....the out put of  the information loop are the hands and the gun.....as long as the focus in on the target and a focus ratio of 95/5 or higher the shooter has a better than average shot at hitting the target.....however

the fear of missing pulls that ratio back to the 50/50 mark....why 95/5 and not 100% on the target....you cant do that for 100 targets....what we find is that shooters trying to maintain 100% on the target are really trying to "not look at the gun"....so tell me....how do you visualize not looking at the gun??????you can t not do something and the harder you try to not see the barrel  guess what....hello sliding focus ratios....all great shooters have a small awareness of the barrel and they have via experience come to grips with just how much they personally get away with by becoming careful and trying to protect a lead or shoot a really good score....

you cant visualize not seeing the gun but you can visualize what it will look like as the gun inserts in front of the target and is moving the same speed as the target......dont include the lead though or your focus ratio might just slide.......we find that to be able to visualize what it will look like when the gun inserts in front of the target is very valuable.....right handed shooter on left to right target at point of insertion the shooter will be looking at the target behind the gun which will place his eyes to the left of the muzzle....right handed shooter on the right to left target at point of insertion will be looking at the target behind the gun and will be looking ACROSS THE MUZZLES AT THE TARGET.... to know what the real picture will look like allows for you to visualize what it will look like enabling you to ACCEPT THE MUZZLES AS THEY COME INTO THE PICTURE and maintain a high focus ratio....by far the biggest win in this situation is that your visualization will become your reality as you shoot and at that point you begin to double dip in the performance pool and you focus ratios become more consistent ad guess what happens to your scores.....and confidence?????...fingers are tired.....will try to address causes for missing if I can find the post and time later on today....cheers.....BTW....if you go shooting this week end be aware of your focus ratios and which way they shift and why......you will be amazed......

Truly great post Gil.

 

[paul b]

right ive read gils advice above,three or four times now and i think ive got it.is he just saying practice and train you mind and eyes to get them used to what they will see at trigger pulling time or have i misunderstood (not good with lots of reading all at once) 

 

[Fuzrat]

Boom!

"what we have found is that a persons score on 100 targets is equal to their average focus ratio on all 100 targets......hold on I'm getting there....dont get your knickers in a knot....practicing my british......there will be certain targets that you have hit hundreds of times  and as you step into the stand there is no fear of missing and the targets are launched and you run the station with a focus ratio of 98/2....and same on the next station with a ratio of 95/5.....but now on the next stand there are targets that you had a miserable time with at your last practice and at the last tourney  or for what ever reason your confidence was shaken on this pair...where does your focus go....what is the first thought????.....does that voice in your head say just look hard at the target and let it happen or does it want to know what the lead is....????????????????"

Happened today, been struggling lately with teal and chondel/loopers, first stand teal and crosser, easy stand. Straighted it but walked off more relieved than just filling the card. 3rd stand teal and driven, missed 1st 2 teal and the yips came in and didnt want to pull the trigger til I had the perfect picture

Makes perfect sense to me and will be working on more self talk for targets that have been troubling me, focus & attack being 2 key words

 

[ExSCA]

Gil, an elipsis (...) has only 3 dots, ........... gets Matt angry, please try harder...

That isn't the only thing that gets me angry - but, good point - well made!

 

[ips]

nope still dont get it.

Note to self ,.. Must practice more math

 

[Chard]

It's a complicated way of saying "don't look at the barrel" -_-

 

[Westward]

I'm going to take up something simple like quantum mechanics...

 

[Salopian]

I went for a lesson today, £80 an hour plus cartridges and clays.

 The coach was a very nice chap, seemed very professional, asked me what experience I had and then said well here goes.....our research has uncovered something that has certainly explained a lot of why all shooters struggle at certain levels and then move on to higher and higher levels of performance.....we have stumbled onto what we feel is the underlying reason why shooters get stuck at certain plateaus and just cant seem to go higher....it has to do with a 4 letter word ..... fear....the instant a shooter lets fear come into their game for what ever reason the muzzles come back to the bird....fear puts the muzzles between the eyes and the target.....let me explain.....when the eagle chases two rabbits both go free......

                                                      1                           2                            3

lets see where your eyes really are when looking at the lead.....in the above line of numbers....focus on the 1.....now focus on the 3 ......now focus on the 1 & 3 at the same time......because you can only focus on one thing at a time you will find yourself looking at the 2 when focusing on the 1 & 3 simultaneously ......we call this a 50/50 focus ratio

                                                     

1            2                                           3.....this would be a 75/25 ratio with 1 being the bird and 3 the gun..

1    2                                                   3......this would be a 90/10 ratio

1 2                                                      3....this would be what we would call 95/5 and what we have found to be ideal.....eyes on the front of the clay....

what we have found is that a persons score on 100 targets is equal to their average focus ratio on all 100 targets......hold on I'm getting there....dont get your knickers in a knot....practicing my british......there will be certain targets that you have hit hundreds of times  and as you step into the stand there is no fear of missing and the targets are launched and you run the station with a focus ratio of 98/2....and same on the next station with a ratio of 95/5.....but now on the next stand there are targets that you had a miserable time with at your last practice and at the last tourney  or for what ever reason your confidence was shaken on this pair...where does your focus go....what is the first thought????.....does that voice in your head say just look hard at the target and let it happen or does it want to know what the lead is....????????????????

the more you want to know about the lead the more the focus ratio goes toward the gun.....now be honest with yourself.....It does go to the lead doesn't it....and when it goes to the lead it is really going to the gun isn't it.....now come on be honest.....and with a different amount of confidence on each station based on your experience and attitude guess what you will have .......a different focus ratio on different targets.....we call this a sliding focus ratio.....sliding ratios are not good....if you average all your focus ratios together on all 100 targets you will find that average to be equal to your score....

the ah ha for us was the way it always shifts due to fear.......toward the gun.....the first place we see this is in the hold point....it moves back to the trap insuring that the target will beat you when it is thrown and thus putting you behind the target which means that the gun must now move faster than the target to get ahead and what do you think does to your focus ratio....the eyes always go to the fastest thing in the picture....guess what that is in this instance????????????

at the end of the day it is the retina that actually anticipates the targets line and speed (the lead) and that data is then given to the subconscious brain in a continuing stream of constantly updated information as long as the shooter is focused on the target....it is the quality of the focus that determines the preciseness of the out put.....the out put of  the information loop are the hands and the gun.....as long as the focus in on the target and a focus ratio of 95/5 or higher the shooter has a better than average shot at hitting the target.....however

the fear of missing pulls that ratio back to the 50/50 mark....why 95/5 and not 100% on the target....you cant do that for 100 targets....what we find is that shooters trying to maintain 100% on the target are really trying to "not look at the gun"....so tell me....how do you visualize not looking at the gun??????you can t not do something and the harder you try to not see the barrel  guess what....hello sliding focus ratios....all great shooters have a small awareness of the barrel and they have via experience come to grips with just how much they personally get away with by becoming careful and trying to protect a lead or shoot a really good score....

you cant visualize not seeing the gun but you can visualize what it will look like as the gun inserts in front of the target and is moving the same speed as the target......dont include the lead though or your focus ratio might just slide.......we find that to be able to visualize what it will look like when the gun inserts in front of the target is very valuable.....right handed shooter on left to right target at point of insertion the shooter will be looking at the target behind the gun which will place his eyes to the left of the muzzle....right handed shooter on the right to left target at point of insertion will be looking at the target behind the gun and will be looking ACROSS THE MUZZLES AT THE TARGET.... to know what the real picture will look like allows for you to visualize what it will look like enabling you to ACCEPT THE MUZZLES AS THEY COME INTO THE PICTURE and maintain a high focus ratio....by far the biggest win in this situation is that your visualization will become your reality as you shoot and at that point you begin to double dip in the performance pool and you focus ratios become more consistent ad guess what happens to your scores.....and confidence?????...fingers are tired.....will try to address causes for missing if I can find the post and time later on today....cheers.....BTW....if you go shooting this week end be aware of your focus ratios and which way they shift and why......you will be amazed......

I was,  I only shot two cartridges and clays so I was very pleased with the final  bill £80-80p.

So then I went for a number 2. :haha:   :nyam:

 

[watchman]

My head hurts

 

[** Pending Removal **]

Behave Salop.......or you sit on the naughty step......for a day.....with no booze.....or food..... But you get two visitors that I get to pick....

:smile:

 

[Salopian]

I can manage without the food.

But please no visitors named Phil or Terry

 

[Westward]

Alternatively you could just stick the muzzles out in front and pull the trigger when it looks about right.

That'll be £60 please.

Paypal will do nicely...

 

[Maxum]

Go without food ???? whats that all about then  :nyam:   :nyam:   :nyam:   :nyam:

 

[tiptop]

Tiptop's  top-tip see it, miss it, shoot it, miss it,then next time see it, shoot it, shoot it, shoot it.

:haha:

 

[MARK-POACHER]

Tiptop's  top-tip see it, miss it, shoot it, miss it,then next time see it, shoot it, shoot it, shoot it.
:haha:

Bead or no bead ?

 

[tiptop]

Bead or no bead ?

That is the question