Podimore Selection shoot April 19/20

[Gnasher]

So was this more like people expected for a selection shoot - compared with S'down April 5/6 - or a tad too much the other way?

I found it tough (not helped by being distracted by my missing bead) Too tough or just right?

 

[EdSolomons]

For a selection shoot I'd say spot on. Nothing ridiculous, plenty of tricky stuff. Think 94 about the score in my mind, very good 95 from Richard.

Thought it was far more like it after the first one, shame it took me about 5 hours to get there, probably didn't help my horrific start!!

Enjoyed it though.

 

[Jaykaysea]

Good for a selection shoot maybe....but...

Prefer a bit more variety if I am honest and not to feel beaten up at the end of a shoot. Felt like a shooting at iPhones competition for quite a bit of it....

Dropper for me so I might well be biased........

Bloody long way too...if it wasn't for a bit of fun with Clynt at the end I would be wishing I hadn't bothered....so thanks Clynt xx

 

[StevieG]

I would agree with Ed, I thought the shoot was spot on for a selection shoot and I really enjoyed it.

 

[BenW]

Good shoot I thought.

Remember to click the gear cog and change to 1080p HD

 

[Hamster]

What's the ACTUAL rationale behind selection shoots having much tougher targets than what you end up shooting the rest of the year ? It's not like lesser men can end up besting the big guys anyway is it ?!

They don't play snooker on bigger tables for the qualifiers do they, nor give skinny tyres to F1 racers for the quali, what's different in the set up of football matches running up to the last 32 left for the World Cup ? 

Can someone give any other sports examples where qualifiers are routinely made much tougher than the actual event itself ? 

I'm intrigued why some people think looooooong targets are needed to make people miss or that hitting extra long birds is somehow an indication that you're a better all round shot ? Isn't the end score what matters ?

 

[EdSolomons]

Nothing past 40 yards hammy.

This was to select a team to go to the home internationals. These are usually rather trickier than your average shoot. If for example the team was chosen by who shot the style of targets well at Southdown, we would have a much weaker team when it came to performing at the main event.

 

[Hamster]

40 yards sounds almost too close, but my point is the best shine through anyway, can't see that the top 10 people from Southdown would have crashed and burned at Podimore ?!

 

[sarachambers]

Rationale for tough shoots? In fairness, the home international shoots are not easy. Ireland 2011 was really tasty. At least if you select from tough shoots, you know you can pull a team together that can cope.

I can't say I found Podimore thrill a minute, all the stands individually were tough but fair - and it was a lot closer to the mark than Southdown's attempt at a selection!

 

[Darkside]

What's the ACTUAL rationale behind selection shoots having much tougher targets than what you end up shooting the rest of the year ? It's not like lesser men can end up besting the big guys anyway is it ?!

They don't play snooker on bigger tables for the qualifiers do they, nor give skinny tyres to F1 racers for the quali, what's different in the set up of football matches running up to the last 32 left for the World Cup ?

Can someone give any other sports examples where qualifiers are routinely made much tougher than the actual event itself ?

Hi Hammy, I can only speak of the one Home International I've been lucky enough to shoot so far, last year in Northern Ireland, a fantastic shoot, not just tougher than normal targets, 15 stands of tougher than normal targets, all there to be shot but they all had to be worked for, pressure to preform, (well, I felt it, can't buy experience) lot of traveling to get there (Ed's 5 hour drive for a selection shoot), shotgun start, shoot half the stands then stop for lunch, then shotgun start again, lots of mental toughness required...and still someone managed a fantastic 95 when everyone thought 90-91 would be the winning score...one of those English guys who shoot tough selection shoots well funnily enough!!!

I know the ground owner who is hosting this years Home Inter, he messaged me last weekend saying he's already thinking up some 'evil' stands and targets to test the best in September!!!

 

[Hamster]

Hi Hammy, I can only speak of the one Home International I've been lucky enough to shoot so far, last year in Northern Ireland, a fantastic shoot, not just tougher than normal targets, 15 stands of tougher than normal targets, all there to be shot but they all had to be worked for, pressure to preform, (well, I felt it, can't buy experience) lot of traveling to get there (Ed's 5 hour drive for a selection shoot), shotgun start, shoot half the stands then stop for lunch, then shotgun start again, lots of mental toughness required...and still someone managed a fantastic 95 when everyone thought 90-91 would be the winning score...one of those English guys who shoot tough selection shoots well funnily enough!!!

I know the ground owner who is hosting this years Home Inter, he messaged me last weekend saying he's already thinking up some 'evil' stands and targets to test the best in September!!!

I understand that, but RF would have still won on 97/8 if they were more like a normal shoot so still don't get the rationale.

 

[Hamster]

Rationale for tough shoots? In fairness, the home international shoots are not easy. Ireland 2011 was really tasty. At least if you select from tough shoots, you know you can pull a team together that can cope.

I can't say I found Podimore thrill a minute, all the stands individually were tough but fair - and it was a lot closer to the mark than Southdown's attempt at a selection!

Thanks for the reply but it hasn't really addressed the original question, the cream will always rise to the top, class will always out.

It's important to realise here that I'm not suggesting selection shoots that resemble your average straw baler where several good AA's would in all probability straight the course, rather just normal tough, regular tough, it just seems we have this fantasy idea that unless you have hundred mile an hour / pencil thin / huge distance stuff then it isn't worthy of being called a selection shoot !

There was a lot of talk about the Essex Masters stand 13's where apparently two shots were allowed at a seemingly exceptional presentation (someone reckoned one needed 30 feet if you can believe or relate to that) yet several B and A class shooters came away with 7x8 out of these, some killed them all with the first barrel !! They got nowhere on the END score of course which is what I'm saying, it takes class to assemble a huge end score regardless so why all this gushing and praise for targets so tough it leaves many feeling they have been punished rather than entertained.

You simply have to accept that this is the sort of subject where only the likemhard camp are ever going to be vocal, the others are just too nervous about coming across as liking things easy.

 

[radrac]

...but how do you differentiate between 40 odd shooters on 90+? and what does a shoot like that tell you about a shooter's ability to shoot stand after stand of technically stiff targets under pressure?

Surely these shoots are about differentiating between the good and the very best (those who should represent their country) at the most challenging level of targets acceptable?

 

[Aspire]

40 yards sounds almost too close, but my point is the best shine through anyway, can't see that the top 10 people from Southdown would have crashed and burned at Podimore ?!

Chris Broomfield shot 99 at Southdown and 79 at Podimore.

 

[StevieG]

Did you actually shoot the course hamster??

Yes, it was a tough course technically, yes there were quite a few edge on targets but all within 40 yards.

The classes were won on scores which reflected their averages, C on 67, B on 74, A on 83.

It made a change to shoot a 6 or 7 (out of 8 )and be happy with the ones I hit not thinking about the ones I missed.

Everyone has their opinions which in most cases are reflected by their scores.

 

[StevieG]

Chris Broomfield shot 99 at Southdown and 79 at Podimore.

Martin Myers 98 at Southdown and 83 at podimore

 

[smithers]

Mmmm looks to me that shooting all these tame sporting shoots 98,s 99's etc etc comes to something a bit tasty and technically tough I'm afraid you've all been kidding yourself, England selection shoots should and need to be pick the best from the toughest selection shoot ! Not from who can fill the easy ones in !!! Richard Faulds destroyed everyone with that score around that course pure bloody class from guess what a Olympic champion ! Top training & top coaching !! Wake up everyone and try to progress to that level and stop kidding yourselves, that is the caliber the best in this country should inspire to & not filling in the sh@t week in week out, ground owners wake up and stop pampering to C & B class shots, make the shoots more interesting and tougher to test people on the weekend, everyone try harder then progress on ability, so what if C class is won on 65 it's all relative, you will get better & be able to read targets & not just shoot what u shoot week in week out..... Big wake up call especially following Dubai & anyone who has the balls to set courses up to test the best a big well done..

 

[Hamster]

Did you actually shoot the course hamster??

Yes, it was a tough course technically, yes there were quite a few edge on targets but all within 40 yards.

The classes were won on scores which reflected their averages, C on 67, B on 74, A on 83.

It made a change to shoot a 6 or 7 (out of 8 )and be happy with the ones I hit not thinking about the ones I missed.

Everyone has their opinions which in most cases are reflected by their scores.

I didn't shoot it but that shouldn't matter as I am posing a question which applies to any course, besides plenty of people commented on the Sarfdown thread who hadn't shot it.

Southdown classes were also won on scores that reflected normality.

 

[Hamster]

Chris Broomfield shot 99 at Southdown and 79 at Podimore.

This means next to nothing, literally. There are good and poor scores made by good and average shots everywhere every week. GD shot 94 at Greenfields today, it was as testing as usual but I bet not as hard as the Essex Masters which he also won.