Practise : Routine

[ips]

Good point my friend.

 

[teepee1234]

I shoot as often as work allows.  I take days off to go shooting.  I get coaching reasonably regularly, maybe once every 2 months or so, and if there are no registered shoots on, I'll shoot practice.  I don't have a "bogey" bird, they are all hard sometimes.  So I shoot everything sporting to increase my picture library, interspersed with a bit of ESK to keep my hand in.  Shooting a few of the "easier" birds in practice helps to burn that picture into my head, and shooting lots of those that need a little more thought does the same.

If too much practice doesn't work for some people, then cut it back, but it works for me.   

I want to go straight from C to A in ESP next issue, and AA by the next.  Some might think this is unrealistic.  I don't.  If I succeed, great, if not, it will still be my goal for the following issue.  I believe that practice is the only way to achieve this.

But most of all, above EVERYTHING else, I shoot lots because I PIGGING LOVE IT!!!  

 

[Maxum]

Then by all means shoot a good number successfully


Like what I do you mean ;-))

 

[Will Hewland]

I shoot as often as work allows.  I take days off to go shooting.  I get coaching reasonably regularly, maybe once every 2 months or so, and if there are no registered shoots on, I'll shoot practice.  I don't have a "bogey" bird, they are all hard sometimes.  So I shoot everything sporting to increase my picture library, interspersed with a bit of ESK to keep my hand in.  Shooting a few of the "easier" birds in practice helps to burn that picture into my head, and shooting lots of those that need a little more thought does the same.

If too much practice doesn't work for some people, then cut it back, but it works for me.   

I want to go straight from C to A in ESP next issue, and AA by the next.  Some might think this is unrealistic.  I don't.  If I succeed, great, if not, it will still be my goal for the following issue.  I believe that practice is the only way to achieve this.

But most of all, above EVERYTHING else, I shoot lots because I PIGGING LOVE IT!!!  

Good post Teepee, but don't beat yourself up too hard on the classification side or failure may worsen things. One shoot at a time mate. Accept that at any stage you will have the odd terrible day.

For me, I fairly quickly scraped into A class, five years ago. Still in it! Getting your average up from 75 to 83 for AA is a big ask. Law of diminishing returns. From 75 to 83, you need to reduce the tally of missed clays by over 30%. Going from C to AA involves reducing your lost targets by 50%.

Best of luck, but be happy if the average rises nicely each period, that is a good job in itself. It is all you can ask.

Cheers

 

[ips]

I believe that small attainable goals work best, I remember in the 90s I decided to take up ABT full time and had shot in C for many many years. So I set myself the goal of moving up to B class the following year then to do the north of england team selections the year after then to do the english team selections the year after that. A long term plan but with theoretically attainable results. I did get into B and made the north team but unfortunately didnt attain the england badge which still eludes me to this day (but watch this space) So goal now is to move up a class in ABT and OT and get that damned england badge all in one year. (Too old and knackered for long term plans these days)     

 

[teepee1234]

Good post Teepee, but don't beat yourself up too hard on the classification side or failure may worsen things. One shoot at a time mate. Accept that at any stage you will have the odd terrible day.

For me, I fairly quickly scraped into A class, five years ago. Still in it! Getting your average up from 75 to 83 for AA is a big ask. Law of diminishing returns. From 75 to 83, you need to reduce the tally of missed clays by over 30%. Going from C to AA involves reducing your lost targets by 50%.

Best of luck, but be happy if the average rises nicely each period, that is a good job in itself. It is all you can ask.

Cheers

Understand and agree completely, Will. No beatings over here, whether I go up 2 classes or none. Whatever happens, I will continue to enjoy it. That's the point of coaching too, to help get the head right.

(not sure if could keep up with Maxum, but willing to have a go!! )

 

[Les53]

I believe that small attainable goals work best, I remember in the 90s I decided to take up ABT full time and had shot in C for many many years. So I set myself the goal of moving up to B class the following year then to do the north of england team selections the year after then to do the english team selections the year after that. A long term plan but with theoretically attainable results. I did get into B and made the north team but unfortunately didnt attain the england badge which still eludes me to this day (but watch this space) So goal now is to move up a class in ABT and OT and get that damned england badge all in one year. (Too old and knackered for long term plans these days)     

I set myself consistently low targets and consistently fail to achieve them! :lol:

 

[ips]

Well at least you were never dissapointed Les.

 

[EdSolomons]

I think it depends where you are in your shooting "career". Basics can be drilled in with regular shooting early on. Once you progress you can refine elements of your game with relatively little shooting.

I dont enjoy practice, so dont do it except early season after a lay off. Some like to pull the trigger more. I shoot more the better Im shooting; whe on form Ill do 2-3 reg shoots each weekend. When shooting poorly I drop my shooting down to 1 a week. If I dont improve, I put the gun away for a few weeks then come back when Im keener.

Find a good system and stick to it.

 

[Darkside]

At the moment I've only got time to shoot clays on a Sunday, I'm managing to shoot most Sundays FITASC every second Sunday at North Ayrshire (thanks to Tom running a winter series) and I've either the option of Housten (50 bird unregistered) or the excellent Falkirk Gun club (60 bird unregistered, with quality testing targets) or if ive got a boggie bird, back down to North Ayrshire where Tom has 14 stands of sporting, 8 trap compak and all the trap/skeet you could ever want...

I also shoot at least one stand a day in my head through "visualisation"...close my eyes for 5-10 mins and visualise the whole travel to a shoot, sign on, walk to the stand, watch the guy in front shoot his last two pairs, go through my whole Pre shot routine, call for the bird, shoot them, smash them, Pre shot routine, call the next pair, smash them, repeate until I clear the stand...feels good to clear a stand every day

There are no registered sporting comps up here oct-march, if I had the time/money I'd travel down South a couple of weekends during the winter because I'm missing shooting 100 birders!!!

 

[ips]

That visualization thing is a lot cheaper than the real thing and if you do it right your averages are way better i am currently A class at ot ut abtl ... In my head anyway