Bryn12

I shoot solo skeet quite a lot, just use the delayed release, hook the button on the top pocket of your vest, get set up, push the button, mount the gun and wind back to your hold point clay comes out shortly after that, you'll be surprised how much time you have.

Would shoot every day of the week if I could, just had to go a full week cold turkey, huge relief to shoot again on Monday. Thursday is the only day I can't get access to a ground Just work and other commitments getting in the way.

Aye starting off right and getting coaching early on will save £s in the long term, the importance of fit and mount can't be stressed enough.

Its all very well saying give it a couple of feet or a finger width (off your barrel). A decent coach will tell you what you need to do but that only gives you a rough indication as everyone sees lead differently, I find it more use if I'm told give that one twice what you gave such and such a target. In the end its a case of getting out there and spending lots of dough on carts&clays to see how you and your gun combine on different clays.

Joe soapy of you're anywhere near book a session with Welshwarrior, worth every penny.

The outdoor centre near Annan is a shooting ground only now, skeet layout and some well set sporting stands. Westlands Helicopters - Didn't Michael Heseltine get into trouble over them

To me its all down to time available, the depth of your pocket and how far/fast you want to progress. I'd go with Daf's advice on building it up slowly, and would add quality not quantity and always practice with a specific aim in mind. I've decided to concentrate on Skeet, as others have said if there's a stand I'm not confident on then I'll stick with that until I see some progress or I decide I'm doing more harm than good. I usually start and finish with a round although I could just warm up with stand 1 and finish the session on 7 as both of those are rock solid, always try to finish a training session on a high, this applies to anything you're training for and stop before you get tired or bored don't just keep banging away until you run out of carts. Most of all enjoy, otherwise there's no point in doing it.

**** happens to everyone the difference is how you deal with it. You can either sit around feeling sorry for yourself and give up or think '**** it !! I'm not standing for that kind of ****' and go out and work on the targets you struggle with, ideally with some guidance from a coach. I'd also recommend Daf (welshwarrior).

Yeah the lesson with you gave me the knowledge but most of all the confidence that I could do it, tonight I felt the cold, ruthless, confidence on 1&7 that I used to feel shooting rifle when I was really at the top of my game, now I just have to work to get the other stands to the same level. Had a momentary lapse of concentration on the round 2, first target on 6, set up for Low wondered where it was then had an 'oh ******' moment but still managed to hit the target from High with a reflex shot. I find I'm getting more and more time on them now, even the pairs, sometimes I wonder if I've got a time for a cuppa.

Daf, you said at the fitting session that after a couple of lessons with a proper skeet coach I'd be breaking 20s, I can tell you that after tonight you were wrong or does 1 lesson with you count as 2? And the wee gun now feels absolutely part of me, thankyou

Maybe a wee bit outside the area but Westlands near Annan is open except Wednesday/Thursday. So just M6/74, A75 To first turn off for Annan, turn right at the top of the slip-road and follow the road to for couple of miles and the range is on your right.

Quite a few posters on both sites, as Liz says they cover overlapping but slightly different areas

Shootclays sometimes links to threads on here

would suit me too, would spend all my time on H2, H&L4 then I'd only have to pay for carts. They have air guitar, air-soft.......I've come up with a whole new hobby - air shooting

Headed down to Westlands shot some Sporting and Skeet. Traps on stand two have been repositioned, couldn't get near them but got onto the others well enough. Skeet went well enough but bogie birds are still just that.

You'll be ok production was moved to somewhere near Mansfield I think. Bl00dy hell, Japanese whisky, English Irn Bru........... we're all doomed I tell you.

Well I spose I can honestly say I was sitting 3rd when I left for home didn't look like anyone else was going to turn up either. Supposed to be a registered comp, 3 of us turn up and we went 'birds only'

14, 18, 18, 12 - 62. I'd sort of set myself a range 60 OK in the circumstances, 68 is what I'm averaging in practice just now so that would have been good. An umbrella would have seen me blown over the high house and far, far away, it was pretty grim.

Ho-hum pretty much as expected. 1st round, 1 stand , missed H, repeat - kill, L kill, Pair broke H 1st shot told I chipped L, pair again pair killed, after that my mind was more on the regs than the clays, rushing so I took 1st of pairs early enough so I didn't hit both............. brain totally fried by 4th round. Oddly enough I really enjoyed it.

Well that's the first comp out the way, weather was heavy rain with a strong gusting wind from behind the low house, my gross score was a wee bit disappointing but I ran out of concentration and muscle power during the last round, went 14, 18, 18, 12 for 62. Notes to self Do not shoot 125 clays then cut grass all afternoon the day before a comp ............idiot There's a lot more to shooting comps than just busting clays, learn all the ins and outs about no birds, hitting both targets with one shot & the wrong one of a pair first etc., etc.,........................... other than that I really enjoy Skeet

my kind of comp Have a feeling this one will have at least a couple of dozen entries, think 99 won it last time so I think a respectable LAST is on the cards

Plan is to get my first ever comp out of the way, 100 Skeet at Auldgirth on Saturday. Trying to convince myself that scores don't really matter and I'm only there to gain experience.

Daf, after the lesson with you on Tuesday and the trial run on the comp ground last night, its as good a time as any.

I know Daf and the lesson has taken me much further on than expected. Between what you taught me and getting out there and having a go I find the time I have on the second bird of the pair is gradually extending but I still have a tendency to rush both. It's a reg comp so have been undecided about it, I suppose now is as good a time as any to make a start on the next big step.

Did a sort of 'mock comp' 75 birder last night, the regular guys kept me right but there were a couple of etiquette things I was put right on - On the singles load both barrels, I assume to save time and reduce the time a squad it takes to shoot the round, Still haven't got the order of 5 & 6 birds in my head. Stand 2 round 1 I broke H bird and v.slightly chipped L bird, didn't realise and shot L bird again with second barrel so had the pair again, apparently if I did it again I'd get a warning and points deducted. Think I'll give comps a miss until I get the non shooting stuff straight in my head which is a pity as I had been thinking of entering the 100 bird comp on Saturday. Despite the newness and learning new stuff other than how to break clays, new range and shooting in a squad for the first time I had some very satisfactory stands in the gloom and heavy rain.