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Coaching session with Beretta.

Chard

By Chard,
in Clay Pigeon Shooting

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Chard

Chard

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Had a full day coaching session with Beretta today at Llandegla. :rolleyes:

 

I was wanting to see if I'm getting out of some of the sloppy habits I had, that he'd told me about before, but another reason was that I wanted to start shooting gun down.

 

I had tried on my own once before to switch to shooting gun down, but it was a complete disaster. I've no idea why, I just couldn't hit anything, so I abandoned it and went back to gun up. I've become increasingly aware that there are many occasions when it can be a real hindrance, such as long slow incomers and crossers and birds coming from behind and to the side, where you're not really able to lift your head enough to see them coming properly.

 

Beretta was able to get me shooting confidently from the gun down position in about 5 minutes :rolleyes: so I'm not sure what I was doing wrong before. It took a bit longer to adapt to shooting a range of completely different birds using the new style and we progressed around the ground until I was happy that I was whacking anything they had available. I even had several rounds of skeet which I shot gun down and I was getting low 20's each time, which is as good or better than I was getting gun up (skeet isn't really my thing and I don't do a lot of it). The ones I dropped were just my usual careless moments. :hmm:

 

We also had some very interesting discussions on proper reading of different types of birds and choosing the best position to shoot them, best pick-up points etc.

 

I came away feeling ridiculously confident and just wanting to go and do a competition somewhere :yes:

 

Well worth it, even when you think you know most of the tricks :rolleyes:

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magman

magman

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few pics of chard from today. he did not know i was taking pics of his gun mount. :rolleyes:

 

So you taught him 5 paces then gun mount :yes: the clays would of ****** off by then :lol:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:hmm::rolleyes::rolleyes:

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Chard

Chard

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Chard, can I suggest you have another session, the day before the charity shoot... :rolleyes:

 

 

Dangerous territory :yes:

 

I'm half afraid of trying gun down on Saturday, but it went OK today, so I guess I'll have to :hmm:

 

Another thing to anybody thinking of having coaching that sounds obvious, but it's not as daft as it sounds. Apparently, one of the biggest problems with coaching, is doing what you're told :lol:

 

I've heard this before from coaches I've spoken to at Worsley. It's actually very difficult to do as you're told sometimes, especially when you've been breaking a certain type of clay reasonably successfully before the coaching session. It can be a massive leap of faith to start doing it differently. We had one today, a fast and very close crossing rabbit. I shot the first two more or less as soon as they left the trap, but Beretta suggested that I leave them till they got away a bit and settled down. They were very unpredictable when they came out of the trap, some flying, some bouncing and some running fast and then bouncing :rolleyes: I wasn't convinced at first, especially when I missed the first two that I left longer. But in no time at all, I was smoking them and it felt like I had all the time in the world.

 

It seems that many people who pay good money to a coach have enormous difficulty in taking their advice. Human nature I suppose. I think we think that being coached is easy, just sit back and listen, but it actually takes a massive amount of effort and concentration to act on what you've been told and keep doing it, without reverting back to your old ways. :rolleyes:

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Catamong

Catamong

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A word of advice to the Northern contingent, shoot every bird "gun down" on Saturday, particularly those fast going away birds, I've watched the George Digweed instruction video and that's the way he shoots every bird, so it must be right. :rolleyes:

 

Cat.

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magman

magman

Posted
Posted
A word of advice to the Northern contingent, shoot every bird "gun down" on Saturday, particularly those fast going away birds, I've watched the George Digweed instruction video and that's the way he shoots every bird, so it must be right. :rolleyes:

 

Cat.

 

Always do Cat :blush:

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  • 5 weeks later...
Chard

Chard

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Went back to Llandegla today for another day with Beretta. He wouldn't count the last one, because they didn't have enough sporting traps on. :lol::hmm:

 

Scorching hot there today, good shooting weather. Got through about 300 cartridges, which was enough for me, with a couple of registered comps on tomorrow. :lol:

 

Spent time reinforcing my gun down shooting, which I'd lost a bit of confidence in, and I was sliding back into shooting gun up again. I've decided that I'll use a bit of both, depending on the birds. I felt much more comfortable with it today, I found it easier to actually shoot with the gun well out of my shoulder, rather than only just out, which I find clumsy and stiff.

 

B put me right on a few problem areas, especially relating to hold points and noting the line of the birds, I was working far too hard sometimes :yes:

 

A great session and good confidence builder. I think we've decided that most of the problems that I still have left are in my head and I've got to do something about my concentration and mental game, which lets me down sometimes.

 

Definitely money well spent, it's just practice, practice, practice now :lol:

 

Thanks for another good session and your patience. Thoroughly recommend it to anybody, beginner or experienced shots alike :lol:

 

I'll see you there again in the morning for the comp :look: :yes::P:oops:

Edited by Chard
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Mungler

Mungler

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Doesn't Digweed shoot mainly gun up? Go with whatever works for you.

 

I would guess that once you get to a certain level where you can shoot the first pair, and the next and yet manage to drop a sloppy 2 birds out of 10, then it's going to be about set up, concentration, stance, routine and discipline to shoot in a set window etc. All the boring stuff and the stuff you don't think about until someone tells you and teaches you.

 

If Beretta was nearer I wouldn't mind a lesson and a fresh pair of eyes to tell me what to do.

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