NFOA MEMBERS FORUM
General Categories => Shooting Sports => Topic started by: AAllen on August 03, 2012, 10:15:28 PM
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My lovely daughter has decided she wishes to try to get on a youth trap team this fall, she has only shot at the member meeting a couple of years ago. I personally know nothing about competitive trap shooting, and my shotgun skills are self taught chasing birds in the field. In other words she could use a little time with someone who knows about trap shooting and doing it right.
Anyone able to teach a lesson or two, she has a 20 gauge pump and I have a 12 gauge SKB Trap gun (hey it is a good field gun too) that she would like to try out.
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Andy, Not sure how old your daughter is, but I think I would try to find out who the coach is for your intended High School Club Team. I would bet that they would either do some instruction / training or could point you in the right direction. Maybe check with the Range officer down at Seymor Smith. Sorry, I can't remember the name of the actual range there.
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I wish I had the time to help coach high school trap...my nephew shoots for Lincoln SW.
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The Omaha Public Trapshooting Range is.........
Harry A. Koch Trapshooting Range
Club Information:
Mailing Address:
6802 Harrison St
Omaha, NE 68128-2053
Contact Information:
Steve Nuss
6949 S Harrison Hills Dr #208
La Vista, NE 68128
Phone: 402-312-6124
sfg
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Nebraska Trapshooting Association.....
Lots of contact names and affiliations across the state.
http://www.shootnta.com/ (http://www.shootnta.com/)
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Andy, I think you can get the most help from the coaches of the team you are considering as they work with new shooters every day.
My thoughts are:
In clays shooting gun fit is king. A fancy trap gun works no better than an 870 pump unless it fits the shooters body correctly.
Length of the stock (length of pull) distance from the thumb of the grip hand to the nose is the best indicator. Slightly long is better than too short.
Position of the dominant eye. It needs to be determined which eye is dominant if the desired two eye open technique will be effective.
The dominant eye is the rear sight of a shotgun. It needs to be centered on the rib and the head should not be canted or tilted to get there. This establishes horizontal point of impact (left and right)
Comb height establishes the height of the eye and determines vertical point of impact ( high or low)
All trap targets rise unless they are fired on late in the flight path, so trap guns are set up to shoot high. This allows for less visual lead to be applied and allow for full view of the targets when firing.
If you can start out with a well fitting shotgun, most kids are naturals at just shooting where they look and successfully breaking targets because their hand/eye coordination is so good.
I think it is critical that successful target breaking early in the process be achieved or the kids lose confidence and desire, so that is why I think focus on gun fit is really the easiest point to start at.
More advanced techniques include stance, foot position and how it changes from post to post, equipment choices like vests, shooting glasses that have colors that enhance targets visibility , a padded rest to place the muzzle on between shots ( decreases fatigue) Increased shotgun weight can reduce recoil effects, but they get heavy during an event.
Light 1 oz target loads are good for beginners ( 8 shot is fine) but don't skimp too much on ammo.
Promo 7/8th oz dove load generally don't break clays very consistently and have sub par shot in them
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One other thought. The recoil of a shotgun can be a significant deterrent to a new/young/small shooter. A proper push/pull grip can do a lot to lessen the recoil. If you decide to add a recoil pad to her gun, make sure the pad is figured into the overall length of pull (LOP) or stock length so the fit is still good.