Just asking advice from more knowledgeable people, as any writer would do when researching an article. If you don't wish to provide any, FEEL FREE TO IGNORE.

The advice above about getting to a skeet range and first watching, then asking questions, then actually shooting will give you some first hand experience that will aid in your article.
The concept of the game is relatively simple as the targets never change their trajectories (barring wind); the difficulty lies in being able to maintain focus long enough to repeat your moves to the targets over and over and over again without fail. Unlike sporting which is a game where you try to hit as many as you can, skeet is a game of perfection where 1-2 misses out of 100 will mean you miss the shootoffs.

You've got it. Oneounceload.

The reason I take new shooters to the skeet field is simple. The two targets allow you to learn and understand the fundamentals of shotgunning as the targets morph from one station to another. Two simple targets become fast or slow, crossing or quartering, incoming or outgoing simply by changing between the eight stations arranged on a half circle radius. The targets can be shot using any style and the skeet field is perfect to learn swing through, pull away, or sustained. Shooters must learn to shoot quickly as a target comes into focus and and to have patience as a long, slow incomer allows too much time and eyes try to wander from the target or the shooter runs out of swing and shoots behind a target that is not so slow after all. I wish I could say I learned everything about life on a skeet field but I did have to go to the trap field and sporting course to find complete enlightenment.

This is very helpful. Thanks so much. I've been researching and hearing lots of contradictory ways of achieving "the right" lead/technique. It's good to know that all three "lead" techniques can be effective in this game.

I don't suppose there's a "most people do X" for Skeet? Or is there generally a consensus among top shooters that "pull away is best" or "sustained is best", etc.?

Modern skeet is a sustained lead game in competition. The development of sub-gauge tubes popularized in the 80s transformed the game as they allowed 12, 20, 28, and 410 to be shot using the same shotgun. Those gauges make up the four main events in larger US skeet competitions which determine the High Overall Average (HOA) winner. Many recreation shooters still shoot swing through.

Perfect scores in skeet are shot using sustained lead. The clay flies on the same path, at the same speed and is broken primarily in the same place every time. Sustained lead looks slightly different depending on which station you are at (angle of shot). As an aid, there is a T post on the skeet field that shows the correct lead from every station. The top bar of the T is the correct sustained lead.

While shooting live game the angle, distance and speed vary greatly. Many people find "swing through" (butt, body, beak, bang) a better option on live game. It decreases the perceived lead and accounts for the wider variety of flight paths and distance encountered in the field. Many of us use a combination of leads depending on the target presentation. However in competition skeet, sustained lead is king.

ETA- That was a rather wordy recap of what LG stated in the previous post So in short...Yeah that!

Never seen one around here. Sounds handy.

I've never seen one anywhere. Sounds like a distraction that would lead to many lost targets. Thinking about and measuring lead is the last thing you want to do while swinging on a target. Sounds like an "unusual or undesirable field variation" that would need to be corrected before shooting registered targets.

Maybe it's just on the local range. They've had them on the skeet fields for so long, they blend into the landscape. Often I notice them when someone hangs a clay target on each end for a visual teaching reference.

It's pretty likely I wouldn't notice their absence on another range.

Thank you all very much. I definitely need to get to a skeet range.

OK; All skeet targets are missed by two feet, that is the two feet your standing on.
Some people miss low house targets because they can't twist their waist to the left.
Hence, stopping the barrel.
Most people miss the high house target because they can't twist to the right.
Hence, stopping the barrel. All because of the feet placement.

All shooters miss targets because they stop the gun barrel in the swing or pursuit.
Legend: If the target doesn't stop moving then neither should your gun barrel.
Never shoot station 8 directly overhead, most shooters peak and take their head off of the stock. Shoot both low 8 and high 8 halfway between the window and your gun barrel.

Try to shoot all skeet targets within 6 to 8 feet on either side of the center stake.
Lead: never shoot directly at a target, let the target fly into your shot swarm.
Never get too serious, laugh at your mistakes, learn from your mistakes, just have fun.
62 years of shooting skeet.
Mike
PS: I shoot trap, 5-stand, and sporting clays too, but nobody's perfect.

Sorry maybe I missed it and you did say but you really need to be more specific about what your are writing this article about? Then maybe you can get more informative answers.

Saying you are writing an article about skeet is a pretty broad statement. What are you trying to write about and who is your target audience? Are you writing about the ballistics characteristic of a 28ga vs 20ga for a technical paper or are you writing about the history of skeet for an outdoors magazine, or are you trying to write an instructional guide for the proper mounting technique for international skeet????? The list could go on forever.

My neighbor has written a book considered the definitive greatest book on the Boeing 747. He is neither a pilot or an aeronautical engineer. He did a good job.

I am the Skeet Coordinator at my home club. Send me an E-mail rkittine at sign aol dot com and I will e-mail you the skeet info sheet that we provide to new shooters that are interested in Skeet.

Bob

Besides what I said earlier about skeet, and I did admit to shooting all clay sports.

All clay shooting sports have a great many things in common; the person shooting, gun fit, stance, familiarity with the individual clay sport, feeling comfortable, gun fit, and gun fit.

The only real difference in shooting skeet as opposed to other games are the rules.

I too am a published writer for magazines, newspapers, outdoor media, and periodicals, for 25 years and my unbreakable rule is; Always write from knowing, all else is plagiarism.
Writing from research, libraries, videos, and the internet is using someone else's work.
Giving credit to others is fine on sub notes in your book, it's a lot of work too.
I'm pretty sure it's a lot more fun getting your feet wet learning how to shoot a shotgun.

If you are going to write about mountain climbing, for heaven's sake, don't ask somebody what it was like after they come down to the bottom. Climb that mountain yourself and you will write a much better article with enthusiasm, details, character, and experience.
Mike

Now there is someone who knows what he is talking about.
There is a good perspective write your article as though you don't know anything. Shoot some rounds, tell them how the gun kicked hell out of you, and you missed everything. Tell them how you got these tips from other shooters, and you still missed everything you shot at. Bill M has been doing this forever, and you can quote him, at the end of the article, after trying it all, and never hitting anything the longest member posting to shotgunworld gave me the secret, "We really don't know what we are doing". After that you can tell them, you feel better having only hit 7 targets in all your attempts, or something like that.

OP hasn't been back in 5 months, I'm guessing he either wrote his article or gave up.

It is like Bill M said, we don't know what we are talking about.

I know the OP haven’t been back or ever shot a round of skeet before he wrote his article. Here’s the article he should have wrote. “What I thought I knew about skeet shooting from the internet.” Then he could have shot an actual round or two and described perception versus reality. Might have actually been interesting instead of the usual rehash of target/game flow, equipment, leads, etc.