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I shoot mainly pull away, but at times use all the methods of establishing lead. I find that often the second target of a pair requires me to use an alternative to pull away. I shoot shallow quartering targets with swing through - almost every other method and I end up shooting in front. I also use swing through on big looping chandelles to give me enough gun speed to get enough lead. I tend to start measuring if I try pull away or maintained lead. Works for me.
 
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Currently I mostly shoot Pull Away for my primary method and also seeing the lead in inches instead of feet. I still occasionally shoot maintained when I get caught up without a choice. I am working on Swing Thru which George Digweed appears to use almost exclusively and no one can question George regarding his shooting.
One should be very careful with a choice... It's a huuuuuge thing - mastery in all methods.

They don't differ the way you move your gun around the target. They differ in a feeling and "pictures". And more importantly in a "movement program" in us (movement timings). Movement program = sequence of electric impulses, some brain magic which makes hundreds of muscles to move our body (with a gun) around and be on time for specific events. We know that shot timings are much smaller than our cognition/consiousness speeds - we rely on other mechanisms in shooting. We can't consciously "think" of a movement and be successful. (people actually can't even walk if they start thinking "how to walk". Go and try it - funny experience. THink of big parts of a body and how they should move to walk. You'll understand what i'm talking about. Another example would be "automagic mechanism in our body which keep us upright", there bunch of muscles in tension which hold our body straight and upright. Even with slight external impacts: wind, other people walking and colliding, other objects and we're not falling - body-brain automagic. Try to "get out of a balance" a freestyle wrestler... It's hard, but he does not think about that, his "body" reacts automatically)

Methods differ in movement programs (sequence of smaller moves/muscles twitches) and "program triggering/starting events".
 
What would you call a method where the shooter miserably flails about and never hits any targets consistently? I use that.
This method is called "spray and pray". The beauty of that method is that it's 100% subconscious by nature, by definition. And sometimes it allows to hit "unhittable targets" and use the data to identify a problem with a "normal" method
 
Boring stuff (and BS to some extent):

Pull-away style, method is a complex movement, 2 part movement: sync with a bird and then an attack. Attack is always on a "faster" gun. Gun's speed is higher. Attack is always "subcounsious"

An attack in pull-away is a single movement, single program. Sounds stupid and crazy but it is what it is... And that program is very specific: target is always behind the gun, acceleration is always happening into the zone from the target, gun speed is very specific (not too slow - out of line shot, not too fast - will fly through the zone) and bunch of other moments like attack vector is same as movement itself (we just accelerate and not direct the gun).

That's the reason why for PA folks target speed is much more important than distance.


"dead gun" misses are examples of such "brain programs" in action. When shooter starts an attack from the target and gun speed is too high for a "good feeling and calm trigger squeeze" - gun goes through the "lead zone" (space in front of a target) too quickly, shooter realizes that and wants to get gun back into that zone. What happens? we can stop our movement in 2 ways: 1) stop sending a signal/reduce signal to working muscles and body tissue will slow down a movement (inertia will keep us moving) 2) start other program which will engage other group of muscles (antagonists) and we'll stop much faster, almost abruptly. Shooter makes a decision to slow down, but type 2 kicks in - "dead gun miss"

Newbies (and people in general) are used to the second type of "moving" and "stopping" , i.e. their shooting does not look fluid. Then shooters shoot enough amount of times to learn to avoid that situation, but not by learning how to control gun speed, but limiting gun speed (slowing gun down). Successful results (target hits) create and concrete that program. But sometimes we're still "too fast" what happens? We squeeze the trigger knowing that we're in front. But we somehow still squeeze the trigger. I keep hearing that "I gave it too much". If you know, why did not you wait and slow down? HA! no way! program is working and it's not flexible enough to do that, it's working only 1 way - we avoided a situation with a slowing gun as a class.
Same thing happens when gun speed is too low. When we underestimate target speed - gun is behind, we know that, but program is working and we squeeze the trigger anyway and we're short. And shooter KNOWS about that.
 
Since any clays activity is related to birdhunting, I practice the hunt & peck method of lead...works well enough.
 
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Hmmm…..when I practice, my puller chooses the trap. I have no clue where the bird is coming from. I shoot low gun. Very often, I have no clue how in heck I hit the bird I have barely seen. Often, I swear my gun is possessed since it breaks the bird without my conscious awareness of pulling the trigger. The darn thing shoots by itself. What method? Who knows? Maybe an instinct-blend.
In tournaments however, slow developing birds can be shot pull through or sustained -depending on the orientation of the report pair second bird. True pairs, swing through or, spot. Dropping floaters, pull away…..
The mechanistic planning/choosing of method before a shot is taken, eventually clutters the mind and leads to indecision. My preference is to BLEND methods. See the bird, shoot the bird.
 
We are talking strictly sporting clays here right? I love to watch someone use "Sustained Lead Technique" on the trap field. That would be impressive right?
 
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Old-Skeet uses all three shooting styles mentioned plus a fourth, a pot shot. As stated above by another it depends on target presentation.

Wishing All ... Good Shooting.
Old_Skeet, NSSA 103227
 
captjsjr If you are not 100% confident about the lead/bird barrel relationship you need it won't work. But if you use a different method that relies on residual gun speed ( ie. swing through and pull-away) two things will vary that you have no control over 1. gun-speed 2. shooter reaction time. If either of those vary from shot to shot, you will be inconsistent.
What method(s) do you use?
 
captjsjr If you are not 100% confident about the lead/bird barrel relationship you need it won't work. But if you use a different method that relies on residual gun speed ( ie. swing through and pull-away) two things will vary that you have no control over 1. gun-speed 2. shooter reaction time. If either of those vary from shot to shot, you will be inconsistent.

Pullaway does not work like that. Attack is always "deliberate" and active. It's not residual.

Pullaway is a method to overcome 2 mentioned "requirements".

And yes, in PA very often gun speed varies and it's normal. Consistency is looked for in different elements. Not in the "finishing the shot" part. This part is done subcounsiously and as a single movement - does not matter at what speed, there is no "decision moment" in that part, everything is already preprogrammed.

This is evident and easy to see in practice when shooter moves a gun in an attack in a "controlled manner". Same bird, but PA executed as it's supposed to (last part is done subcounsiously, on automatic) - gun speed is always higher, our "animal" brain is much faster than our "human brain".
 
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