skeet practice at home

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flexible

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Hi Everyone; looking for advice on practicing at home (specifically my basement) I've been practicing: mounting, swinging, using a Maglight in the barrel, etc.
Does anyone have any other ideas? Laser tool's in the barrel, etc????
I take lessons once a week (depending on the weather) and really need more time.
thanks
flexible
 
Look at a spot on the wall above eye level.
Close your eyes.
Mount your shotgun with your eyes closed.
Open your eyes.
You should be pointing perfectly at the spot.

If not....
Arrange your feet.
Practice a smooth comfortable mount.
Develop a natural shooting posture. (Resembles your standing posture, don't lean, squat, or anything unnatural)

Get a snapcap.
Put it in your shotgun.
Mount and swing with your hips at your spot on the wall.
Press the trigger as you pass your spot BUT DO NOT STOP YOUR SWING. Swing with your hips well past your spot, leaving your gun mounted. This is to teach your brain to follow through.

While doing these exercises, concentrate on seeing clearly, thinking about the task at hand. Not raising your head. Nothing else.
Feet
Focus
See
Mount
Swing
Press
Follow through.

...and then practice loading and unloading your gun as smoothly as possible. No extra motions. No fumbling. This is to not distract you or anyone else. Loading and unloading should be a non issue. If you drop one, leave it til you'r done. Don' go waving your gun around chasing a hull.

All this can be done in your basement.

Practice this seriously and often. Daily if possible.
You WILL perform like you practice.

If when you get on the field, you miss.....forget it immediately. It's over. Dont dwell on it. Continue with your best fundamentals that you have practiced.
 
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Like AF said, pretty much agree on all his points. If your room is big enough might try to run a string as far away in the room as you can on the far wall at the approximate trajectory of a skeet flight target, both directions. Start at you hold point where you would start when you call for your bird, pull the trigger at the optimum spot in the trajectory where you want the bird to break, slow and steady until you can feel it becoming muscle memory. Keep the gun moving, always worth repeating.
 
I worked at a trap/skeet range as a teenager in Elkhorn Nebraska in '69-'70 when I both pulled/set trap/skeet.

Your basement practice may have some merit, but I would suggest...

Buy a case of cheap 1-1/8 ounce 12 gauge shells (if they work in your gun), find a skeet range, and shoot, and shoot. I had a Rem 870 Wingmaster 12 gauge 26" VR IC choke and used Federal papers and reloads of them. As a kid I could tell when the farmers would come to practice before pheasant season, and I would stand behind them when pulling and could see the "shot cloud" and tell them if they were shooting above, below, and mostly behind as they would stop the gun more times than not.

The most important thing to remember is to keep the gun moving! With skeet it is all about timing as the clays all come out at the same speed in both houses, just different elevations..

When I did it the clays came out of the house at about 80+ mph and went over the center stake at all stations (except #8) at 23'.

Long time ago.

Good shooting, sir!

Jim
 
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