Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
The instructor told me yesterday that his students needed to move on to the next step. I had some ideas on how to do that....
PGC Trap And Skeet Center has new shooter programs in place. One I've helped out with from time to time concerns adolescents and shotgun basics. Since WW is out of town for the week, I had some time to assist. Things went well.
The kids today were all male,13-17 at a guess. All had shot some trap and skeet, but skill hasn't developed yet. One kid was training to shoot LH, he was right handed and left eyed. He had just made the switch.
Another was LH and shot well.
All used rental shotguns. The leftie had his own 870 YE, but had not brought anything but a skeet choke. So he shot a Beretta auto in 20 gauge.
The other rentals were all B-guns, a mix of O/Us and autos roughly matched to them by size.
First a round of standard wobble was done. I critiqued form and technique, but mostly the kids had things right.scores ranged from 10 to 19/25.
Then, I explained how to shoot Mongolian Wobble.
For those coming in late, Mongolian Wobble was developed from a game called Chinese Trap. It uses a Wobble trap launcher, naturally, and the rules are simple.
One shoots 5 shots each from Skeet stations 1,2,6,7, and the last 5 from BEHIND the 27 yard line at any point of the shooter's choosing. No choke changing, no gun subs. Run what ya brung.
For the kids, we cut things to one shot per target instead of Full Use and eliminated the up to 5 second launch delay after "Pull" is called. And, no heckling. Things are different among the Geezers, we kid each other.
Shot opps vary from 25 yard crossers to 45 yard quartering targets. No choke changes allowed.
So it started slowly. The first kid up missed all 5. The second kid got one. The third kid got 4 using swing through. and so on. No one ran a station, but 4/5 were common.
And it was worth the time and exertion to see the kids on the line with the same look as a good working cat has at a hot mousehole. MW was "Kicking it up a notch" and they loved it.
When we moved back, I suggested doing the last 5 from closer than behind the 27. They protested vehemently, wanting to do it the hard way. They did.
Scores ran up to 14/25. not bad for the first time at all. We finished up with some informal mini flurries, rounds determined by what the kids had left. I shot these with them, the oldest kid on the line.
Debriefing, I told them that MW was good for focus and concentration, the flurries for stopping overthinking. They added these tools to the toolbox and thanked me as they left. My old scoutmaster would be proud.
Then, I asked the trapper to switch the trap back to voicemikes,dumped a box of shells in my pouch and moved a mike to between skeet 5 and 6 and back a couple yards. I started working on my moves, and shot pretty darned good.
As friend sm says, "To keep it, give it away".....
PGC Trap And Skeet Center has new shooter programs in place. One I've helped out with from time to time concerns adolescents and shotgun basics. Since WW is out of town for the week, I had some time to assist. Things went well.
The kids today were all male,13-17 at a guess. All had shot some trap and skeet, but skill hasn't developed yet. One kid was training to shoot LH, he was right handed and left eyed. He had just made the switch.
Another was LH and shot well.
All used rental shotguns. The leftie had his own 870 YE, but had not brought anything but a skeet choke. So he shot a Beretta auto in 20 gauge.
The other rentals were all B-guns, a mix of O/Us and autos roughly matched to them by size.
First a round of standard wobble was done. I critiqued form and technique, but mostly the kids had things right.scores ranged from 10 to 19/25.
Then, I explained how to shoot Mongolian Wobble.
For those coming in late, Mongolian Wobble was developed from a game called Chinese Trap. It uses a Wobble trap launcher, naturally, and the rules are simple.
One shoots 5 shots each from Skeet stations 1,2,6,7, and the last 5 from BEHIND the 27 yard line at any point of the shooter's choosing. No choke changing, no gun subs. Run what ya brung.
For the kids, we cut things to one shot per target instead of Full Use and eliminated the up to 5 second launch delay after "Pull" is called. And, no heckling. Things are different among the Geezers, we kid each other.
Shot opps vary from 25 yard crossers to 45 yard quartering targets. No choke changes allowed.
So it started slowly. The first kid up missed all 5. The second kid got one. The third kid got 4 using swing through. and so on. No one ran a station, but 4/5 were common.
And it was worth the time and exertion to see the kids on the line with the same look as a good working cat has at a hot mousehole. MW was "Kicking it up a notch" and they loved it.
When we moved back, I suggested doing the last 5 from closer than behind the 27. They protested vehemently, wanting to do it the hard way. They did.
Scores ran up to 14/25. not bad for the first time at all. We finished up with some informal mini flurries, rounds determined by what the kids had left. I shot these with them, the oldest kid on the line.
Debriefing, I told them that MW was good for focus and concentration, the flurries for stopping overthinking. They added these tools to the toolbox and thanked me as they left. My old scoutmaster would be proud.
Then, I asked the trapper to switch the trap back to voicemikes,dumped a box of shells in my pouch and moved a mike to between skeet 5 and 6 and back a couple yards. I started working on my moves, and shot pretty darned good.
As friend sm says, "To keep it, give it away".....
