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Tips for First Time Clay Pigeon Shooting

Clay pigeon shooting is a fantastic sport and a great hobby to get involved in. It’s practised either in groups or individually, and is also one of the fun activities that can improve your shooting skills. There are three categories for this sport: trap, skeet, and sporting clays. Each has a different technique and direction of launching; clay pigeon shooting school can teach you how to shoot effectively. Clay shooting as a beginner can be lots of fun – if you’re among the first-timers in clay pigeon shooting, here are a few tips that’ll help you.

  • Follow Basic Safety Rules

Clay pigeon shooting requires you to hold a firearm and shoot clay discs launched in the air. This means you have a massive responsibility. The major part of clay pigeon shooting lessons is to follow the basic firearm safety rules and proper gun handling technique. If you do not know how to shoot a gun, learn to handle it first before shooting. Never load your gun if you aren’t ready to shoot it, and unload it if you’re about to cross a stream, or a ditch, etc. Use appropriate eye gear and ear-muffs for maximum protection; there are plenty of protective gear on offer that you can use. This is a recommendation rather than a tip: make safety a priority.

  • Determine Your Dominant Eye

One essential tip that your instructor at clay pigeon shooting school will give you is to identify your dominant eye. It will help you decide which eye you will use to focus on the target through the barrel of your gun. You can quickly determine your dominant eye by picking an object across a room and pointing at it. Now close one eye and try to focus on the object you are pointing. The eye with which you focus more easily is your dominant eye.

  • Standing Position

Another tip for your clay pigeon shooting lesson is to have a firm standing position. You need to shoot and focus on your target, and for that, you need to stand firm. An ideal stance is to have both feet facing the range and have one foot in front of other. For the right balance, put your weight on your front foot and aim as soon as the clay is released.

  • Stay Calm While Firing

You need to stay calm while firing because the sound and vibration of shooting a firearm will put you off-balance. Try to stay calm and don’t panic if your aim is off and you miss the clay. There are plenty of clay pigeons available for launching, so you can have another go. The idea here is to remain calm and relaxed while preparing to aim and shoot.