Trapshooting is a commendable way to prepare for tipsy-curvy situations in your life. It’s also a great discipline to start learning pro-level shooting. Challenge yourself with targets and rock! But how to improve trap shooting like a pro?
Well, for that you need to practice a lot and follow the practical tips from shooting veterans. This post will walk you through steps to get ready for trap shooting and improve on it. Are you excited? Let’s shoot you a few tips right now.
Before You Start Your Journey to Improve Trap Shooting
Let’s delve into prepping before you actually start trap shooting. Choosing the right gun, learning safety measures, and understanding the shooting formats helps you get ready. Let’s explore the reasons behind these recommendations.
While researching the shotgun you’d like to try, also look into adding a Red Dot Sight. These sights will help any new shooter learn how to aim and make your time that much more enjoyable.
Choose 12 or 20-gauge Shotgun
Choosing the right gauge shotgun is very important for improving trap shooting. As a beginner, go with a pump action, of course. It’s straightforward to load and unload.
Going with a semi-automatic shotgun is also seamless. You can also go with a double-barreled gun, even if you need one shot at a time. For comfortable handling and shooting, you must get research well before you buy your first shotgun for trap shooting.
We recommend choosing a barrel length of at least 26 inches. A 12 or 20-gauge shotgun will do miracles for you.
Learn All the Gun Safety Measures
Before you head on improving your trap shooting, consider taking a gun safety course. Learning precisely everything about gun safety will save your life without a doubt. A good course will help you learn about gun ranges and safety measures.
You should also learn about the laws of owning a shotgun, if any. We also recommend learning shooting ethics. Many gun operators and manufacturers may happily teach you all these things before you try your hands at trap shooting.
Practice at Home with Unloaded Gun
If you are a beginner, you will go out with a few friends and may get distracted or nervous. That’s why we recommend starting your practice at home. You should do it with an unloaded shotgun, of course.
Make sure and double-check that your gun is empty. You can also try laser training devices to help you work on the pattern of loading, firing, and reloading. Shooting is not just about shooting. Work on other things at home and let the show begin outdoors.
Understand the Shooting Formats
At competitions, you have 25 targets divided into 5 shooting stations and positions for every trap round. You rotate with your team members at each station until you have taken 5 shots.
A standard shooting comprises several rounds. You may end up shooting 100 to 200 rounds in a day or two. Before improving the trap shooting, you must understand the formats.
Double-Check Your Trap Shooting Pouch
A trap shooting pouch is a handy bag where you put all of your ammo and other shooting stuff. There are many prime-quality trap shooting pouches available in the market with top-notch canvas and leather.
When buying it, look for an adjustable strap opening for easy access into the pouch. When you are going for trap shooting, you must double-check your pouch so you have everything needed on time. Timing and ammo are everything in shooting, you know.
How to Improve Trap Shooting Faster As a Beginner
As a beginner in trap shooting, you must practice a lot. Rotating your body, opening your stance slightly, and raising the butt of your gun will help improve your trap shooting. But what’s more? Let’s learn in this section now.
Rotate Your Body Accordingly
Rotate your body a little to the right if you are a right-handed trap shooter and vice versa. It affects the depth of the pocket between your shoulder and neck. Also, you will mount the gun correctly straightening your head. And it also sharpens your focus on the target.
Open Your Stance Slightly
Increase the distance between your feet by an inch or two. Why? It’s because of the boosted sense of stability you will get. If you want to move the ball from left to right, open the stance line slightly to your target line. Your shoulder will swing the club across the ball. It will make things easier for you while you trap shoot.
Raise the Butt of Your Gun
Raise the butt of your gun to straighten your head. But do it precisely. Don’t overdo it. Otherwise, it will increase the risk of the muzzle rise when you shoot. It may slap you in the cheek, causing you to get hurt. But you need to straighten your head, so you will precisely raise the butt of your shotgun a bit.
Put It Against Your Shoulders Firmly
But why? Well, this tactic helps you center-punch your targets more frequently. Swinging your gun will have much more precision in controlling the gun. And you will feel less recoil if you press the butt of your gun firmly against your shoulder. It’s a wonderful tip for trap shooting like a professional shooter.
Also, move your cheek along the comb to reduce the tendency to lift your head. It also stabilizes the balance between your head and the gun. Pressing your cheek firmly against the comb will also have the same effect. The combination of these two tactics will improve trap shooting without a doubt.
Make Sure Your Shotgun Isn’t Canted
Your shotgun must not be tilted sideways. And for that to happen, you must make sure the gun is perfectly perpendicular to the ground. You may fall into the habit of canting your shotgun slightly, but monitor this phenomenon carefully and you will get things going.
Adjust Your Gold Point
In case the trap is set wrong or the wind is shaking the targets, you must adjust the height of your hold point. But how much adjustment is needed? Well, it’s just two or three inches up or down your hold point. It helps you especially when dealing with out of whack target heights.
Observe the Direction Before Shooting
We know that you are excited to shoot as you see the target. But don’t just start immediately. Before moving your gun, wait for a second or at least half a second to observe the direction and height of your target. It’s challenging without a doubt. But you will conquer this tactic as you practice more.
Sharpen Your Mind
This is not as easy as it looks from the outside. Don’t just think about things other than shooting and targeting when you are on a hunt. Thinking about your girlfriend or the lunch you are going to have will drastically affect your performance. Clear up your mind absolutely and start shooting.
Practical Tips to Improve Trap Shooting Like a Pro
We are trying to be as comprehensive as we can so you improve trap shooting like a pro faster. But that needs a lot of practice without a doubt. Let’s have a look at a few more tips to improve your trap shooting adventures.
Start with Clay Target Practice
To improve trap shooting faster, you need to practice a lot. And for that, go with clay targets. You can also play other games just to practice your shooting and become a pro at trap shooting and other such shooting disciplines and games.
Shoot at the Hip Height
Pre-mounting the gun before you call for the target will increase your overall skeet score. But it’s not helpful in the actual world. Shoot your target with the gun at hip height. Improve the art of mounting and swinging your shotgun. You should make your gun ready for smooth motion.
Keep the Gun Barrel Moving
Practicing the trap shooting from 30 to 40 yards is great for improving the trap shooting faster. But you also must learn the importance of keeping your shotgun barrel moving. And then increase it slowly from a sitting position. Try shooting while you sit. You will improve trap shooting like never.
Summarizing
Choose the right shotgun, rotate your body, open your stance, and raise the butt of your gun a bit. Then put it against your shoulders, adjust your hold point, observe the direction of your target, and fire.
You must have listened and read many times that practice makes a man perfect. This could never be more true than in trap shooting. Let us know in the comments below if you have questions about improving your trap shooting.
