I have been shooting low 20s with a few high teens at trap for a while. I got as high as 24 3 times, but never a 25, and most often only 20 or 21. I found out that the owner of the club I shoot at will give lessons, or at least some help with your shooting, for the cost of shooting. Interesting. So I talked to him, and arranged to work with him tonight. When we started out, he checked my stance, and told me I needed to open up on the first few stations, to be able to turn more easily to my left for hard left targets.

He also said that I should be turning and aiming from my waist, instead of with my arms. looking at it, in a weird way, that may have compensated somewhat for the closed stance, using your arms would give you a little more range, but less control.

Another thing, which I had started to work on, was to use both eyes, not just one. The other part of that was to focus past your gun and the trap house, out onto the field beyond before you call for the target. You can pick up the target with a lot less adjustment for range instead of trying to follow it right out of the house. I also found I wasn’t trying to catch up quite as much when when I was doing it right.

So the big things:

1. Open my stance, especially on the first 3 stations.
2. Turn with you body, not your arms.
3. Both eyes open
4. Focus past the trap house before calling for the target.

Also, he could tell where I was shooting from the way the targets were breaking, and when I wasn’t shooting right, even if I was hitting the target. For example, shooting over the top, the chunks were going down. Hit the target, but maybe not by much.

Not a total rebuild of my game, but enough changes to take some time to adjust.  When I was doing what he told me (yes, I slipped back into my old habits a few times) I was hitting really well, and I think the adjustments will be worth the effort.

I can definitely recommend working with someone who knows their stuff. They will probably have some insight you can use, and will be able to see what you are doing wrong, and how to correct it.

Be careful, though, because someone can be a great shot and a lousy teacher. If you are paying for lessons, ask around about coaches and teachers in the area, and see what other shooters are saying about them.