doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Swing problems.

My mentors from the past now- Nash Buckingham and Gene Hill both addressed this issue, albiet in a different manner- Nash wrote in "The Dove" and he was a Northpaw like I am-- when you swing a shotgun from right to left, the muzzles tend to climb, conversly, when you swing from left to right they will dip somewhat- Gene Hill suggested for a righty- when you are swinging on a quartering bird from left to right, double your lead- Best hip movement, mount and footwork I have yet seen was from the now retired H&H instructor Ken Davies series of videos "Shootin' With The Limeys" they dress and talk funny, most of their women are plain flat out ugly, but Lord have mercy, them boys sure do well on driven birds, rough shooting and they invented SC--

Are you shooting a light, low swing effort SXS? If so, try a heavier/higher swing effort gun.

Rocket its a 6 lbs. 16 gauge SxS. The only firearm I currently own.

Footwork is the most important issue her IMO. You need to step across the line otherwise you coil yourself ever tighter as you swing, running out of movement in the process. This will be exacerbated if your front arm is too far forward.

In this case, the MOVE involves stepping across the line with your left foot so you are in a position in which your swing is opening up as you get onto your bird, then MOUNT and SHOOT.

If you're shooting clay birds, having your left foot pointed at the spot you're going to break the target works pretty well. Of course in the field, on a surprise flush, this can be tougher. But if you can remember to take a step in the right direction as the bird flushes (again, not easy to do), it will help. As someone pointed out, if you're a righty, swinging very far past your left foot is hard, because your left hand is leading and you run out of swing. For the same reason, you can swing a lot farther left. Not quite like a baseball bat, because your hands are together on the bat. But one similarity is that in your stance, you are pointing your feet where you intend to hit your target (the ball): right over the plate.

Lets see...right swing...put left foot forward while moveing right foot backward...while on the side of a razorback hill with lousy footing, birds flush, and right foot is already forward...some kinda jump manuever.

I have to start paying more attention to my foot placement and stop the, 'one position fits all' mentality.
Thanks guys!! Good stuff and something I need to concentrate on and practice.

A shooting instructor who helped me with this same issue explained that L-R targets present visual problems for RH/right-eye dominant shooters because we are more likely to pick a L-R target up with our non-dominant left eye first. This can lead to the right not full capturing the target and then the left eye controls the "computer" more than normal. The result of a left eye controlled shot on a L-R target for a RH shooter is to shoot behind. I suspect that is perhaps why some shooters say they add more lead on the L-R targets, as this would compensate for the left eye making the barrels in the sight picture look like they are more in front of the target than they actually are.

While this works better on the range than in the field, I consciously turn my head a bit past where I expect the target to come from on a L-R shot. This gives my right eye a better chance to pick the target up first. It seems to work on clay range - and I just hope that is enough to retain it while in the field in the heat of the moment.