In part three of his series, Matt Hance describes the different methods you can use to break a target
Matt Hance is a top Sporting shot and coach – he has been shooting Sporting and Fitasc for Britain for more than three decades, and won multiple British and English titles. Matt has teamed up with one of his students, Rhys Plum, to write this series in which he shares his skills and experience – starting with the basics and going on to teach advanced techniques that are guaranteed to raise your game. If you have any questions for Matt about the subjects covered in this series, email fieldsports@futurenet.com and he will do his best to answer.
Last month, in lesson two, we looked at mapping out the shot: planning where to hold the gun, where you plan to break the target, plus a lot more. In this month’s article we are going to look at the three most common techniques used to get from hold point to break point. In addition to this, we are going to learn about the importance of finding the ‘line’ of a target, through a drill I call ‘Boxing Targets’.
Before we dive in, it is important to recognise that there are several factors which dictate how and when you might choose a particular method. Perhaps most influential is personal preference. I will shoot the pull-away method on around 80% of targets, yet there are other champions out there who prefer either swing-through or maintained lead as their go-to technique. Any of these three methods can be used to great success.
That said, I would argue that whilst we all have our preferred way of doing things, it is vital that you not only understand each, but also know how to successfully implement all three techniques. I would not prescribe one single method for all of my students; there is no right or wrong default style to use. You will need, at some stage, to use them all whilst navigating your way around a clay course, as just one on its own will prove difficult, given the sheer variety of targets in the modern game.
However, if you are just starting out in the sport you might find it best to focus your training on just one method, until you are completely comfortable with this, before moving on to try another. As someone who has been in the game a very long time, I would encourage everyone to challenge themselves, and try different techniques and styles in order to develop and improve.
The methods that I will talk through in this article, though in no particular order, are: swing-through, pull-away and maintained lead.
Swing-through
Swing-through is perhaps the most traditional technique and is the usual choice of game shots, who are t
