Sporting Clays

Many misses are not the result of ballistics or technique but of incorrect footwork. The late Jack Mitchell always taught that “the deadliest move a wingshooter can make” is with his feet. There is not one action sport where footwork is not an integral part of the sporting action.
Boxing is an excellent example: The correct positioning of the feet and the step create the power base for a solid punch. For different punches or punch combinations there are different foot positions and steps.
Shooting is no different, and footwork has been emphasized since the advent of the first shooting schools in the 19th Century. The earliest form of game shooting was “walked up,” where the quarry most often would climb and rise away from the gun, so most of the early shooting schools taught a method to suit the shooting style of the day.
This shooting method involved a simple step into the line of flight, with the majority of weight placed on the front foot, almost as if the shooter were about to fall over and had to plant the leg to stop the fall. This simple “step shooting” remained the preferred method even after the introduction of fashionable French “battue” (“to beat”) driven shooting.

These early driven shoots did not show particularly high birds and required little lateral movement, so the “leading leg school of shooting” remained in favor. Any lateral movement required usually was achieved by teaching the shooter to step right or left into the line of flight.
The most famous of the early shooting schools and one of the oldest in the UK is at the West London Shooting Grounds. There legendary instructor and champion shot Percy Stanbury worked his magic. To this day clients are told to take a step toward the place where they will break the target, placing the majority of their weight on their leading leg.
This “Stanbury Method” has some benefits, as it aids in shouldering the gun, and the head is extended forward and down onto the stock. However, when attempting to rotate left and right, the swing is slowed or stopped completely as the rotation of the upper torso is restricted by the position of the lower limbs.
You can experiment with this yourself. Take the stance described above and try turning from hard left to hard right. You will find your hip blocking your rotation one way and your leading leg blocking your rotation the other. Although the Stanbury Method has some limitations, it still finds much favor today. But at the turn of the century an alternative style would come into vogue.
Robert Churchill, the nephew of gunmaker E.J. Churchill, brought many fresh ideas and thoughts to shooting and, because of his own shooting reputation, was a very sought-after instructor. Churchill was a short, rotund man and, rather than shoot off of his front foot regardless of the target presentation, he created a new style.
He taught that at the beginning of a shot the shooter should be in balance, with his weight equally distributed between his two feet. Then, depending on the shot and angle of the target’s flight line, he would transfer his weight onto the appropriate leg by raising the heel of the opposite foot. For this “Churchill Style” to be successful, it required a much more square-on approach to the target.
If you would like to try it, you will find that the Churchill Style allows the whole body (both upper and lower torso) to work as a unit, with no conflicting resistance by the lower body and torso to check your swing.
This was the style taught at the Churchill Gun Club, which opened in Kent in the early 1900s. With the sad passing of Robert Churchill, in 1958, and the closing of the Club, Norman Clark, Churchill’s understudy, moved to the Holland & Holland Shooting School, where he continued teaching the Churchill Style. Clark was followed by his understudy, well-known instructor Ken Davies. Davies further improved on the Churchill technique, developing what would best be described as “The Modified Churchill Style.”
Davies advocated that the heels should be close together, no more than six inches apart. This foot position allows a full range of movement to any target presentation. For targets taken well out front, you can move your body weight fully forward on the balls of both feet; when the target is high and incoming, the weight can be transferred to the back foot.
Crossing targets are accommodated by lifting the foot opposite the target’s direction, with the ball and toes of the foot pushing and rotating the body and the heel rising off of the ground, allowing a full, unimpeded pivot into the line of flight. This deliberate transference of weight maintains good balance and gives superior unrestricted movement during the shooting action, regardless of the target’s flight line.
During the past 20 years there has been a gradual evolution in competitive shooting styles, with many of our top performers adopting the much more square-on Churchill Style stance, regardless of the particular technique (swing-through, pull-away or sustained lead) they apply. In the 1970s the style was still very much “toe to the target break point,” with weight on the front foot. Progressing through the ’80s and ’90s, we saw the style shift toward the much more evenly balanced stance that now is preferred by the majority of competitive sporting clays shooters.
You may ask how this history lesson in the development of shooting styles and foot positions will help you improve scores or achieve cleaner, more consistent kills. The games of trap and skeet have fixed angles and distances and can be shot successfully off of the leading leg. In sporting clays and in the field, however, increased lateral rotation is required. This is particularly important in shooting pairs, where a full rotation through 180 degrees often is required to successfully tackle the second target of an on-report pair.
If you have the opportunity to watch some of the top shots in action, you will see that they often blend the elements of the Stanbury Method and the Modified Churchill Style to create the well-balanced base from which they achieve consistent and smooth swings. If you were to compare two of the greatest shots of all time from two different eras—Percy Stanbury and George Digweed—you would see how foot position has changed over the decades. Digweed, the current world champion, favors a much squarer address to the target than many of his predecessors. This is the position of choice of many other champions and leading competitors as well as that of many very accomplished wingshooters.
Working with Digweed at Orvis Sandanona last September, I heard him give the best lesson in setup and footwork I have heard from any instructor. He watched a client repeatedly miss a long crossing target. Finally, on the completion of a shot, Digweed stepped in from behind and asked the client to repeat the shot with an empty gun and snap cap. Digweed placed his hands on the client’s hips, holding them at the position where the trigger was pulled. Digweed asked the client to replay the swing, and by holding onto her hips he was able to demonstrate the restriction caused by the opposing action of the legs and torso. He then asked the client to move her feet in the direction of the target’s flight until the restriction disappeared. Digweed then stepped back and asked the client to take another shot without moving her feet. The target was vaporised—a smudge of smoke against the blue sky. When asked how that felt, the client responded that the shot was effortless, whereas before she had felt like she had been fighting the gun throughout the swing. Digweed went on to explain that in order to accurately hit a straight shot in tennis or golf, the racquet head or club face needs to be square to the target and that shooting, in this regard, is no different. Successful shooting requires the fluidity of movement created by your stance and your footwork just as in any other action sport.
I will describe this again by using boxing as an analogy. The boxer’s foot position and footwork should be relaxed but purposeful—the boxer ready to move in any direction in reaction to his opponent, always maintaining balance by moving his feet and using a small step to deliver maximum power to his punches. The mantra to remember with footwork is: If you start right, you inevitably will finish right.
Giving due regard to your feet always includes good footwork. Don’t be afraid to move your feet! It is the deadliest move a bird shooter can make, and it works nicely for the sporting clays competitor as well.
The components and quality of your starting position are the nuts & bolts of consistent and successful competition shooting. A proper setup will allow a smooth, balanced swing in the direction the target is traveling, and footwork will ensure this is maintained throughout until the shot is taken by aiding a smooth rotation and keeping the shoulders level on the flight line. This is the first step to better scores.
The following is a simple formula with which you can experiment. We are all different, and you will have to find what works best for you, but this is the first of the building blocks and foundation to straight shooting.
• Establishing a proper address to the target is the first thing that determines how easily you are able to build and repeat a sound swing. The body angles you create at your setup determine the quality of your pivot. You should place your body in a position to rotate correctly about a constant axis, like a door swinging on well-aligned hinges.
• You should address the target so you can start and complete the shot in balance. This address begins with the feet.
• Stand with your feet armpits apart and your belt buckle facing the break point of the target. Then simply turn 45 degrees to your right for the right-handed shooter (to your left for the left-handed).
• If you visualise yourself standing in the center of a clock, your leading, or left, foot would be pointing at the break point at just past 12 o’clock and your right foot would be pointing between 2 o’clock and 3 o’clock, with six to eight inches between your heels. An imaginary line drawn from your right heel and passing though the big toe of your left foot should point directly at the break point of the target.
This position places the gun at a 45-degree angle to the body and opens up the shoulder pocket nicely for an unimpeded gun mount. A narrower stance, about six inches between the heels, is far better than a too-wide position. A wide-spread stance causes the shoulder nearest the direction of rotation to drop, resulting in the windshield-wiper effect of rolling off of the target line. The only time a wide stance should be adopted is when shooting on a slope or hill—and then the stance should be opened and the knee of the leading leg flexed. In this manner you can establish sound and square footing on the incline, whereas the regular stance would cause instability and loss of balance while making the shot.
In FITASC and certain sporting clays presentations, some combinations of pairs will involve footwork; you will have to step from one target break point to another. This should be practiced in your gun-mounting drills. Note that this step is a small movement of inches, not a lunge of feet. It is more about pivot and direction than an actual stride in the direction of the target—which I often witness, particularly in the field.
Occasionally there will not be time to move your feet between shots in sporting clays. This is a deliberate trick of the course setter. When faced with this situation, you always should set up for the more difficult target and shoot the softer and easier of the pair “out of shape.” But whenever there is time to move your feet, do step into the target break point. And always do so in the field when wingshooting.
A side note for the upland bird shooter: I often am asked how this “step” is supposed to be achieved with one foot snagged in brambles and the other in a rabbit hole where the quarry is more of a fleeting image than a sharp target. I consider this shot to be truly an “instinctive,” or “reactive,” shot, and as I have not been able to work out the kinks in this shot for myself, I would not have the audacity to advise others.
Correct foot position and footwork result in a balanced movement to the target. In the proper position you are able to rotate, in balance, around the pivot of your leading leg through 180 degrees—90 degrees either side of the break point of the target. This achieves the first basic requirement of a smooth swing: balanced movement, keeping the shoulders level with the target line, maintaining good head position and rotation, and, most important, proper foot position, which ensures a good body shape and allows an unimpeded gun mount.
A note on equipment. I always recommend a shooting shoe that is light and offers support to the ankle. Tread should be suitable for adequate traction but not so much that it hinders the movement of the feet. The sole should have a wedge design to assist in distributing the weight over the balls of the feet. It is no surprise that several excellent shots I know on the Helice and pigeon circuits shoot in cowboy boots. For sporting clays, the modern cross trainer is the perfect tool for the job.
Consider any other sport: You will not see a boxer, a tennis player, a wide receiver or a batter standing flat-footed. They all will be on the balls of their feet. Why should a shooter be any different? It is a fact that any hand-eye-coordination activity is enhanced by the weight of the body being on the balls of the feet.
“If quick is the step, then swift will be the action.” That concept is the basis of the successful instinctive shot.
Now that this dancing lesson is over, you will be more than ready to discover the nuances of stance and posture—the next step in the fundamentals of straight shooting.

Chris Batha’s book, Breaking Clays, and his DVD, “Mastering the Double Gun,” can be ordered by visiting www.chrisbatha.com.