This is where there is potential for trouble!
Rifles are aimed, shotguns are pointed. You never “aim” a shotgun – you point it at the right place and the clay is vaporised. (Well, that’s the theory!)
George Digweed, the greatest sporting shooter of all time, says that there are three important factors in clay shooting:
“the target, the target and the target.”
George is making a very important point – the one thing, and the one thing only, that you most concentrate on is the target.
Note: George did not say “the barrel”, “the rib”or “the bead” – he said “the target”.
If your eyes are focussed on the bead they will not be focussed on the target. Focussing on the bead is almost guaranteed to make you miss behind – because you are not focussed on the target.
If you think you can get away with switching your focus back and forth between the bead and the clay – forget it – you are in for serious problems – and the older you get, the worse this problem will be because the muscles controlling our eyes become less effective with age.
Some shooters think that all shotguns should be provided with a file to get rid of the darn bead.
Others argue that the brain “sees” the bead and uses its location subconsciously to be aware of the location of the barrel – even though the eyes are focussed on the target.
The bead can help when learning to shoot – because it gives you some idea of where the barrel is pointing even though you are concentrating on the target.
However, the bead is very useful indeed for Dryfire.
At the start of each DryFire session take an alignment shot to make sure everything is lined up properly. To do this “aim” the shotgun at the laser dot as if you were using a rifle.
