Archived from April 21st

April 21st

Judging by the low handicap scores this week, it is fair to say that just a couple of stands caught out most of the experienced shooters.

Dave Salter's 64 and Julian Shuker's 62 were both the exceptions, Sharing the same squad, they took the scratch gold and runner up between them. He Li, also on their squad, was back on top form. His excellent 59 took the handicap award, beating Malcolm's much improved 56 into a good second place.

Malcolm needs to share the secret of his improvement elixir with the rest of us!. Len was top gun at SW with a satisfying 79 ex 100. Tony Gray was runner up with 75 kills.

Despite trying to shoot every stand as a sim pair, Ian Edwards easily took the handicap award from runner up He Li.

As an aside. Over the years I've watched many inexperienced guns join our sport only to disappear from the shooting scene after a few visits. Many of them go through a period of despondency when targets seem indestructible and they feel that breaking just a few clays is not much fun. On the other hand, many prevail after joining a group that can offer advice on the essentials of becoming a keen shooter. Passing on basic advice about chokes, gun fit, eyesight, and mounting techniques, quickly helps new shooters improve both their enjoyment and their scorecards.

Once a kill rate approaching 50% is reached, the human competitive instinct will come into play and they will be hooked for life. I like to think that our band of decrepits carry out this guidance function pretty well but I also think that if any shooters are getting a bit despondent about their scores, they should swap squads occasionally if only to get back with their mates with tips to share around. I'll happily organise a little squad dilution if anyone feels it will help their scores.