60 Seconds With Gil & Vicki Ash

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‍May 6, 2024

On Peripheral Acceptance…

This is a term [peripheral acceptance] we use to describe how comfortable a shooter is playing away from the target. For a beginner or intermediate shooter, it seems to be around two to four feet. This means they only feel comfortable with the muzzles pointed at a spot two to four feet in front of the target during the swing. They feel better playing closer to the bird; anything beyond four feet is awkward for them. That’s why beginning and intermediate shooters get jammed by the bird more often than advanced shooters, especially on targets that take an excessive amount of lead. On those presentations, it’s hard for them to accept the gun way out there without being too aware of it, which pulls their focus off the target and places it on the gun, creating a laundry list of problems.

But the peripheral acceptance for an advanced shooter is much greater, probably between 12 and 30 feet. They’ve realized that the farther out they play, the easier it is to maintain focus on the front of the target, and the gun never gets in their way. That’s how they’re able to move so little on all shots, especially the long ones. They let the targets come to them, which requires less movement and makes all the presentations seem much slower. That’s why they shoot 85 to 95.

This shooting tip came from the book “Sporting Clays Consistency: You Gotta Be Out of Your Mind!” by Gil & Vicki Ash. 

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