There are many different forms of clay pigeon or clay target shooting and these are called disciplines. They are broadly divided into three main groups; Trap, Skeet and English Sporting.
Skeet is a word of Scandinavian origin, though the discipline originated in America. Targets are thrown in singles and doubles from 2 trap houses situated some 40 metres apart, at opposite ends of a semi-circular arc on which there are seven shooting positions. The targets are thrown at set trajectories and speeds. The main disciplines in this group are English Skeet and Olympic Skeet. The National Clay Shooting Centre has both of these disciplines if you wish to give skeet a go.
Trap shooting has many disciplines within. These are: Down the line, Double Rise, Automatic Ball Trap, Double Trap, Handicap by distance and Olympic Trap.
Whatever the variant of trap shooting, the principle is similar in that the target is released from a point in front of the shooter and is “going away”. Variations to the trap disciplines are determined by speed of the target, the angle at which it can go away from the shooter or the elevation. Variations also include the number of targets released at one time or after each other and whether one or two shots are fired at each Target. The National Clay Shooting Centre can cater for all you needs if you wish to give trap a go or become proficient in one of the disciplines. We have Down the Line, Automatic Ball Trap and Olympic Trap.
The English Sporting discipline has the sport's biggest following. In sporting, almost anything goes in terms of type of target. Targets of varying sizes are thrown in a myriad of trajectories, angles, speeds, elevations and distances. The discipline was originally devised to simulate live quarry shooting, hence some of the names commonly used on Sporting stands: Springing Teal, Driven Pheasant, Bolting Rabbit, Crossing Pigeon, Dropping Duck, etc. Disciplines in this group include English Sporting, International (FITASC) Sporting, Super Sporting Sportrap and Compaq Sporting.
Our sister company Bisley Shooting Ground specialise in English Sporting and offer the complete range of targets listed above in one of the country’s most unique and beautiful settings. At the National Clay Shooting Centre, we are able to offer an insight into this discipline using our sport trap training layout.
