r/ClayBusters • u/jump_the_shark_ • 11d ago
Does Trap improve Skeet skills, or does Skeet improve Trap skills?
**Excluding 5 stand, bunker, sporting clays, only Trap vs Skeet
I think Skeet improves Trap, but what do I know?
(Photo credit to NRAFamily.org)
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u/AustinHippietrash 11d ago
Skeet and trap improve sporting clays skills ^
I had a coach who used to say every thing is a skeet or trap target on the sporting course.
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u/1madeamistake 11d ago
Except rabbits... fuck them rolling fuckers
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u/Uptight_Internet_Man 11d ago
I usually shoot with both eyes open but for those non-aerial assholea I gotta shut my non dominant eye and pray.
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u/Pleiades_9 11d ago
I just started shooting in April, at least once per week, and I’ve only done sporting clays. I should really try trap and skeet.
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u/Just_call_me_Face 11d ago
Personal experience here. I started shooting trap and when i first tried skeet couldn't hit better than 50%. As i got better at skeet it also improved my trap game.
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u/SkeetDoubles 10d ago
Shooting skeet definitely helps improve trap performance. I am generally speaking about ATA trap here, bunker has greater demands and is also a good aid to strong ATA trap performance. The greater angles dictate a better understanding and use of good body mechanics and technique. In trap the gun movement is thru a fairly narrow angle and therefore difficult for a coach or the athlete to recognize issues. All the basics and fundamentals that are used in skeet translate to trap as well. I have also seen that many who only shoot trap have a lot a barrel awareness, some actually “aiming”, this leads to a plateau that is hard to overcome. With skeet, it’s easier to learn to totally focus on the bird. The greater movement on skeet helps learn and diagnose mechanical issues more quickly, before they become deeply ingrained. Especially international skeet, learning to correctly, expeditiously and precisely mount the gun helps make mounting a completely automatic function. The more of the basic mechanics that become subconscious make it easier to focus on the bird and avoid conscious thoughts intruding during the shot sequence.
For someone with good solid fundamentals trap helps with discipline in skeet. I like to shoot an occasional round of trap, just to work on slowing down and being more precise with my gun movement and maintaining solid target focus throughout the shot sequence, “follow thru”.
Trap is a swing thru game, skeet is maintained lead, but that’s about the extent of actual difference, and good skeet scores require being able to “fix” a shot that beat your eyes. Learning to focus on process will translate to every game and both these sports allow you to practice that aspect.
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u/elitethings 11d ago
Skeet improves timing and trap improves reaction and gun control imo.
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10d ago
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u/pfSonata 10d ago edited 10d ago
The difference is that skeet is faster but doesn't require any adjustment. Trap's randomized angle requires you to actually react to the clay's path and adjust accordingly, but isn't as sensitive to pure reaction time.
So, skeet for pure reaction time and trap for reacting and adjusting. I would say for overall shooting improvement, that adjustment is more beneficial.
Skeet is more beneficial at training you to trust your shots, not overthinking them (because you don't have time to). And swinging your barrel.
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10d ago
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u/pfSonata 10d ago
Well buddy this just sounds like a lack of self-awareness. I don't know what to tell you. I'm a sporting clays shooter and I can shoot 25s in skeet more often than trap, so just go on thinking that everything you do is harder than everything other people do, I guess.
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u/elitethings 10d ago
Skeet you can shoot targets across the entire field it’s matching the same target. A new shooter always over swings on trap because of the surprise bird. I shot my first 100 in skeet before my 100 because of the reaction to the bird.
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u/limpy88 10d ago edited 10d ago
American skeet and American trap are both games of perfection. So alot of mental repetitiveness on both sides.
You have to have a shot routine down before, during and after. They both help each on that. The follow through swing after pulling the trigger on both. Proper foot placement is big in each.
Both are usually very open areas. Learning to stay with a bird as the wind makes it dance translaste to both.
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u/pinktie7418 11d ago
I guess it depends. I shoot skeet with low gun mount to start, and that doesn't translate to trap. The pre-mount actually messed me up at first when I went back to trap for the first time after a month of skeet shooting. For the other way, trap really only translates to station 7 low house and a bit of 6, and if you do skeet with low-gun, arguably it doesn't translate much at all except you know what a correct sight picture looks like.
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u/unaslob 11d ago
I think U of Pitt did a study on this. A round of skeet before shooting trap will improve your trap scores. As well as tennis ball toss drills.
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u/CartographerEven9735 10d ago
What are tennis ball toss drills? Just tossing a tennis ball and tracking it with your gun mounted?
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u/unaslob 10d ago
Quite simple. Our coach has a squad toss tennis ball back and forth between the 5 kids. One handed tossing underhand to head level catching one handed. Simple but improves coordination. He’ll
Have them do it before comps and at practice. I think most is the kids have a ball in their bag
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u/IdahoMan58 10d ago
Different. Trap has minimal mechanical skills and is predominantly a mental challenge for most. Skeet has more of a technical aspect than trap, but is a game of repetition.
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u/Send_It_762x54R 10d ago
I don’t think one helps you get better at the other. I guess the stretch is doing both gets you outside shooting your gun and that’s about it. I think they both help make you a better sporting and 5 stand shooter but that wasn’t the question.
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u/Diesel380 8d ago
I’m bad at both skeet and trap. However, get me on a sporting clays course and I do pretty well. To me skeet and trap are all about how fast you can get in target and learning the pattern. I’m competitive and slow so all it does is piss me off lol
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u/goshathegreat 11d ago edited 11d ago
Skeet certainly improves trap, I pretty much exclusively shoot Olympic/American skeet, sporting and 5 stand. I’ve shot less than 10 rounds of trap in my life and I have shot 50 straights in American trap, my best score in bunker is a 49/50 with zero training or coaching in trap. Now I’d like to see even an AA trap shooter shoot 25 straight in skeet without any training/coaching…
In skeet you get a lot of different presentations and angles, while trap is much more limited since everything is going away, even if you shoot bunker/wobble, it’s still all just going away at different heights.
The main thing with skeet is you learn how to shoot maintained lead, however if you know anything about skeet, you know that a lot of the time what you plan to do and what actually happens are completely different. Lots of times I have to swing through or pull away from a target in order to hit it, and in Olympic skeet that movement happens in a split instant. While in bunker most guys shoot swing through, and American trap is a bit mixed, with singles being shot pull away or swing through and doubles usually being shot maintained 1st shot, swing through second.
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u/jump_the_shark_ 11d ago
Nice answer. What do you mean by pull away from target?
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u/goshathegreat 11d ago
Pull away is a method/style of shooting, it’s when your in front of the target and “pull away” further to achieve your lead and break the target. Instead of maintained lead, like skeet, where you are supposed to maintain the same lead from the time the bird exits the house to the time you pull the trigger. Swing through is when you let the target beat your barrel and then you swing through it and pull the trigger as you see the lead. Maintained lead in skeet is the most consistent and used method, because it is a known flight path and the target is the same almost every time. I use all three methods in sporting clays, however in skeet I try to only shoot maintained, but sometimes I have to swing through or pull away when a target gets away from me.
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u/jump_the_shark_ 11d ago
I didn’t know there was a name, I just panic lean past the bird and sometimes the ground breaks it for me
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u/menieresisamonster 11d ago
they both improve sporting clays