All of 2011 I have wanted to put together a video series that would bring you some real and good advice to improve your clay target game.  Honestly, I kept putting it off trying to figure out what the best subject would be and hoping for more money to make the production better.  As the year drew to a close it was time to just take action on it so I went out to Triple B Clays in southern California and met up with Zach Kienbaum.  We spent a bit of time brainstorming a subject and this is what we came up with. 

Zach is the kind of instructor that, if you set him off talking about a subject, you’re going to get some real nuggets of gold in there.  After all he is one of the best in the game and his best years even are still ahead of him.  It’s incredible to have the opportunity to take instruction from one of the best in the world.  I decided recently that focus on the target is perhaps not as understood by up and coming shooters as it should be.  Me being one of them, I thought it would be a great subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY63HhphiWw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAHjvxPiYBU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqCNfnvxfEM

We’ve all heard the phrase "keep your eye on the bird" more times than we can count.  In fact this might be a cause of us not really learning to SEE the bird properly.  You hear something so many times you begin to think you’ve gotten the idea and start to forget about what it really means.  There is actually a difference in looking at something and actually focusing intensely on it.  Let me demonstrate with the following graphic.  You should see three stationary yellow dots and a field of moving blue dots.  Concentrate your focus hard onto one of the yellow dots and the others will disappear. 

Though this is somewhat of a parlor trick, this is what intense focus on the target is all about.  To see a target is one thing but to REALLY LOOK AT IT is another.  This is why instructors recommend picking out a small spot on a target to look at.  They are trying to get you to really focus on it.  But as Zach points out in the video this is not always easy or even possible.  You have to try that much harder when this is the case.

Contact Zach today at zkienbaumshooting@gmail.com for lessons.

For our 2011 NSCA National Sporting Clays Championship coverage we talk with event Runner Up Zach Kienbaum from California.  It proved a good time to talk with Zach as the year is winding down and I’ve wanted to hear his story for a while.  It also turned out that event champion Bill McGuire is like some kind of phantom, we just could not get a hold of him.  What you may not know about Zach is, he is probably the winningest sporting shot this year.  He has a knack for getting a podium spot almost every time he picks up his gun and it’s just a matter of time before the center spot will be his.

International Sporting Clays:  How had your year been, going into the nationals?
 
Zach Kienbaum:  Heading into Nationals my year was going very well after some early season inconsistency.  Until May of this year, I had been shooting a new High Rib Perazzi MX2000/3 with mixed results.  A few very strong scores coupled with very mediocre scores.  After frustrating myself all the way into the end of April, I decided the Saturday night of the World English Sporting Championship to switch back to my flat rib MX2000/8.  My scores turned around, literally overnight.  After a good Sunday in San Antonio, we started shooting events in Houston for the Triple Classic at Rio Brazos on Tuesday.  I shot well in just about every event all week, making the Super Final in the FITASC and Main.  I finished 3rd Over All just behind Wendell Cherry with George Digweed winning handily. 

The US Open at M&M started just about a week after the Triple Classic and I managed to take Runner Up in the Main Event there.  With my new found confidence I turned in consecutive Podium finishes at the Texas State, California State, Fossil Classic, Diamond Classic, Alaska State, Western Open, Lobster Classic, and Targetline Cup.

While never feeling like I shot my absolute best, I could feel myself getting stronger as a competitor and felt better than ever heading into Nationals.  I knew I had a better shot than just about anyone going in, and my hat’s off to Bill McGuire on some outstanding shooting. I shot good enough to win on most weeks but Bill handled the pressure best and turned in an unbelievable score.  I put myself in position to win on a lot of Sundays in 2011 and know that in the future I’m going to feel even more comfortable there and get my fair share of wins.

ISC:  How did the Nationals targets compare to previous years?

ZK:  I honestly felt that this years Main Event targets were probably the best targets I have ever shot in San Antonio and I’ve been attending since 1991. With a shoot that size it’s impossible for them to please everybody and this year they definitely got as close as possible to that.  Especially in the Main Event.  With last year being quite possibly the hardest ever Nationals targets, this years targets were well thought out, extremely fair, creative and fun with just the right amount of difficult targets that truly tested your entire game and separated the top shooters.

ISC: Any particular target or course stand out in your mind as being a favorite?

ZK:  My favorite course at Nationals would have to be Neil Chadwick’s Orange Course.  This was probably my favorite Chadwick course ever and I’ve been shooting Neil’s targets since the mid 1990′s.  He’s not afraid to throw a lot of faster on edge quartering targets and this year there was none of that.  They were all visible and he threw a great mix of hittable yet demanding presentations.  Mike McAlpine’s Red Course was another standout in my opinion.

ISC:  Tell us about your hardest miss or station.

ZK:  My hardest station would have to have been what I think was Station 4 on Red late Sunday Afternoon.  It was a True Pair off a tower from Left to Right and only one of two stands where I missed more than one target all week.  I wasn’t confident in my plan stepping into the box and missed three. It was a tricky pair with both targets being very different in both speed and line and my eyes and hands went after the wrong bird initially on the very first pair.  This frustrated me as I hadn’t let that happen all week.  Brad Kidd joked later that night at dinner that if he had led that stand off for our squad, we might be back there now shooting off with Bill.  Haha.

ISC:  What about the difficulty of the targets?  There were a few straights, fantastic shooting obviously but was it too soft?

ZK:  As I stated earlier I thought the Main Event was perfect.  The straight in the K-Kup was great shooting.  That course had more than a few targets that were easily missed.  What some people don’t understand is the level of competition in the U.S. is becoming drastically better.  You put all of the countries best, shooting 100 target events over an entire week and some of the scores turned in are going to be quite memorable. 

Weather can also be a factor.  You have to get a little bit lucky in the side events at Nationals and get a start time where the temperature, wind and sun play into your favor.  The only course I thought that needed to test you just a bit more would be the 28 Gauge/.410 Course.  The 5-Stand and FITASC layouts could have been a bit stiffer as well but what are you going to really do on flat Skeet fields?  The 20 Gauge course was another standout as having some great targets that really tested you.

ISC:  As a rule should Championship targets be set really stiff?

ZK:  I don’t necessarily think that Championship targets should be set overly stiff.  Different people consider different targets stiff.  The best setters can beat you close and beat you far.  I just feel targets need to be fair to everyone.  Visible yet challenging.  We saw some great courses on the circuit in 2011 with my favorites being the US Open, Nationals Main, and Triple Classic.

ISC:  Sounds like there were some big delays on the FITASC parcours.  What’s your take on that?

ZK:  There were some big delays on FITASC this year with it going to New Style for the first time.  What’s funny is that my squad shot it in about two hours on Saturday morning at 8:00 AM.  That was an exception and not the rule though as some flights I heard took over four hours to complete.  This I think can be attributed to people’s first time shooting the different type of layout and some people not knowing exactly where some Parcours started and ended.

ISC:  How important is a Nationals win to you?

ZK:  A National Main Event win is important to me and I firmly believe I’ll get one.  I also feel just as importantly in staying consistent and being a contender to win major events on an annual basis is just as important when judging a career.  I feel the three and four day tournaments like the U.S. Open and Nationals are my strength because of my type of game.  I just try to shoot solid scores on every round and know if I do my part I’ll be right there in the end.

ISC:  You had toyed with using a high-rib gun and went back to the low rib.  Are you going to stick with that next year?

ZK:  My High Rib experiment is definitely over.  What people need to start to think about when trying out these type of ribs is what type of method or style they predominantly shoot.  If you look around at the shooters that are truly excelling with that type of setup, they are all shooters that really let the target come to the gun and make a very minimal move to a break point.  What’s the whole point of a high rib?  To see less muzzle and effectively see the target better.  There is no question that it helps in that regard.

For me this was all true but on the flip side of that I could now see the target well but would lose track of the muzzle in my peripheral vision and miss targets having no clue as to where I was missing.  The style I shoot is to start near the bird in a predetermined spot, match speed, and move away into the lead.  All while keeping a sharp focus on the target.  The flat rib is immensely more visible peripherally therefore allowing my subconscious to never doubt where my muzzle is in relation to the target, effectively allowing me to look that much harder at the bird.  George Digweed and Richard Faulds shoot 32" flat rib Sporters.  Until somebody starts to beat them regularly using a high rib gun, we all need to use what the best are using.

ISC:  What’s your take on the overall state of the sport?

ZK:  My overall take on the sport is one of excitement.  That’s why I’m running for a spot on the NSCA Advisory Council.  We have a chance to hopefully tweak the game a bit in the next decade or so and make the sport more exciting and hopefully draw more people in.  It’s what I’ve done virtually my whole life and what I wholeheartedly plan on doing my next 30 years.  Let’s show the rest of America whats been such a well kept secret for so long. Sporting is the highest echelon of all shooting sports.

ISC:  What’s next for you?

ZK:  Next for me is the Southwest Championship in Tucson, AZ the first weekend in December.  That shoot should solidify my spot as Captain of the Open All American Team for 2012.  I try to never miss one of Tim Miles larger events if I can help it.  He’s a quality target setter with a lot of imagination and never disappoints.  After that I have a nice vacation to Mexico planned with my girlfriend and her family.  Christmas follows that and I’m booked teaching again the week of New Years at a good client’s private range near Santa Barbara, CA.  Life is good.

2011 NSCA National Championship Scores

Our "In The Hoop" articles are interviews with major FITASC personalities.  This time we bring you David Brian Radulovich or DBR as I like to call him.  Though he has had major accomplishments in FITASC, make no mistake, this kid is an all around sporting shot.  In 2009 he made headlines as the youngest ever competitor to win the NSCA U.S. Open at Elk Creek Hunt Club in Owenton, Kentucky.

International Sporting Clays:  For those that don’t know you, tell us about yourself and some of your accomplishments as a shooter.

David Brian Radulovich:  My name is David Radulovich; I am 18 years old and currently attending John Carroll University in Ohio majoring in Economics, Finance, and Management with a minor in Entrepreneurship. When I’m not shooting or studying I love to play golf. I have been golfing for about 6 years now and I use it as a way to test out some of my new mental game strategies (which gives me a good excuse to get my parents to pay for a good round of golf at a challenging golf course, which is generally the more expensive ones). Other than that I am about the biggest Pittsburgh Steelers and Penguins fan around. Shooting and school take up most of my time though so I’m not able to do much else. I really enjoy a business environment, as you can obviously tell by my majors and minors. When I am stuck inside at college with nothing to do I will generally take out my acoustic guitar and start playing and trying to learn new things. My shooting coach is Wendell Cherry and for those of you who don’t know, he was once a great guitarist in Nashville. So my next goal is to become as good as him at playing guitar, and from watching him play – it is never going to happen.

As far as my shooting accomplishments go, I have won every major shoot multiple times in my concurrent. I am the youngest person to ever win a major FITASC title at age 11 at the Gamaliel Cup and also the youngest to shoot a perfect 100 score at a registered tournament at age 14. I was also the youngest person to be named onto Team USA at age 14. In 2009, I won the US Open in Kentucky and have been back to back Ohio State Champion, not just In-State, for the past 4 years. As far as FITASC goes, I have won the Grand Prix, RU at the North American, and HOA for the North American Cup for this year.

ISC:  How is your year panning out so far?

DBR:  So far this has been the absolute best shooting year of my life. I somewhat stumbled onto a breakthrough in my mental game and physical technique at the beginning of the year that has really improved my game. I have won a bunch of HOA’s and RU’s this year at various tournaments and am currently leading both the Team USA FITASC and Sporting Open teams. Although due to an unfortunate death in the family, I wasn’t able to attend the most recent qualification shoots for both teams so that position may slip, until Nationals at the end of this month when I make those points back.

ISC:  Tell us about your win at the North American FITASC Grand Prix?

DBR:  The Grand Prix went beautifully. I was so happy I had won it, although I will admit that while I was shooting I had absolutely no idea that my score was going to be tied for HOA. In fact, all three of us (Wendell Cherry, Anthony Matarese, and I) thought that somebody was going to beat us. I felt like I was shooting absolutely horrible throughout the event, and when you think about it a 179/200 is pretty poor. But actually all of the FITASC shoots have been around that score. The North-American was at 181/200 and the latest National FITASC Championship was 183/200. So I guess it was about right.

Anyway, it never really hit me how important of a shoot the Grand Prix was until I was actually in the shoot-off with Wendell and Anthony. This was really my first year that I started shooting the FITASC World Cup events, so I didn’t really know much about the whole thing. But during the shoot-off I just ran my normal routine and eventually got out of there with a 23/25 for the parcour, and that got me the win. It may seem weird but a lot of the pressure was off during that shoot-off just because I felt so comfortable with both Wendell and Anthony. We are all really good friends, which made it all the better being able to shoot off against the people I respect most in the sport.

ISC:  How was the North American Championship at Caribou and how were the targets?

DBR:  The targets at Caribou were so much fun! That was the first time I had ever been there, it’s crazy because as I was pulling up into the club I kept thinking, “This is it? This is where they are having the 2012 US Open? There isn’t even a hill within 5 miles! This is horrible terrain!” Man was I wrong! I don’t know how, but they really are a hidden gem! The terrain on that course is literally as hilly and extreme as Elk Creek in Kentucky. It was awesome! Not to mention the beautiful club house and awesome people. The targets were honestly world class. They hugged the terrain perfectly and made for some excellent challenging birds. They had this parcour there that was literally set up so that five feet in front of you was a drop-off cliff about forty feet high. It was the best parcour I’ve ever shot.

ISC:  How was your experience at the World FITASC?

DBR:  I would definitely have to say that it was not at all as I expected. I heard stories about how horrible the people are in France and how the French referees cheat Americans out of targets and all this other horrible stuff that really made me not want to go. When we got to France, the people everywhere were so pleasant, the food was AWESOME and the referees could not have been better, at least that was my experience. I did hear some stuff about a certain incident involving a tree that I really was appalled with. I had a wonderful squad of guys from all over the place; England, Ukraine, France, and Belgium. By the end of the tournament, we were all really good friends. One of the coolest things about the whole shoot was how important it is to them. That was my very first World FITASC Championship, and compared to the World Sporting Championship it literally blows it out of the water. I felt like I was in a miniature Olympic Games. It was such an honor to represent my country in a sport that is actually shot all around the world, unlike Sporting Clays. Just that shoot alone really switched my interest from Sporting Clays to FITASC. I would recommend that everybody sign up for the 2012 World Championship at Northbrook. And even if you can’t shoot it, just come to watch. It will be worth it.

As far as my performance goes, I was actually really disappointed in the FITASC organization. I shot really well at the World Championship. Well enough to win my concurrent and place in the top five overall, beating both Digweed and Faulds. It was great to be able to finally whoop those guys. The thing that really bothered me though is the whole situation with the World Cup. Many people don’t actually know, but the World Cup is about the most prestigious thing you can win in FITASC. It is a combination of points from one Grand Prix Championship, one Continental Championship, and the World Championship. Being from the United States, it is extremely hard to win a World Cup medal because we can really only go to one Grand Prix and Continental. All the European shooters have a huge advantage from that because they have Grand Prix and Continental shoots what seems like every month. I shot well enough to win the North American Cup, which is a combination of the Grand Prix and North American Championship. However, after the World Championship, I should have won RU in the World Cup but unfortunately if you are a Junior you are not eligible to win it. I really do hope that they change that rule! I did however win the World Cup for the Junior concurrent.

ISC:  Seems like senior Team USA (and to some extent the juniors) had some difficulty at the World FITASC, what’s your take on that?

DBR:  I can’t really speak for anybody’s performance other than mine. I did speak with all of the members of the Senior team and can say with confidence that they all put their best effort into the match, unfortunately you just can’t shoot your best all the time. Everybody has bad days, it is what each person decides to do with those bad days that makes them a champion or just an average Joe. I really do respect each and every shooter that was on our team, I just can’t wait until we sweep the whole thing next year. The one thing that you have to realize though is that the World Championship really was just a pure American race. If you look at the top of the list, other than the first two guys who are French, there was a huge cluster of American shooters. And I will put money on the fact that you will not see those top two guys on the top of the list in 2012. America is going to become a powerhouse.

ISC:  You set targets at an event in Ohio this year.  How did that work out for you?

DBR:  Yes, I ran a shoot at South Cuyahoga Sportsman’s Association called the Iron Clay 150. It was great, and is going to be even better in 2012! The shoot ran perfectly! I started setting targets for it about two weeks before the actual thing; I wasn’t able to do anything during the day though because of school. I could not have done it without the help of my friends Tommy Hugney, Kevin Coombes, and Ed Coyne who all came after I was done with school to help me move stuff around and give valuable input for targets. I would also like to thank Chuck Frazier, my all-time favorite target setter, for taking a day out of his work schedule after the East Coast and Grand Prix to give me some advice and show me some tricks out on his course. My plan was to set a course the way Chuck does, I’ve always enjoyed shooting targets that are close but somehow make you miss. I really feel like I accomplished that. I have fallen in love with setting targets and all of the work involved with it. I had an absolute blast setting it all up.

I felt so blessed to have such a great opportunity to be able to design my own course and bring some of my favorite international style targets to my home club to give the guys that don’t get to travel as much as I do a chance to shoot targets that they throw in tournaments internationally. I guess you could say that I have adapted a very technical style of setting targets. I have never and will never throw a target that causes a miss because of fast speed or long distance. I also have never and will never throw a straight line target. Every single target that I threw had a curl to it. I’ve always thought that it takes absolutely no skill to set a course where you pull the traps out and crank the springs up to get people to miss. The art in target setting is being able to beat the shooter at his or her own game.

I got so many wonderful comments about targets for the shoot. I will admit though, until you throw your own tournament, you will never realize how much heart and soul goes into doing it. I have a whole extra level of respect for gun club owners now. And as far as the 2012 Iron Clay goes, it is going to be a can’t miss. Two day event, the main event will be a one day 150 target course, prelim on Saturday with a FITASC event as well. I am going to try to emulate some World Championship FITASC targets. The payout is going to be pretty nice too, you can never argue with that! I would love to see some more out of state shooters!

ISC:  Have you been practicing for the Nationals?  Do you have a regimen before a major competition like that?

DBR:  Because of school and everything else I haven’t really gotten a lot of good practice in yet. I have been pretty busy coaching and when I do that, I think it is important not to take my gun because I want to be fully focused on my client. I have however scheduled some alone time for the two weekends before the National Championship, giving me six days of solid practice before hand. That should be more than enough if I can do what I plan on doing. As far as a regiment goes, I have a whole pre-event routine that I do mentally to get prepared for tournaments, but being a student, it is always hard to get to physically practice very much.

ISC:  How do you handle school and your practice and competition time?

DBR:  Basically my whole shooting career I have been a high school student. I have never gotten to practice during the week days out on the range during the school year. My practice would be from tournament to tournament during the school year, during the summer is a different story though. Generally during the whole summer I am home a handful of days at most, which is why I have always shot my best during the summer. Other than that I always have to schedule all my tournaments around school. I very rarely get to shoot preliminary events, it’s usually just show up, shoot the main event, and leave before the awards ceremony. The hardest part for me is keeping up with All-American points; I gave up on those a long time ago. Being where I am from and also trying to juggle school and practice and golf, it’s literally impossible to make the first team.

ISC:  You’ve started coaching now.  What can people expect when they take a lesson from you?

DBR:  Yes, I have actually been coaching for about five years now; I have only been coaching adults for the past three years though. It is only just recently that I have decided to start taking it to a much bigger level. I have found that I am really starting to develop an awesome coaching technique and I have fallen in even more love with it, and all the people I meet through it. Now that I am in college, I decided to take it up as an actual job rather than a hobby, and I can say that I am already more than happy with the success I have had with it. It has been amazing to see the amount of help I have received and suggestions that I have gotten on how to improve my business from my friends and shooting buddies, it has been great!

I have even been using my business as a project in my entrepreneurship class in college, my professor has been feeding me awesome ideas that I am planning on implementing in the near future once I get a larger concrete client base. My goal is to change the way people look at coaching. I really do believe that there are so many more resources out there that other coaches don’t even think about using. I have also started doing mental game coaching as well, which is a huge success! It is really convenient for the client because they don’t even have to leave their house. I’ve coached two guys on it so far, both were done over the phone after work. It’s a continuous process of phone calls for each person, slowly fine tuning and developing new mental processes but it has been working extremely well. It is also much cheaper than those mental game clinics that people put on.

As far as what people can expect, it is pretty simple. I will promise you that I am not, and I repeat; not, going to be an instructor, I am a coach. I want to develop a relationship with my clients so that I can use that to better improve their shooting. I want them to call me after their tournament and tell me how it went, or let me know how their practice was. I feel like that’s the best way to coach somebody; truly know them. I have no problem with my students calling me at night with a question that they just couldn’t figure out during practice. I want to help them. I guess you could say that I’m the kind of coach who wants his students to beat him. I’m not going to let anybody beat me, but if it happens, I would love it! I will also never waste anybody’s time by telling them if they are in front or behind the target. That is useless information. It’s essentially like giving the answers to a multiple choice test to a college student, of course he will ace the test but is he going to know anything? No. I stress the importance of process before product. I will teach you the technique that you will need to break each target, that way when I am not there you can take that information and apply it in different degrees in order to break the target. I am not going to lie; one lesson is not going to get you to have perfect form. I have been getting lessons from my coach Wendell Cherry for 8 years and I am still learning new things. There is no “quick fix” that everybody seems to be looking for in order to be the best, it takes practice and the correct techniques. I will guarantee, and I truly mean it, that if you take a lesson with me and you actually go home and work on what I tell you to work on, your scores will go up. But it takes work, like anything else.

ISC:  Where do you give lessons and do you plan to travel around and do clinics?

DBR:  I don’t have a home club for giving lessons, that is I am not contracted out with any club in my area. I don’t want to be. The closest gun club to me that is open during the week is Hill’n Dale Club in Medina, Ohio. However, I have no problem traveling to any other club within a couple hours of where I am located. I don’t mind driving, if anything it will improve my business by expanding my client area. So if you are interested in lessons, I encourage you to give me a call just to see what we can work out.

As far as clinics go, I am in the process of putting together a few at some nice resorts around my area. I have already been contacted by the management there, but in interest of not wanting to put anything out before they start advertising, I don’t want to name any place in particular. But it will be out soon! I am also looking at putting together a few various weekend clinics at clubs. Within the next few months I am going to start scheduling some clinics down in Texas during some of my breaks off of school. Hopefully they will work out, I surely am pretty excited!

ISC:  How can people contact you?

DBR:  If you are interested in talking to me about lessons, the fastest and easiest way to get in contact with me is my cell phone. Either a call or text message is fine. My cell phone number is (440) 829-7598. My email is another great way to catch me, that is radulovichf3@gmail.com. Lastly, which is probably the most important, my website is www.radulovichcoaching.com. That has all the up to date information as far as where I will be and when I am coaching, shooting, or practicing. All of my contact information as well as testimonials and online forums can be found there. I look forward to talking to you!

Photos courtesy of Lynne Green @ GreenGirlPhotos.com

Well that title is actually a bit grand for this article, I just wanted to give some of my thoughts on the subject.  The Normalized Performance Average system is a classification system being looked at by the NSCA as a possible replacement for the punch system.  The NPA is an averages system that attempts to account for the varying degree of difficulty of targets that are registered by NSCA shooters at different clubs in different parts of the country.  This is done by "normalizing" your averages against the HOA score of a particular competition.  The theory being that the lower the HOA score the more difficult the targets were.

Personally I think an averages system is the best system for sporting clay classifications.  I was a member of the NSCA way back when they used a raw averages system.  I served my time in "N" class before being classified into C (where I stayed for an eon but that’s a different story).  Back then I remember the punch system was sold to me as an anti sandbagging measure.  I’m not saying the NSCA ever said that, but that is what a lot of my fellow shooters believed.  I never thought sand bagging or cheating was a real problem and I still don’t.  Sure, it happens but it’s just not a major widespread problem that we need to worry ourselves silly about.  We just need to address it if it comes up.

What the naysayers of the NPA or any averages system fail to comprehend is the inherent chaos of the sport.  Most NSCA shooters are wildly inconsistent, it’s a fact.  I suspect this is where most of the perceived sand bagging comes from.  It’s quite normal for shooters to have 10 or more bird swings in their scores from time to time.  Keep track of it, it happens…all the time.   Sometimes you have a really good day no matter the target difficulty and other times you shoot poorly, no matter the target difficulty.  All of the negative scenarios being written about on internet bulletin boards assume that there will be consistent performance by party X and also by party Y which just isn’t true.

If you don’t think averages work, I suggest you investigate what classification system almost every clay target shooting organization in the world uses, it’s averages and it works.  The proof is already there.    I’m of the opinion that we don’t even need to account for varying target difficulties as the NPA does because the math will work out in the end.  I am not against accounting for varying target difficulties if we can but no matter what negative scenarios someone can sit around and dream up the averages will work out. 

No doubt that the punch system encourages people to shoot more but does it encourage people to shoot more than an averages system?  I don’t think so.  The only way to improve your average is to shoot more and shoot well.  What if you shoot bad a for few weeks and drive your average down?  So what?  You’ll get over it I’m sure and if you keep going back wards you’ll drop into a competitive class where you can win, not just be stuck at the ass end all the time.  I really fail to see any problems here.  We as shooters are supposed to be making honest improvements in our abilities.  In a way the punch system allows you to cheat yourself and move up when you maybe haven’t really improved in ability all that much.

The punch system in some cases has even been a detriment to our sport.  There are, week in and week out, club competitions where a shooter can go and spend $65-$75 and get NOTHING in return besides the shooting.  I mean nothing except a punch if you win your class.  You will not get any money back to class, you will not get a trophy or a prize you will not even get a lunch!  You will get zip my friend and why?  My questioning of these club owners has revealed in some cases that they believe all anybody really wants is a punch.   Heck they might even be right judging by the number of people that still show up but I’m not going back to a shoot like that and suspect quite a few others haven’t either.

I don’t have the time to address every issue raised on the internet bulletin boards but I encourage you to judge those examples with caution and try to look at things from a larger less negative perspective.  So as far as the NPA is concerned, I’m all for looking at it just as we are, to see if it works as far as compensating for course differences.  Lets see what happens at years end.  As far as the punch system, I’m definitely for replacing it with an averages system.

Starting in 2012 the National Sporting Clays Association will no longer have seven Zones and a championship for each throughout the U.S.  Instead there will be 5 "Regions" made up by slightly altering the old Zones.  I’ll lift a segment from a recent NSCA blog post to explain it… 

In general, NSCA Zones have been mapped into Regions with one major exception: Zones 1, 2, and 3 were combined into the Northeast Region, with the three westernmost states (Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan) being moved into the North Central Region to balance the regional populations more closely. Zone 4 becomes the Southeast Region, Zone 5 plus IN, KY, and MI becomes the North Central Region, Zone 6 plus NM becomes the South Central Region, and Zone 7 minus NM becomes the Western Region. (The transfer of New Mexico was in response to requests by members from that state who have had to travel the 1700-mile diagonal of Zone 7 to attend their Zone Championships.)

So there you have the new Regions.  Why they couldn’t still be called Zones, I don’t know.  Each of the five new Regions will hold a championship just like the old Zones did with one big exception, the Regional Champion no longer has to be from that region.  I’m not sure that matters much but there will be less opportunity for some folks to be crowned a champion in their own territory. 

The idea behind all of this was to try and improve attendance at the Zone shoots.  The result is that the all of the old Zone shoots (in the form of 5 new Regions) have now become the NSCA Championship Tour with a points system to track the participants.  The five Regions plus the U.S. Open and National Championship shoots will make up the tour and have been scheduled in such a way as to not conflict with each other.  The icing on the cake is that the Regional Championships will be given Team USA Selection Shoot status.  The tour for 2012 looks like this,

• 3/30 – 4/1      South Central Regional @ Rio Brazos Hunting Preserve, Texas
• 4/19 – 4/22    Western Regional @ Camanche Hills Sporting Clays, California
• 5/17 – 5/20    Northeast Regional @ M&M Hunting Preserve & Sporting Clays, New Jersey
• 6/28 – 7/1      Southeast Regional @ Nashville Gun Club, Tennessee
• 7/16 – 7/22    US Open @ Caribou Gun Club, Minnesota
• 9/13 – 9/16    North Central Regional @ J&H Game Farm, Wisconsin
• 10/30 – 11/4  National Championship @ National Shooting Complex, Texas

The National FITASC is also set to be held in conjunction with one of the five Regional Championships.  These events will also be a part of the Pro Challenge that culminates at the NSCA Nationals.

It remains to be seen how much this might upset the NSCA calendar that is already overcrowded with great shoots and what if any effect the reassigning of selection shoot status will have on some established events.  It’s not hard to see that there will be a good amount of interest in these shoots next year and I think it’s a good move on the part of the NSCA.  If you haven’t been taking time to attend some of these larger shoots, you really should.  Despite what you might hear, there is more opportunity now than ever to shoot first rate sporting clays in the U.S. and it just keeps getting better.

Yeah, I might take heat for that statement but I’ll stand behind it.  Sure we have done exceptionally well in the team events and I don’t want to take anything away from that.  We’ve sent many a great team to the World FITASC events but sometimes, if you look harder you might start to question if it was the strongest team possible.  We’ve always sent highly experienced, fantastic shots to shoot for us.  Their resumes were excellent but you had to question was that shooter the best shooter right now?  Was that shooter the ‘hot’ shooter?  The shooter who was really on his or her game?

Check out the recent resumes of the current Team USA who are heading to France this week and I think you will agree this is a very strong team.  I’ll just single out a few here starting with David Radulovich.  The kid is on fire.  Not much else to say really but he recently took possession of the North American Cup and is probably the youngest shooter to do so.  Gebben Miles, recent U.S. National Champ and bested George Digweed in the FITASC final at the Triple Classic.  Brad Kidd, current National Champ and RU at the World English Sporting Championship who was leading Digweed into the last super final stand.

Stay tuned to this blog and the NSCA Team USA Facebook page for updates on how the team is doing.

2011 Team USA:

Senior:

• Will Fennell – Captain
• Gebben Miles
• Byron Justice
• Brad Kidd
• Brody Sikes – Alternate

Ladies:

• Sandra Cogdill – Captain
• Paula Moore
• Jenni Clark
• Michelle Wampler – Alternate

Veteran:

• Paul Oppegard – Captain
• Randy Travalia
• Larry Corbett
• Bill Awve – Alternate

Super Veteran:

• Gonzalo Vargas – Captain
• Michael Taylor
• John Hackethorn
• Joe McHenry – Alternate

Junior:

• Abel Spire – Captain
• David Radulovich
• Michael Everson
• Ross Neskora – Alternate

A record 200,000 registered lifetime targets was set by National Sporting Clays Association Hall of Famer Bob Lepor (shown above with his daughter Elizabeth) recently while shooting at the Homestead Cup.  He began shooting registered targets in March of 1994 and shot 1,000 targets that first year.  Since then he has been a consistent high volume shooter topping the 20,000 target mark three times.  One particular year he shot 31,650! 

Lepor made NSCA Master class on September 30, 2001.  He has shot in 14 consecutive NSCA National Championships beginning in 1997.  His dedication to the sport has extended to his serving on the Advisory Council and as chairman of the Executive Committee.  Certainly a remarkable feet and goes to show that the sport is actually still fairly young.

OK, I don’t like the concept of a resolution because as soon as you break it you feel like it’s done.  It shouldn’t be that way, you fall down, get back up again and carry on with it. I am however going to list some resolutions or goals or things for us to just keep in mind next year. No particular order.

• Introduce as many new shooters to the sport as possible.
• Volunteer with or help out a youth shooting group or SCTP team.
• Network and plan on practice, instruction or events with more local shooters.
• Be nice to sporting clays.  Don’t be a negative Nancy because everything wasn’t "perfect."
• Give club owners CONSTRUCTIVE feedback and if you feel you must lodge a complaint, do it with the club/event director in private.
• Correct any unsafe gun handling you see in a friendly manner.
• Point out rule violations in a friendly manner.  Don’t let it slide because it might get "awkward."
• Make a point to find out who your Zone and State reps are and talk to them at least once.
• Focus on the fun in shooting and the self improvement.
• Shoot more, shoot often!

Here’s to you dear shooter!  Have a safe, prosperous 2011 and may it be filled with more busted targets than ever!

This past summer I decided to try some different shotgun cleaning solvents to make sure I wasn’t missing out on anything.  It wasn’t an easy task by any means.  I had to clean guns repeatedly to get the most benefit from the cleaners.  So here some four months and many shot shells later are the best of the products I tested and a short review of each.

First let me explain what my test procedure was.  It wasn’t scientific, nothing I do is, I’m not a scientist.  I did however shoot and clean my gun and some others and judged the products on how well they cleaned a dirty gun the first time then how well they kept the gun clean.  Most of these products clean better once you have cleaned your gun a number of times and thus gotten the chemical bonded tightly with the metal.  For more information on how to clean a shotgun and what tools to use take a look at the Gun Cleaning Tips page.

G96 Gun Treatment

I tested the G96 Gun Treatment and Synthetic Gun Oil.  G96 is the product here I’m most familiar with.  I’ve used it several times in the past.  The G96 Gun Treatment is a CLP (Clean, Lube, Protect)  very similar to BreakFree, but head to head I would pick the G96.  I feel it cleans and lubes just as well as the Breakfree but it’s a lighter product.  I’ve had problems with BreakFree going waxy on me, never seen this with the G96. 

G96 also has a rather pleasant smell that I would say is kind of like bubblegum.  I know this is very important to those who have to clean their guns indoors (Please use adequate ventilation) as I usually do.  If you’re like me you have neighbors who live up close and personal and you don’t necessarily want them seeing the firearms you have while cleaning them outside.

Overall I would rate the G96 Gun Treatment as an excellent shotgun cleaner.  It works well on flat surfaces, moving slide parts and threads such as choke tube threads.  In areas of very heavy powder fouling it worked well on initial cleaning and even better with successive cleanings.  Areas that once required a scraper to get the residue off now require just a nylon brush.

The Synthetic Gun Oil also worked well in the few areas that I used it.  I’m no longer a fan of using oils that could run around in the action of my shotgun.  I’m not saying this product does but I would rather just avoid the problem altogether by using the CLP type products and wiping them dry to the touch.  Any areas that need more than that I would use a grease.

Ballistol Sportman’s Oil

Ballistol is probably the original CLP, it was invented around WWII.  It does an excellent job cleaning shotguns and it’s particularly good with rust.  You got a little rust in your choke tube threads?  Spray it down with Ballistol and get after it with a good wire brush and they’ll be clean as new.  Except for the rust, I didn’t notice a huge difference in cleaning power over the G96.  I would say they were about equal really. 

The Ballistol however, does not have a pleasant odor, at least to me.  I would describe it as a dirty sock smell.  I know, sounds bad but it isn’t bad enough not to use it.  Considering the myriad of other uses it has, you can clean electrical contacts or recondition your leather boots for instance, it’s worth getting some.  Of all the cleaners in this group Ballistol is one of the most friendly to the environment.  It has no carcinogens and is bio-degradable.  One great property it has is, it will mix with water.  You can use it to drive water out of your gun if you’ve been in the rain.  It’s also great for cleaning wood gun stocks.

EEZOX

EEZOX is a synthetic gun care product and falls into the CLP category of cleaners.  I found it to be another excellent cleaner.  Of all the cleaners in the group it was best at preventing the buildup of fouling in the first place.  After just a few uses most crud would just wipe right off of the parts.  Anything stubborn I could just spray down and it would soften it right up.

I felt the big drawback to EEZOX was that it was the most "chemical" of the bunch.  It has a harsh smell and I wouldn’t want to use it inside even with good ventilation.  Another problem was the spray can I had would spray a wide area with very fine particles, the stuff would just go everywhere.  I recommend getting one of the non-aerosol versions.  Follow the directions carefully, as a little goes a long way with EEZOX.

That being said EEZOX is still very good at what it does and on paper it’s supposed to outperform any product here in the lube and protect department.  I just kept getting the feeling it would be put to better use on an AR type firearm than a fine shotgun.

SLiP2000

SLiP2000 has a myriad of products of interest to shotgunners.  Most obvious is the Gas Piston Parts and Choke Tube Cleaner.  It’s an environmentally safe product that works good on anything that can get really fouled up with powder or plastic residue.  Gas pistons, choke tubes, fore end caps and bores are all good candidates.  Just submerge your parts in the jar and let them soak or run a soaked mop down your bores, then wipe the product off or blow it out with air.  This stuff will strip the metal clean of all fouling and oils.  Be sure to apply some oil to anything that was cleaned with it!

The SLiP2000 Gun Lube  and 725 Gun Cleaner/ Degreaser is a useful combo.  Just go at your parts with the 725 to get them really clean then apply a very light coat of the Gun Lube to finish up.  From then on you should be good to go just cleaning the gun with the Gun Lube only breaking out the 725 for the tough stuff.  They also offer the EWL (Extreme Weapons Lube) which is intended more for machine guns or rifles than shotguns.  You might try it though if you have a high wear area that you would rather oil than grease.

All of SLiP2000′s products are made with the environment in mind and all are non-hazardous.  All of them have a pleasant to almost no odor at all.

Roundup

Any of the gun cleaners, oils and solvents listed here would be a great choice for the sporting clay shooter.  They would all make for easy maintenance of your favorite shotguns.  Which is the best you ask?  I don’t know how to gauge that scientifically but personally I use the G96 most often, I also use the Ballistol quite a bit.  I use the SLiP2000 Gas Piston Parts and Choke Tube Cleaner (or the very similar Brownell’s EZ Soak) all of the time too.  The reason is, I find these products to do a great job with little to no fuss and they are pleasant to use.

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Here is a press release from Digweed’s media officials.  He makes some Interesting, possibly inflammatory comments on the state of sporting clays in Europe. 

DIGWEED IMPRESSED BY LATVIAN SHOOTING SET UP
- George praises innovation and professionalism -

George Digweed believes the shooting facilities in Latvia are among the best in the world and that Britain is lagging behind Eastern Europe in the development of the sport.

The Sussex-based shooter was at the country’s Viesaki shooting range last weekend for the latest stage in the World Cup: the Latvian Grand Prix.

He took gold with a total score of 184, edging out his nearest competitor by six clays, and came away full of praise for Viesaki’s innovation and professional organisation.

Speaking on www.georgedigweed.com, he explained: "The ground is privately-owned, but it’s leased to the Latvian Federation, and I would say that it’s probably one of the best-equipped, if not the best-equipped, facilities anywhere in the world.

"They’ve got eight separate FITASC layouts and eight separate COMPAK layouts, all with a large selection of traps on each stand. The whole thing is very professional and they think of new innovations.

"One of the innovations is a tower they’ve built, which has three or four flights of stairs, ten yards apart. You’re probably forty or fifty yards up in the air, you walk up to the top of the tower and shoot down on the targets.

"So that’s very innovative with regards to how you see target presentations. It’s a very efficient, very well-run shoot."

George has previously praised advancements in the sport in Russia, and he has called upon Western Europe to keep the pace with their Eastern neighbours.

"I think that the majority of Westernised Europe has sat on its heels for a long period," he continued. "Eastern bloc countries are now getting heavily involved in the shooting disciplines, and they are pushing forward and aspiring to do bigger and better things and that definitely shows.

"I think that Westernised Europe is being left behind a little bit, and the emerging countries are pushing forward. Countries like England, France and Belgium are remaining fairly staid and their shooting or their shooters are probably not going to improve the way they do things.”

George also believes there’s a lack of winning mentality, along with a bad attitude to success, which plagues Britain when it comes to sport.

In the wake of England’s disappointing exit from the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, George added: "There’s been a big drive over the last 10-15 years to make everybody equal and take the competition side out of all school sports.

"There’s no winners – it’s the taking part that counts. Well for me, that’s rubbish. At the end of the day, you’ve got to have winners in everything.

"Also, if you go to America and you’re a winner, you’re a local, regional and national hero. Over here, as soon as you get to the winning scenario, everyone’s there to take a pot-shot at you."

George is next in action in the World English Sporting Championships at Lakenheath in Suffolk.

Visit George Digweed’s official website www.georgedigweed.com for news updates.

- Ends -

Interesting right?  George has previously said that he believes Eastern Europe has a vast untapped potential for sporting clays growth.  That is certainly true, discretionary income is increasing as investment flows in to those regions creating jobs that pay well.

What say you?  Do you agree or disagree with Digweed’s statements? Post a comment and discuss below!