How to lead a moving target with a shotgun

[@thomasdestry5188]

Ms. Holly I absolutely loved your instructional video and your commentary. I look forward to watching this again and again.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thank you!

[@neilreid2298]

Great job Holly! Thank you! For lead work, I learn more from Shot-Kam vids than in-person instruction.

[@stevewoodward7850]

An absolutely brilliant explanation and display of how to lead a clay before shooting it. Its really all about angles and speed.....now I understand, thank you Holly. BTW the Shotkam is a brilliant tool..I must get one.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thank you!

[@lighter7000]

Been shooting shotguns for years but never took a class and kinda just guessed lead. It's nice to see a video on it. 7 year old video and it is still being viewed. Thanks!

[@Worzel_Gummidge_71]

What a brilliant instructional video, so well presented, the description of what was happening and what you have to look for is spot on. I think I am not putting enough lead on, can wait to try some of the tips I have learned. Big thank you 🙏

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thank you!

[@johncherry2205]

Thanks Holly, best video on lead I've seen on KZbin. All the best

[@ocavant]

I have watched a ton of “lead” videos and yours was by far the best example and helped my son understand what exactly lead was. I wish I of had something like these when I was a kid. My dad would only say “ya gotta lead em more son”. LOL. Thanks!

[@marksneedly7365]

I've shot clays for laughs for 30 years and was always terrible at it. YT videos like this have improved my game in just the last few months. Can't lead if you're aiming.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

That's so great to hear!

[@redfaux74]

That was very helpful. Your drawing helped me imagine details I couldn't put words into questions for.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

I love hearing that - thank you so much!

[@elcapij]

Absolute genius. I know now what I didn’t know then & that is priceless. Thank you.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thank you!

[@AntonioLopez-fr7xr]

Wow, a picture is worth a million words. 👏 Now, I know why I keep hitting behind the target.

[@paraplegichistoricalsports5700]

Best Shotcam video I have saw yet, thank you mam!

[@78tag]

I'm a little late to this video but I only started shooting a couple years ago so I guess it doesn't matter. The red dot showing your hold and the lead is among the best I have seen. I am obviously not leading as much as I should be on the longer shots. Very helpful, thank you.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thank you! That's what people always say when I show them this video: "Ohhhh, THAT'S why I'm missing!" It's so counterintuitive to lead that much.

[@78tag]

@@HollyGoThatWay - My mind has been resisting this even after a few leads that smoked the target when I thought I had way too much lead. I'm sure more practice would have corrected this sooner but, as you know, getting enough practice these days isn't really feasible. (good excuse eh?)

[@HollyGoThatWay]

@78tag Shooting is like a trust fall - you have to let go of control. That takes getting used to! And I hear ya on practice - with shooting ranges closing down, it gets less and less convenient all the time. The place where I shot this video is closed - forced out of business for no good reason.

[@sethrich5998]

Best advice I’ve ever heard is if you’re gonna miss, miss in front. I’d say 90%+ of misses are too far behind, a lot of those “miss in front” shots end up breaking clays or hitting birds.

[@seatroutyt]

Thanks the clearest video I have seen in months great stuff keep it up x

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thanks, Nick!

[@karstic]

Great video! Found this through your "To the Bone" Substack article.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thank you!

[@RetrieverTrainingAlone]

Excellent! 2 key concepts: 1)Mount the gun so pointing ahead of the target. Starting behind the target makes the target appear much faster, starting in front the the target makes it appear slower 2) Gun speed matches target speed, then break that target!

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Totally agreed! Gil Ash preaches this and he's right!

[@RetrieverTrainingAlone]

@@HollyGoThatWay The one exception is overhead incoming targets where butt-belly-beak-bang works best for me shooting that incoming overhead at about 45 degrees.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

@@RetrieverTrainingAlone Overheads are my demon. I marvel at people who say it's their favorite shot. Me, I'm all about the perfect crossing shot - that's my happy place (and also the demon for so many other shooters)

[@andriy_moskalyk]

Great visual explanation and a chart that I can print out. Thanks

[@trevor19qhshe]

Very informative. Shows you how much lead you actually need.

[@sarabelisle8003]

This video has helped me so much, because I am on the 4-H shotgun team and couldn't shot high house or low house.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Awesome! I wish I'd had a 4-H shotgun team!

[@orion7873]

I've seen like 20 videos on this subject and this was by far the most well presented. Excellent job !

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thank you!

[@rb7994]

Wow - thanks. Awesome video. I think I see now why I suck so bad at sporting clays. I will watch this video again before going on my next SC trip.

[@cracky_wainwright]

Very good video and work. Thanks. ~~ Hitting a flying target is a Zen, one-with-the-universe, hand & eye ability that some folks have but many of us don't no matter how much we practice or how many different shotguns we try. Still, videos like this one are fun and interesting to watch.

[@TheJohnnyCombat]

Holly. What a top class video! Thank you very much. Happy Christmas. John.

[@mrwest2474]

John Cummins merry Christmas

[@conjandysecurity]

Great video. You have a name perfect for disc golf.

[@ivyleague3224]

thanks I really like seeing the point of aim cam and how and where to lead a target. someone can explain it all day but seeing it for yourself will definitely help shave the learning curve.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thank you! I'm the same way. A colleague of mine who coaches a lot of new shooters says about 20% get lead instinctively, and the rest of us have to figure it out. I'm one of the rest of us, but I was lucky - my first instructor explained lead right off the bat, so I had a rough idea what to do - after that, it was just a matter of practice.

[@ivyleague3224]

i had to watch again, its like you just gave me the answers for the test. I'm rt handed and lt eye dominate and always had difficulty. i work in a gun shop and get invited to shoot clays but have kinda shy'd away from it. side to side at a distance was no problem but close or straight forward forget about it. the camera just gives a really nice 1st person view so i have a better idea. thanks so much

[@HollyGoThatWay]

ivy league OMG I'm cross dominant too. And I have terrible hand - eye coordination. Took a lot of work for me to become a competent shot!

[@ivyleague3224]

Do you see two barrels or two birds also? Yrs back i made my own sight out of an "S" hook, just bent it arnd so ends almost touch and clipped it on the rib mid barrel. It kinda forms a rectangular oval if that makes sense. It was about 1/2in hi and hung over the rib almost a 1/2 in

[@HollyGoThatWay]

ivy league No, because I shut my right eye before I shoot. i know they say you're not supposed to but it works for me. 😀

[@steveharutunian5440]

Nice job and your form seems pretty solid. Gun speed was smooth and consistent with maintained lead being the technique most beneficial for learning to shoot skeet. Well done

[@clarencemorrissey8035]

I use videos like this as a visual tune-up, mentally seeing the lead helps alot.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

I also like to watch this before I go shooting!

[@siennasiriusbell9013]

Thank you, I just started shooting and your video has helped me understand how to create a better lead.

[@farhansiddiqi6668]

That was an awesome demonstration of how to shoot skeet for beginners like me!

[@user-strelba]

Здорово !👍Буду готовиться к соревнованиям по вашему видео!😉

[@peteskeet69]

This just helped me to an a-ha moment, thank you!

[@RJ330i]

Very good video. Thank you.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thanks!

[@martintg94]

Finally i found this video. Thanks a lot

[@RC-Heli835]

Great vid! Thanks for sharing!

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thank you!

[@johnholcomn8560]

Excellent video. Saved. Makes me want to get out there again.

[@anthonycorriero4847]

PS, love your commentary. I remember the first time I got showered with clay! What a Rush!! & then the first hits with a 410, like no way that is like a teaspoon of shot! God I must be good and then went on to miss, miss..... Both play on a loop in my head to get me pumped.

[@strartur]

Started trying skeet this week after this video of yours. My coach is a sporting afficionado, hasn't vjsited skeet for years. It was a Lot of fun! I shoot station 1 Highhouse like "see target - shoot target", meaning without lead picture and barely gun movement. Station 8 was a huge problem. But after 75 rounds I finally sort of figured it out. Quick as possible mounting and same approach as above: acquire target and shoot it asap, with shot on target. The lead is the probably created by/ through the fast movement. Anyway, thanks a lot and Keep up the work on your videos and training on form👍))

[@willeypoboy6052]

Thanks Holly, best instruction on lead with visual aid I've ever seen. Thanks again. No "booby getter" here! Boy .lol

[@jameylane9196]

Finally a video showing leads properly.

[@JeffinTD]

That was an excellent and very helpful video.

[@Bwanar1]

Nice video. Something that will help with your form, is to find your hold point, and not be moving in the opposite direction when you call for the bird. It makes your move sloppy and causes you to over accelerate to catch up to the clay; instead of a nice smooth move. Your deceleration will often cause misses behind.

[@MrPikesaab]

Beautiful video and voice

[@facundolopez7346]

Great vid and useful lesson! I pressume you are shooting american skeet. What is the typical speed of these target when they get to the center peg?. I just want to understand how much more lead will someone need for an olympic skeet clay. Thanks!

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Gonna be straight up honest here and tell you I don't know the answer, though I'm sure it can be found on Google. I don't shoot skeet, trap or clays as a sport - I shoot it to prepare for hunting, where the birds fly whatever speed they feel like flying. Thinking about details like what speed the clay is flying is a distraction; all I care about is training my brain to see a target and figure out how to crush it. Sorry!

[@user-strelba]

Норм !👍Буду пробывать на тренях

[@huntersniper2795]

How fast is the clay ? Have you ever measured it accurately?

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Nope. That is not important for my conscious brain to know - just more noise that gets in the way of letting my brain figure out when to shoot.

[@bchains]

Very helpful, thanks!

[@BlueDogTabby]

Thank you, thank you, thank you

[@lennon28391]

Awesome video. Thanks!

[@岩本舜吾-h3b]

ありがとうございます。とても参考になりました。Thank you so much,very helpful video for me.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

私はそれがあなたに有用であったので、うれしいです - 私が知らせてくれてありがとう！

[@NoHeartAnthony]

Hi holly. Excellent video thanks for putting it up. I'm a beginner and tackling my first crossers now when I go to the club. I'm trying to practice my mount so that it becomes second nature. Can I ask you, do you mount your head in such a way that the rib shrinks down to nothing, I.e the bead appears to be sitting on the rear of the barrel? And if so, do you out the bead just under where you want to shoot, or just over it? Hope that makes sense.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Yes to the first question. The second question depends on how your gun fits, but if a target comes straight at me, I almost obscure it with the muzzle (which is hard for me, because I want to see the target!) But with crossers, I think this video shows you don't need surgical precision.

[@NoHeartAnthony]

Thank you. I'm going to stop overthinking it and just keep practicing until it's not really an active movement, just natural. It was windy today when I missed a few I'm going to put it down to that lol

[@HollyGoThatWay]

NoHeartAnthony Thank you! I use Adobe Premiere Pro.

[@herculean49]

Super helpful! Thank you so much!!

[@MrYoungmolah]

Awesome video

[@kentrott3241]

Young Vang ii

[@kentrott3241]

Young Vang I shoot one eye closed does that alter the lead

[@HollyGoThatWay]

No it doesn't! They tell you to shoot with both eyes open, but I can't because one eye fights for dominance. If you hunt, you should have both eyes open until you're ready to shoot because you need two eyes to guess distance. I just shut my bad eye as I put my head on the stock.

[@micahlowbe9067]

Why do i miss? 20ga, 2 3/4 in x 7 1/2 shot shotshells. Choke is imp cyl.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

It is impossible to answer that question without watching you shoot. None of the factors you listed would cause you to miss. But the most common reasons are lifting your head off the gun or poor gun fit. If you're new, you may not have the hang of lead yet.

[@anthonycorriero4847]

Great video

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thanks! I figured it'd be handy when I showed it to some friends new to shotgunning and they said, "OMG, no wonder I'm missing!"

[@VeraGraf1]

Great video ! Thanks

[@gordonheacock7646]

I love this, 1 foot, two foot, 3 feet on three, and four on four. Watch out for the shards in your Bra on 8. Way to go Hollie.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Ha ha ha ha - thank you! :-)

[@bobh.9630]

Hi Holly, a bit off topic, but could you tell me what program you are using to add the captions to your video? Nice job and thanks in advance.

[@strartur]

Great video, well presented and explained, thanks. Am i the only amateur here, but why are u aiming above the clay pigeon?? I just started sporting and am aiming (as instructed by my coach) below them, and hit them ca. 50%..

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Well, most of these targets are still rising. But even if they weren't, it's a shotgun, not a rifle - you have wiggle room. My lead was not always perfect and my swing was not always smooth (hence the disclaimer on my form), but the shot pattern was clearly where it needed to be.

[@strartur]

@@HollyGoThatWay thanks for the explanation

[@TouHuskyYang]

Went dove hunting 1st time 50 rnds 0 doves watched this video 2nd time 10 doves 50 rnds appreciate this.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Can't tell you how happy it makes me to hear that! If you spend some time shooting doubles at stations 3, 4 and 5 at skeet, your average will improve even more - that's what helped me a lot. Enjoy those doves - one of my favorite gamebirds to eat!

[@HollyGoThatWay]

BTW, I was reflecting on this a bit more: The average shells per bird for dove hunters is SEVEN, so you very quickly went from nothing to above average! That's pretty awesome.

[@TouHuskyYang]

@@HollyGoThatWay Thx really appreciate it, hunting out in Yuma AZ opening day so plenty of doves flying out here made it EZ.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

@@TouHuskyYang I love Yuma! My opener was pretty slow.

[@FoulPet]

Great video, fixing to try my hand and shooting clays. What barrel length do you shoot?

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thanks! I shoot a 28" barrel, but I'm primarily a hunter, not a clay shooter (though I do shoot clays/skeet to stay sharp in the off season).

[@islamidrees840]

Amazing Video..

[@bobbymalta73]

Thks for Sharing!

[@jamescrews5781]

great video, I would love to try shot cam out

[@nocknload5287]

Excellent video Holly. Can you do a video on long incoming targets, high floater incomer and line drive curving away. Seen these at 50 yards and are tough to hit. Thx

[@HollyGoThatWay]

LOL, you're assuming *I* can hit those! In all seriousness, I'm a hunter, not a recreational shooter, and I am not particularly interested in taking long shots - I like getting my birds close and killing them as cleanly as possible.

[@nocknload5287]

@@HollyGoThatWay i did not mean any disrespect. I really like.your videos Ms Holly.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

@@nocknload5287 oh no worries - didn't think you were being disrespectful at all!

[@fisherman695]

I owe you 30 bucks in rounds that you saved me trying to figure this out on the pond

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Awww, thanks!

[@dantankunfiveancestorsfist]

So basically I don't aim directly at the target but stay a feet ahead of it?

[@HollyGoThatWay]

That depends on the angle that the target is flying relative to your gun.

[@bobsyeruncle4841]

good vid thanks

[@xanthochromique]

Well done. You should really try to stay in front of Low 6. Gotta really spring load your front leg.

[@billkilkelly520]

Excellent trading videos wish she demo it in Trap

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Yeah, but to do that, I'd have to be able to actually shoot trap, LOL...

[@ernestpena5391]

What really matters is your velocity of your ammo.

[@zachiotis]

What really matters is the combination of your eyes and your brain to give the order to your finger to pull the trigger the right time.

[@johnstrain240]

Overall nice video but low 6 could have been re-shot, showing you staying ahead of the clay all the way.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

As a fellow perfectionist, I understand your desire to pick that unsightly scab. But demonstrating a sustained lead wasn't the point here. Hence, the disclaimer that this was NOT a video about form, but strictly a demonstration of lead.

[@Weeballer9]

Great video! You dont seem to push through the target, why?

[@HollyGoThatWay]

jakes7 All I care about is breaking the clay. If it breaks, that's success.

[@fred8174]

Camera should be on the other side of her. She was talking away from the camera

[@HollyGoThatWay]

😅

[@xyz-g3w6b]

1:24 -- What's "bubbling" ?...or is it "bobbling" ?

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Bobbling!

[@inayatullah8365]

v nice

[@stephenholmes716]

my kind of woman!

[@michal.abramowicz]

❤❤❤

[@getjacked107]

To the point!!

[@Hamberger94]

3:53 i dont think there will be any meat left

[@lautaaguilera46]

NESESITO POR FAVOR!!! QUE TODO SE HABLE EN ESPAÑOL ESPAÑOL!!! URGENTE

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Lo que hay que saber es lo siguiente: Cuanto mayor sea el ángulo de la pistola en el camino de la arcilla o de aves, más lejos por delante del ave que necesita para disparar. Los triángulos amarillos en el video representan el ángulo cambiante mientras me movía alrededor del campo al plato, comenzando primero con un ángulo muy estrecho, a continuación, pasar a la posición de gran angular en el centro del campo, luego de vuelta a estrechar de nuevo.

[@pejalai]

now i know why i didnt got that clay..

[@3of11]

Station 8 = colander shot.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Good one! Stealing it!

[@SC-vz9ie]

Very helpful, thanks!

[@HollyGoThatWay]

You're welcome - glad it's useful!

[@TheProminentWord]

Thank you! Super informative

[@justin-99999]

Great video.

[@HollyGoThatWay]

Thanks Justin!