Eat your way to success

Jasper Fellows talks to nutrition expert David Dunne and discusses how your diet can improve your shooting, especially on competition days

- Jasper Fellows

Most shooters love a friendly debate, whether it’s over the real-world usefulness of the latest gun-making innovations, the correct cartridges to use or what length of barrel is best. Every shooter has their own, often strongly held, beliefs. It’s part of what makes our sport so interesting and diverse.

But while we argue over the latest evolutions of clay breaking technology until the cows come home, there’s one key factor that is all too often overlooked by shooters wanting to boost their scores: nutrition.

From golf to canoeing, most other sports seem miles ahead in this aspect, with athletes constructing meal plans and delicately assessing their balance of micro and macro-nutrients. Yet almost every shooting ground in Great Britain only offers ‘traditional shooting ground fare’ in their clubhouse cafés – belly-busting breakfasts, bacon baps and caffeinated beverages.

While often delicious, it seems obvious that this kind of food is not ideal for helping with the focus required to straight a 25 or score a podium finish. But beyond cutting back on the bacon, what dietary changes should we be making to boost scores?

Expert opinion

Despite my illustrious five-year career as a ‘pub grub’ chef with a particular fondness for Keith Floyd, I am probably not the best person to advise the shooting public on their dietary choices. So, I raised my queries with the co-founder of nutrition app Hexis, David Dunne. Throughout his career he has helped top athletes find diets that work for them.