Home and dry

Jasper Fellows investigates the benefits of off-range training and discovers the bright future of digital training aids

- Jasper Fellows

What does it take to become a better shot? Commitment? For sure. Capability? It helps. Clays and cartridges? Probably, but perhaps not. Over the past few months I’ve been ever more drawn to the concept of at-home training – training without the bang, the targets and the cost. But does ‘dry’ training work? And what do I even do with an unloaded gun and no targets to shoot at?

Few are better to answer these questions than the former Team England head coach and the current chairman of the Institute of Clay Shooting Instructors (ICSI), John Robinson, and the Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club’s owner Georgina Roberts.

“My first comment would be to rethink home training as off-range training,” says John. “You can do so many elements of your training away from the range, but not everything can, or should, be done at home.

“Be careful if you are heading into the back garden to practise your gun mount in view of the neighbours – a visit from the armed response unit might just interfere with your training schedule! It is also worth remembering that while off-range training can be a substantial addition to on-range training, it is not a total substitute. That said, let’s look at what you can do off-range.

“First, gun familiarisation. Just handling your gun will help you to know it better; you want the act of picking up your gun to become second nature. The next step is gun-mount training. This must happen instinctively and consistently. The last thing you want to do is have to think about the correct way to mount the gun in the middle of a competition.”

Georgina agrees: “Gun-mount practice is a big one for me. If you want to be competitive it’s crucial to make sure that your gun mount is a subconscious action that you can perform perfectly every time.”