Is an evenly balanced clay shooting stance the best?

An evenly balanced clay shooting stance helps with your swing.

By Clay pigeon shooting

Friday, 05 June 2009

Coaches say you should be balanced while shooting but in the next breath recommend we put the majority of our weight over the front foot. Surely a balanced stance is where both feet take equal share of our upper body weight?

Clay pigeon shooting expert
JOHN BIDWELL
You make a good point but you’re putting too much emphasis on the word ‘majority’ – so far as the smooth movement of a shotgun is concerned the weight ratio only needs to be 55:45% in favour of the leading leg.

Such a weight transfer will not impede gun swing but it will help ensure our head remains on the stock when a shot is fired. It also ensures the stock rests comfortably in the shoulder pocket and allows our upper body to ride and absorb recoil from the shot.

Of course nobody would want to put too much (or all of their) weight over the front foot because this would certainly impede the movement and mobility we need to deal with fast moving targets flying at all sorts of heights and angles.