FishHawk Sporting Clays to Host Beginners Clinics

News Report

Interested in target shooting? Then FishHawk Sporting Clays has a clinic for you.

FishHawk Sporting Clays, 13505 Hobson Simmons Rd. in Lithia, will offer a new basic target shooting clinic May 20 at 9 a.m.

"As some of you know, for many years now we have been running a series of very successful and popular clinics for women and kids to introduce them to the clay shooting sport," explained Roger Gascoigne, certified coach. "Many people who were either not a woman or a kid, or were not outright beginners, wanted a similar clinic to get them on the right path to breaking clays. Well, we now have a beginners clinic at Fishhawk Sporting Clays for just those shooters." 

The clinic costs $25 and includes instruction, a box of shells and 25 targets.

The clinic will start at 9 a.m. and run until noon. Gascoigne will go over safety, courtesy and range protocol. He will check everyone’s eye dominance and gun fit.

For those who do not have a gun, he will have free loaner guns. He will introduce students to shot planning and discuss the three basic methods of shooting a clay target. Then everyone will break clays.
 
Phone 813-689-0490 to reserve a place; the number of slots is limited.

FishHawk Sporting Clays also will host a women and kids clinic May 20 at 1 p.m.

Call 813-689-0490 to make a reservation. FishHawk Sporting Clays only takes 20 shooters in each clinic.

The clinic is in two parts starting with a discussion of safety, checking eye dominance and finding a gun to fit each shooter. This takes place on the deck and lasts about 45 minutes. Then the students will move over to the Five Stand for the practical part of breaking clays. This will last until about 3:30 p.m.

Each attendee has to make her own reservation, unless it is a mom reserving for herself and her children. Kids must be under 21.

This clinic is a free clinic, including free coaching from a British-certified shooting coach, with free gun rental, free eye and ear protection, a free copy of the magazine Sporting Clays and, courtesy of Wayne Evans, free ammo and free clays are included.

Youngsters need to weigh at least 80 pounds to be able to handle a shotgun. FishHawk Sporting Clays reserves the right to refuse children it deems too small to have a successful experience.

Gascoigne also will hold an improvers clinic at Fishhawk Sporting Clays on Sunday June 10. The class size limit on the clinic is six shooters and it will run all day.
 
"This is a clinic for people who are not beginners, but are not advanced either," said Gascoigne. "It would be a good event to attend if you are missing a few punches to get into the next NSCA class or if you have a couple of bogey targets that always catch you out, if you find you regularly lose one or two targets a station,  if you are stuck on a score and want to add 10 targets to your average or if you need to advance your knowledge of target reading and to learn the more advanced techniques for generating lead, and when to use each one."

The clinic starts a 9 a.m. with a discussion for about an hour. This will cover shooting goals, the goals of the day and a review of the student's shooting experience. There will be two handouts – one on seven techniques and another on physical and mental exercises to improve scores.

Students will shoot from 10 a.m. to noon, break for lunch and then resume from 1 to 5 p.m.

"We will go over the fundamentals of gun fit, eye dominance, mount and stance to make sure you have a good foundation," said Gascoigne. "We will discuss exercises to help your shooting. We will cover target reading – what does the target setter want you to see and what is the target really doing. We will discuss target strategy and the best technique to use to achieve the gun management that the strategy requires.  

In addition, Gascoigne will examine the student's shooting technique and make suggestions on how to become a more efficient shooter and hit more targets. Students will shoot targets with different techniques so they can evaluate which works best for them.

The cost of the clinic is $300 and covers instruction, handouts and lunch but not the clays, ammunition and a share of a golf cart. To reserve a place, call Fishhawk Sporting Clays at 813-689-0490.

Gascoigne is a British-certified CPSA Coach, an associate of the Institute of Clay Shooting Instructors and an NSSA-Certified skeet instructor. He has more than 30 years of experience of shooting, coaching and target setting in Europe and the USA. He has authored many shooting articles in U.S. and British magazines, and has an E-book, “Sporting Clays Tips from a British Coach,” on Amazon.