THERES NO TURNING THINGS AROUND.

In the last twenty five years or so I think we've seen the slow demise of ATA registered shooting just as society has tried to make everyone happy. Clubs started throwing narrow two hole hole targets to gain advantage over neighboring clubs so the ATA threw up their arms and said OK let's just shoot two hole targets. Shooters started complaining about the difficulty of moving back even with the easier targets so the ATA started giving punches for low scores at small shoots. Next we had shooters complaining that they wanted to shoot with their longer yardage friends so the ATA said OK just give us a call and we'll put you back on the 25. Then the ATA said now we have too many shooters who are not competitive so move everyone up two yards. My thought here is that many declined because they still wanted to shoot with friends and the sandbaggers jumped for joy. Moved up did whatever damage they could then posted a few low scores and moved right back up again. The result is the ATA is now a social event to allow everyone to fire a shotgun, which is a long way from the days when just about every shooter that attended strived to win something. I can show you shooters who haven't shot a score above 85 in two years and they still are on the same yardage. They obviously gave up all thought of competition. So why worry about rules the ATA is now just something to make everyone happy with little or no effort. We probably need more classes and trophies for attendance.

 

Sports used to be competitions to see who or which team was the best on any given day, seemed as though it worked for much longer than I can or care to remember ... I played sports and quite honestly had many team mates over the years that were faster, more intense, and students of the game as opposed to just players of the games, than I was ... I also participated in many type of sports where individuals depended on their talents for them to be at the top of the game and many in a class of their own ... Pride, Integrity, honesty, sportsmanship and any combination of, is what made the competitions what they were ... You took pride in being a part of it all win, lose, or draw ... Those days seem to have long past been forgotten and set on the side to make room for an abundance of meaningless medals, trophy's, and trinkets to replace the feelings and pride of just being a part of it all ... I'm glad I got to be a part of it and can only hope that the kids of today at sometime in their life see the real meaning of being a winner without someone adjusting the rules to make them one ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

Did you see the added events for trophies, super 500 singles, super 500 Handicap, Super Doubles 500, That's a minimal Add'l 18 trophies, Just go to the 2015-2014 GAH events and look at the added trophies after the GAH event 24, are you surprised? I was?Now when you are pulling out of the parking lot heading home there will be an ATA person handing you a trophy if you did not win one (sic)

Gary Bryant Dr.longshot

 

Several reasons can be offered regarding the decline of registered trapshooting but I feel competition is a big reason. If you have two shooters who started out together, one competitive the other a social shooter, I would bet nine times out of ten the competitive shooter, or the one who views trapshooting as a competition, will shoot much longer than the social shooter. The competitiveness is the draw for a competitive person. Socially motivated people can find a gathering anywhere to socialize. Competition is one reason Sporting took off while trap fell off.

 

Shot couple practice rounds today at a local club. We put the traps in the 3 hole. Much more fun. Especially when you smoke a hard angle 0n 1 and 5. Actually if I recall, the hard angle is closer shot then the straight aways. Just pull in front and let the target fly thru the shot string. Then I missed the straight aways lol. A problem I've been having lately. Never thought that when I got back into this sport a month ago, things have changed so much.
The old trap shooting pics back in the 70's and 80's that I have mean so much more to me now. Like Arizona, Nevada, Vandalia and many more clubs.
Do miss those days so much.

 

And the real killer is that the pattern doesn't open up as much on a closer shot.

Thanks for your comments and for having the guts to crank some spring into it. How did the other shooters take to it?

 

They loved it. Seven of us shot and no one complained. Seemed it brought out the competiveness in our soul. I found myself concentrating more, even to the point of staying in the gun on those sharper angles.

 

You didn't lift your head to get a better look?

 

Now that would be a rookie mistake ha ha.