Trapshooting's continual growth and expanding popularity is due to the fact that people of all ages, incomes and abilities can compete. Nine year old boys shoot alongside 90 year old men. Many 70-year olds have been in the sport 55 years and some began just two years ago. Trapshooting's participants include millionaires and hourly wage earners, inventors and businessmen, former sports figures in other fields, professional men, farmers, truck drivers, musicians, actors, students and housewives.
The shooter is required to shoot at a target after he calls "pull." It does not matter in scoring if the shooter hits only a small piece of the target or whether he shatters the target. The target is considered a "dead" or "lost" bird. If the target is hit it is "dead." It is the shooters responsibility to check his own score.
Registered trapshooting is competition that is regulated by the Amateur Trapshooting Association. Gun clubs hold shoots in accordance with ATA rules, but they must apply and register for each shoot. All participants of these shoots must be ATA members. The shooters scores are recorded in the ATA office where all records are kept and yearly averages computed. The records are used for handicapping and classifying shooters.
In registered trapshooting, the rules specify that targets must be thrown no less than 48 yards no more than 52 yards and should be between 8 and 12 feet high and 10 yards from the trap. Shooters stand a minimum of 16 yards from the trap houses.
Trapshooting Disciplines:
Singles:
Singles is considered to be the easiest of the three disciplines. In singles, the shooter stands 16 yards away from the center of the "trap house" and shoots at random targets that fly at various angles in front of him/ her. Shooters are grouped into squads, usually made up of up to five people. There are five positions that each shooter shoots from, for a total of five shots, or one round. This gives participants a different view of the target flying through the air. Each position is a constant 16 yards from the trap house, each one is spaced three feet apart forming a small arc. Squads rotate between four trap fields called a "bank." When the shooter is finished shooting at targets from those four trap houses, they have completed a round of 100 targets, 25 at each bank. The premier shooting event in singles is the ATA Clay target Championship.
Doubles
Doubles was added to tournament play in 1911. It is a modified version of Singles, but it is more difficult because shooters must break two targets fired at the trap house simultaneously. One clay pigeon flies to the left while the other flies to the right. The target path remains constant, but the challenge is if the shooter can hit both targets before they hit the ground. Each target is scored individually, not as a pair. There are no partners in doubles. Some shooters tend to use a shotgun with two barrels for doubles and one with one barrel for singles and handicap.
Handicap
Handicap is considered the most prestigious event in trapshooting. As in other sports, handicapping strives to make the competition equal. The is accomplished by having the more skilled competitors stand further away from the trap house. Based on a shooter's past performances, a shooter is assigned a handicap distance which he/she must shoot. A competitor with a high handicap will shoot no closer than the 19 yard line, while the most skilled shooter is placed at the 27 yard line. It is extremely difficult to win an event from the 27 yard line. Only twice in the last ten years has a Grand American Handicap champion been a 27 yard shooter.
The shooter is required to shoot at a target after he calls "pull." It does not matter in scoring if the shooter hits only a small piece of the target or whether he shatters the target. The target is considered a "dead" or "lost" bird. If the target is hit it is "dead." It is the shooters responsibility to check his own score.
Registered trapshooting is competition that is regulated by the Amateur Trapshooting Association. Gun clubs hold shoots in accordance with ATA rules, but they must apply and register for each shoot. All participants of these shoots must be ATA members. The shooters scores are recorded in the ATA office where all records are kept and yearly averages computed. The records are used for handicapping and classifying shooters.
In registered trapshooting, the rules specify that targets must be thrown no less than 48 yards no more than 52 yards and should be between 8 and 12 feet high and 10 yards from the trap. Shooters stand a minimum of 16 yards from the trap houses.
Trapshooting Disciplines:
Singles:
Singles is considered to be the easiest of the three disciplines. In singles, the shooter stands 16 yards away from the center of the "trap house" and shoots at random targets that fly at various angles in front of him/ her. Shooters are grouped into squads, usually made up of up to five people. There are five positions that each shooter shoots from, for a total of five shots, or one round. This gives participants a different view of the target flying through the air. Each position is a constant 16 yards from the trap house, each one is spaced three feet apart forming a small arc. Squads rotate between four trap fields called a "bank." When the shooter is finished shooting at targets from those four trap houses, they have completed a round of 100 targets, 25 at each bank. The premier shooting event in singles is the ATA Clay target Championship.
Doubles
Doubles was added to tournament play in 1911. It is a modified version of Singles, but it is more difficult because shooters must break two targets fired at the trap house simultaneously. One clay pigeon flies to the left while the other flies to the right. The target path remains constant, but the challenge is if the shooter can hit both targets before they hit the ground. Each target is scored individually, not as a pair. There are no partners in doubles. Some shooters tend to use a shotgun with two barrels for doubles and one with one barrel for singles and handicap.
Handicap
Handicap is considered the most prestigious event in trapshooting. As in other sports, handicapping strives to make the competition equal. The is accomplished by having the more skilled competitors stand further away from the trap house. Based on a shooter's past performances, a shooter is assigned a handicap distance which he/she must shoot. A competitor with a high handicap will shoot no closer than the 19 yard line, while the most skilled shooter is placed at the 27 yard line. It is extremely difficult to win an event from the 27 yard line. Only twice in the last ten years has a Grand American Handicap champion been a 27 yard shooter.