SHOOTING TRAINING AND COMPETITION

Abstract: A training method for clay pigeon shooting comprising the steps of: providing relative to a shooting position (12) a plurality of clay launching devices (T1-T7), each device in the plurality providing for the launch of a clay along a path (P1-P7) having a unique degree of difficulty or other criteria as a target for a shooter (13) at the shooting position (12), each launcher (T1-T7) being adapted to provide a clay distinguishable from a clay from any other launcher (T1-T7) such as by colour or pattern; locating a shooter (13) at the shooting position (12); selecting a pair of launchers from the plurality (T1-T7) from which target clays are to be launched at call; causing the first launcher (T1-T7) and second launcher (T1-T7) of the pair to launch, respectively, their distinguishable clays; causing the shooter (13) to fire at the distinguishable clay from the first launcher (T1-T7) of the pair and, in the event the clay from the first launcher (T1-T7) is hit, causing the shooter (13) to file at the clay from the second launcher (T1-T7) of the pair; in the event that the first and second clays are hit, repeating the steps of selecting a pair of launchers (T1-T7), causing lauching of clays and causing the shooter (13) to fire either for the given pair of launchers (T1-T7) or from another pair of launchers (T1-T7) of the plurality until a predetermined number of clays have been discharged from some or all of the launchers (T1-T7) or all the discharged clays have been hit, or according to some other criteria.

Description: SHOOTING TRAINING AND COMPETITION TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to shooting training and competition. It is particularly concerned with the training of individuals in, and competition involving, clay pigeon shooting. It is a characteristic of clay pigeon shooting that in the course of a series of shots a succession of clay pigeon targets, each referred to as a 'clay', are directed each at a different direction and/or speed relative to the shooter. The shooter needs to have, or be able to acquire, the skill to take into account of speed and direction of each clay pigeon target so as to optimise the chance of hitting the clay. The skill has to be exercised in the period between the clay coming into sight and the time the shooter fires their gun. In broad terms it is regarded as being easier to hit a clay crossing the field of view of the shooter rather than one moving towards or away from shooter. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided a training method for clay pigeon shooting comprising the steps of: 1 providing relative to a shooting position plurality of clay launching devices each device in the plurality providing for the launch of a clay along a path having a unique degree of difficulty or other criteria as a target for a shooter at the shooting position each launcher being adapted to provide a clay distinguishable from a clay from any other launcher such as by colour or pattern ; 2 locating a shooter at the shooting position; 3 selecting a pair of launchers from the plurality from which target clays are to be launched at call; 4 causing the first launcher and second launcher of the pair to launch, respectively, their distinguishable clays; 5 causing the shooter to fire at the distinguishable clay from the first launcher of the pair and, in the event the clay from the first launcher is hit, causing the shooter to file at the clay from the second launcher of the pair; 6 in the event that the first and second clays are hit repeating steps 3 to 5 either for the given pair of launchers or from another pair of launchers of the plurality until a predetermined number of clays have been discharged from some or all of the launchers or all the discharged clays have been hit or according to some other criteria. According to a first preferred version of the present invention each distinguishable clay from a given launcher has a unique scoring value relative to a clay from any other launcher used on the plurality thereof to provide for a quantifiable score of hit clays for a given shooter. According to a second preferred version of the present invention or the first preferred version thereof, at least during a first sequence of firing, the first launcher of the pair is always the same so that, at least during the first sequence, the first distinguishable clay in any given pair of discharged clays is always the same. According to a third preferred version of the present invention a shooter at the shooting position is entitled to select at least the second launcher prior to call. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of clay pigeon shooting areas of which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment; and Figure 2 is a side elevation in direction II in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of a second embodiment. MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Figures 1 and 2 A clay pigeon shooting area with boundary 11 has a position 12 for a shooter 13. Path A extends through position 12 and across the area 11. In general terms it is found that a clay following a trajectory across line of sight in direction D of the shooter 13 is more readily hit by shooter 13 than a clay following a trajectory towards or away from the shooter 13. A plurality of seven remotely operable clay pigeon launchers are provided namely launchers Tl to T7 spaced about the area 11. The launchers are not visible from the position 12 but serve to provide for the projection of clays along the paths PI and paths P2 to P7 shown in Figure 2 extending from, respectively, their corresponding launchers Tl to T7. Each launcher Tl to T7 is equipped with a magazine for clays and an operating system so that once a clay is fired from the launcher a fresh clay is loaded. Each launcher has in its magazine a set of coloured clays, the clays in a given magazine being of a colour unique to that launcher so that once a clay is launched into the firing area the shooter will be able to identify the launcher from which it comes. The launchers Tl to T7 are operated remotely from a central control position 15 which is occupied by a trainer 16 who also keeps the score of a shooter. The control position 15 includes equipment 17 linked to the launchers Ll to L7 whereby trainer 16 can cause a launcher or any combination of launchers PI to P7 (usuallv not more than two) to discharge a clay along the path associated with the launcher. The discharges can either be simultaneous or separated by a pre-determined time interval. Figure 3 shows a more elaborate layout for use when a greater area of land is available. Items of similar form and function in Figure 3 to those in Figures 1 and 2 are given similar reference references but with the addition of am apostrophe ('). Launcher Tl' is in a similar relative position to the shooter 13' as launcher Tl to shooter 13 in Figure 1. However the remaining launchers T2' to T7' are laid on either side of the frontage of the shooter 13' to provide a wider range of possible trajectories for clays in contrast to the linear layout of launchers described in connection with Figures 1 and 2.. As in the case of the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 the launchers Tl' to T7' have magazines loaded with coloured clays unique identifying the launcher from which the clay is projected. The training system used in the case of both embodiments is based on the game of table snooker. A characteristic of table snooker is that a player on potting a red ball (scoring 1 point) is entitled thereafter to attempt to pot a ball of a colour other than red. The colours of the balls other than red score the following points: black 7, pink 6, blue 5, brown 4, green 3 and yellow 2. On starting there are initially ten red balls and until all these have been potted every time a differently coloured ball to red is potted it is replaced on a particular location on the table to enable it to be used for further scoring. To reflect the requirement in table snooker to first pot a red ball before being able to score further points by potting another colour in the shooting version the launcher Tl (TT) has a magazine filled with red coloured clays and the path PI (PT) is diagonally across the field of view of the shooter 13 (13 ' ) and at a relatively short distance from the shooting position 12 (12'). The path Pi (PT) represents the path for a clay which is most readily hit by a shooter 13 (' 13') . The remaining paths P2 to P7 (P2' to P7') provide progressively more difficult paths for a clay to be hit by shooter 13. The clays of launchers L2 to L7 (L2' to L7') are coloured respectively yellow (scoring 2), green (scoring 3), brown (4), blue (5), pink (6) and black (7). During the opening phase of the training clays are launched in pairs. The first is always from launcher Tl (Tl') and so is red. The second is selected by the trainer but will usually be from one of the higher value launchers T2 to T7 (T2' to T7'). The interval between the launch of the first and second clays of the pair is regulated by the trainer but for a reasonably experienced shooter they will be launched simultaneously. In any event the shooter will be aware of the trajectory of the red clay and can consequently anticipate its trajectory so as to be able to fire and hit the red clay while evaluating the path of the second clay. The red clay must be hit before the shooter can attempt to hit the second clay. The colour of the second clay will convey to the shooter the likely trajectory or at least the relative difficulty of the shot. The behaviour, movements and action of the shooter 13 (13') is clearly observable by the trainer 15 (15') so enabling the trainer to provide the appropriate instructions and advice in any given circumstance. By selecting appropriate pairs of clay launchers the trainer 15 (15') ensures that the shooter 13 (13') is subjected to an appropriate sequence of actions to build up the shooters confidence. Typically inexperienced shooters can trained to deal with clays following more difficult trajectories. It is possible to introduce into the shooting scheme an event occurring in a table game of snooker. The event arises when one player finishes their turn so as to leave the cue ball in such a position that his opponent cannot play the cue ball directly at the next legal target ball so as to hit it without striking another ball of incorrect colour. In this position the second player is referred to as being 'snookered'. To escape from being snookered the second player has to strike the cue ball in such a way that it does eventually hit the correct ball without first striking an inappropriate ball. This can be achieved either by striking the cue ball in such a way that it swerves to avoid an intervening ball of incorrect colour on its way to striking the correct target ball. Alternatively the player can strike the cue ball to cause it to follow a path of more than one stage involving bouncing off one or more cushions before striking the correct ball without striking any other ball on the way. In the event that the second player fails to hit the appropriate ball with the cue ball then penalties arise including a re-taking of the shot and/or a loss of points. For a corresponding hazard in the shooting version in which two shooters ot teams of shooters are in competition with each other it is envisaged that a snookering position can be generated by enabling a first shooter to call for a 'snooker' clay to be fired from a specially selected launcher. In the event the first shooter hits the clay with the first of his two shots then the second player must hit their next clay with his first shot. In the event the second player does not score a hit with his first shot then the second player incurs a penalty (typically a loss of points as in the table game). In the event the first shooter only hits the snooker clay with the second of his two shots then the second shooter has two shots in which to hit the next clay. If the second shooter does hit the clay with one of his two shots then the second shooter is regarded as having got out of the snookered position. If the second shooter misses with both shots then the second player incurs a penalty. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The training provided by the present invention facilitates the training of shooters and also serves to provides a number of competitive opportunities for shooters of any degree of skill or experience with an opportunity to win prizes or achieve recognised standards. In particular a tyro shooter aware of the characteristic colours and scoring of a universally played game such as snooker can readily concentrate on the required actions for shooting while readily appreciating the significance of his scores over an extended period. It also enable a new comer to clay pigeon shooting to soon establish what paths provide the greatest difficulty by relating them to a particular colour and enable him to consider why for them clays on some trajectories are more readily dealt with than others. This will enable the shooter to consider the development of their skills on their own account in addition to during sessions under training. The exemplary embodiments refer to the use of the invention in relating to training. A competitive element can be introduced by having a two or more shooters each in turn endeavouring to score more or more quickly or in some other quantitative way to a greater extent than another.

Claims: CLAIMS 1 A training method for clay pigeon shooting comprising the steps of: 1 providing relative to a shooting position plurality of clay launching devices each device in the plurality providing for the launch of a clay along a path having a unique degree of difficulty or other criteria as a target for a shooter at the shooting position each launcher being adapted to provide a clay distinguishable from a clay from any other launcher such as by colour or pattern ; 2 locating a shooter at the shooting position; 3 selecting a pair of launchers from the plurality from which target clays are to be launched at call; 4 causing the first launcher and second launcher of the pair to launch, respectively, their distinguishable clays; 5 causing the shooter to fire at the distinguishable clay from the first launcher of the pair and, in the event the clay from the first launcher is hit, causing the shooter to file at the clay from the second launcher of the pair; 6 in the event that the first and second clays are hit repeating steps 3 to 5 either for the given pair of launchers or from another pair of launchers of the plurality until a predetermined number of clays have been discharged from some or all of the launchers or all the discharged clays have been hit or according to some other criteria. 2 A training method as claimed in Claim 1 wherein each distinguishable clay from a given launcher has a unique scoring value relative to a clay from any other launcher used on the plurality thereof to provide for a quantifiable score of hit clays for a given shooter. 3 A training method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein, at least during a first sequence of firing, the first launcher of the pair is always the same so that, at least during the first sequence, the first distinguishable clay in any given pair of discharged clays is always the same. 4 A training method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a shooter at the shooting position is entitled to select at least the second launcher prior to call. A training method as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Inventors: MUNN PETER, MUNN, PETER
Applicants: MUNN PETER, MUNN, PETER
Application year: 1997
Main classification: F41J1
IPC codes: F41J11