Ask The Instructor: Spoiling The Line

Question: At a registered shoot last weekend, I really had trouble with a 40-yard crossing target. I went back to the target after work this week, and noticed that it was descending a little bit just before my breakpoint. I tried to stay under the line of the target but I was still very inconsistent. Any thoughts?

Answer: t sounds like this crossing target was “losing its line” just before the breakpoint. When a shooter struggles with this presentation, they are typically “spoiling the line.” This means that the gun is occluding the target just prior to the breakpoint. In other words, the gun got between the eye and the target. For some shooters, this can cause a flinch. As with any target, establish your breakpoint and commit to it. Pay very close attention to what the target is doing at your chosen breakpoint.

On the target you describe, you noticed (albeit, too late) that the target was falling off the line at the breakpoint. I refer to this as a transitioning target. When a target is transitioning at the breakpoint, you need a different hold point than you would normally use if the target had a consistent trajectory through the breakpoint. For transitioning targets, your hold point needs to be closer to, and lower than, the breakpoint. So, if this crossing target had a flat trajectory, and was not transitioning at your breakpoint, you would normally hold about 2/3 of the way back to the trap, from the breakpoint. For this target, however, move your holdpoint to half of that distance and lower your muzzle angle such that you will move your gun a shorter distance to the breakpoint and you will approach the breakpoint at a slightly upward angle instead of following the line of the target. This is an intercept technique that I refer to as a “cuttoff and collapse”. The “cutoff” means that you are moving at a line that is different from the target. You are essentially intercepting the target from below the line rather than moving along the target line.

The “collapse” element of this move is equally important and requires that you get an early start from your holdpoint so as to arrive at your breakpoint just prior to the target, allowing the target to collapse on the breakpoint. Give it a try!