Shadow practice

After Delhi skeet shooter Smit Singh took his college exams in May, the young 20-year-old packed his bags and flew to Italy. With the Indian skeet team failing to garner any quota place in skeet for the London Games, it is an off season for the shooters until the Olympics get over. Despite the disappointment of missing the London Games,Smit had been hard at work in order to prepare himself for future events and perhaps to utilise his spare time effectively. However Singh has had to return after nearly completing one month because he needs to collect an important consignment shipped from Italy —his new and upgraded shotgun.

Singh's new weapon, the Beretta DT 11 is essential for him to adapt to the new rules of skeet shooting which are set to undergo a revamp soon after the current games. "Rules change every four to five years and the changes that will take place after the Olympics will stay for at least until the 2016 Games," he says.

According to Smit, the major changes that are scheduled to take place relate to various positions from which the clay birds are released on the skeet range. Firstly, the distance from the center position will be pushed further two metres and secondly positions one and eight, which supposedly give every shooter an easy chance to score will no longer be utilised. In place of the two positions additional clay birds will be added to positions three and four respectively. And hence a big reason for shooters to revamp their entire strategies and equipment.

The new equipment he uses has a longer barrel and a tighter choke. "Why we all have to change guns is because the distance is going to be longer than what we are previously used to. It will be two metres away from us. So for that, we need long barreled guns because the targets will be further away and we need more power and speed to hit the birds. Not only will we tweak our techniques a little but the angles from which we shoot are going to get more difficult," Smit adds.

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