when I get a kid having issues I put a target stand on the roof of the house with 8 foot 1x2s and cardboard at the top, draw a clay size dash in the middle back up to 30 yards 3 yards past the 27 yard line and have them shoot
lots of them need to know where to hold their gun patters high or low

good form ,the angle is right , cheek down well bead lined up , bird sitting right on the bead

it is amazing how few people pattern a shotgun

we talk about follow and through taking that mental snap shot of what the sight and target looked like when you broke the trigger , in rifle shooting calling the shot before you see what it hit
same thing applies in trap once you get to doing it you often know your going to miss as the trigger broke
especially the pump gun users that is the time to rack the slide and get back on the bird as good practice because that is how you pick up birds in the field.

my son was shooting trap league last fall got such a pattern going he was shooting 24s and 25s but when he had to shift gears to 3gun practice the first bird I threw him he smokes it then drops his gun to his hip and ejects the shell into his hand and places it in his pouch. SO much muscle memory. I had 2 more clay in the air and was like what the heck man don't get into the birds only come one at a time if you plan to shoot anything but trap.

As usual, that seems like a some great shooting advice from GCP.

Seriously, man... I think they need a full time gun rack editor at F-F-G since Ed Hall retired. You would be excellent at it!

I’ve seen some awfully good shooters go less than full. It depends on how you shoot, and take the bird.
Some take the bird well before the peak and have a bit of a reason for a spread string opening quicker.

Osky

I mainly use a Remington 1100 Competition Synthetic. If I'm shooting skeet with it, it obviously has a skeet tube in it, it is a little unwheeldy for that game. For trap the mod or imod gets the call, though sometimes the light mod is used. It all depends on weather and field conditions, wind, slow, high, low, curling birds. Sporting, on a duffers course generaly I use the skeet tube, maybe the ic. On a big boy course or a tournament I carry two tubes, a light mod and an improved mod. It has never had the full tube put in it. For ammunition, skeet I use 7/8 ounce of 9's. Trap practice I use 7/8 of 7 1/2's, league shooting I use 1 ounce of 7 1/2's. Sporting I use 7/8 or 1 ounce depending on target presentation, always 7 1/2 shot.

I have shot competatively since 1972, started in college. In my college days I would go through 1000 rounds +/- a week. I didn't pay a dime, other than tuition, school payed for it all. My game was International Trap. Two shots at every target, break it then break the biggest piece. I wore out a tournament grade 1100 trap in a year. I then went to a Winchester Super X Model 1 that I bought with my own money. Smoother, faster lock time, and better built. I still have it. It has always worn the Imod barrel it came with. The only parts that have ever been changed out were the magazine and hammer springs and the recoil buffer.

Life got in the way and my shooting slowed down quite a bit what with work, a wife and kids. It never stopped though, just slowed down. Now the kids are grown and out of the house. They all shoot very well. My son is a two time state junior champion, NSCA Sporting. My two daughters just shoot because they like to. We all hunt. One of the first things I learned in my shooting carrer is in the vast majority of cases a shooter doesn't miss a target because he has too much or too little choke. The target is missed because the muzzle wasn't put in the right place at the right time. The second thing I learned was I would rather chip my way to 200 straight than ink ball my way to a 199. Ink balled targets are just an ego thing. The "X" on the score sheet is the same for that ink ball as the target that gets broken in half.

Guess it depends on what you want to do. I never cared whether they became a poof or I chipped them. A hit was a hit. When I shot competitively I always used improved modified.

depends on if you are playing a game or getting practice for game birds

I want them dusted it tells me I was ON it and hit it with multiple pellets , if I get a chip that's great for a score but I would rather dust 21-22 with 3-4 misses than have a 25 with half of them chips

I hunt pheasants with no dog we are the dog so some of them run first and take flight 20-30 yards out I use a full on those and trap and I want to put them down right there.

For me, personally, a smoked bird is a huge confidence booster. Faith in technique, form and equipment. Once I start second-guessing ANYTHING my scores suffer.

I got to go with what Big Leo would say here " anything that has full in it" he win more trophies at shooting than most ever will.

Some use modified from 16 yd line. I am too slow.