Just Less Than A Second

Posted On: 04-26-2022

I tell this story often to youth shooters in relating the time they really have in the act of trap shooting.  I offer that it takes less than a couple of seconds to shoot an entire round of trap.  Most are confused and question my math, but as I explain it becomes clear when I relate it to golf.

When asked the question how long does it take to play a round of golf most will says 2.5 to 3 hours.  I confuse them too by saying, “No it only takes about a second to play a round of golf.”  I explain that while a lot goes on in a round of golf in regard to pre-shot, the swing and the stroke, the ball only touches the surface of the club for a few milliseconds.  So over perhaps 75-100 shots in a round the total time the golfer actually strikes the ball is very low.  As well, movements before the ball touches the club have a ton to do with the shot, but what happens after the ball strikes the club is out of the golfers control.

The same analogy is true in shooting sports. We have either elaborate or simplistic pre-shot routines, the footwork, the mount and the hold points, the vocalization of “pull” and then the target is released.  The moment of truth in which we actually pull the trigger is the same as in golf in that only a few milliseconds are required and just the same, once the trigger is pulled the shooter has no control over the flight of the shot stream.

Perhaps this is over-simplified, but consider a person could do a handstand, jump up and down, and roll a summersault before pulling the trigger and still execute the act of pulling the trigger and maybe even hit the target.  Not saying they will hit anything, but nonetheless they can still pull the trigger.  We argue though that what we do before we pull the trigger makes all the difference in the world as to how well we shoot.  But little argument can be constructed saying anyone has control of the shot steam after we pull the trigger. 

Some food for thought here is all.  Either pulling the trigger or striking a golf ball, the true act of defining the sport lies in a few milliseconds.  

David R. Vaught, Ph.D.

Executive Director