What does that Black Line mean?
Posted On: 02-20-2024
Amateur Trap Shooting Handbook
Section VII – Official Scoring: Procedure E: Part 10: Page 30.
When firing, the contestant’s feet must be behind the firing mark at
16- yards, or behind the mark for the Handicap yardage assigned
to him/ her, depending upon the event being participated in. The
contestant must stand with at least one foot on an imaginary line
drawn through the center of the trap and continuing through the center
of the post or have one foot on each side of the line. Exceptions to
the rule contained in the second sentence of this paragraph may
be granted by the referee/scorer due to inequalities in the shooting
platform, and shall be granted for wheelchair contestants. Wheelchair
contestants shall position their chair so that the center of mass of
their body is over the place where they would stand as required by
this rule if no chair were used. If a contestant fails to follow this rule in
its entirety, the referee/scorer shall rule any target fired at and broken
a “NO TARGET,” but if fired at and missed, the referee/scorer shall
rule the target “LOST.”
Boy that is a lot of conversation about the black line! Let’s clear this up a little. First you must stand behind the black line. Because there are inconsistencies at ranges regarding the width of the line, you are better off to not challenge that and stay behind the line.
Second, you may rotate your body and footwork to allow an imaginary line to pass through at least one foot. This makes a lot of sense because as a right-handed shooter you rotate to the right from post one to post five and as a left-handed shooters you begin aligned left and rotate the other direction as you move to station five.
Now here is where a foul can occur and that is when you crowd your feet to one side of the box in such a way that neither foot is on that imaginary line crossing through the center. In other words, you have both feet on one side or the other side of the box. You must have at least one foot on that imaginary line.
There is a reference in this procedure for inequalities in the shooting platform. By this and is often seen at shooting ranges are parts of the station have cracked or have heaved due to cold weather and are no longer level. Should this be the case you must consult the scorer to gain approval for different foot placement.
Now let me add something else I see often and that is feet that are not at the black line, but sometimes several inches behind the line. The idea is to shoot 16-yard targets not 16-yard 6-inch targets. Be consistent, and perhaps your pre-shot routine includes sliding one foot or the other towards the black line and stopping at the line. Often this is a good way to begin to focus and prepare to shoot.
CORRECT CORRECT INCORRECT
David R. Vaught, Ph.D.
Executive Director