Three Electronics that might help your coaching

Posted On: 08-18-2025

I watch it and I do it – that is stand behind a shooter and try to determine how they hit or why they missed a target.  First, a coach’s eye is not down the barrel, so going back to a barrel being off just a little on the 16-yard line and the resultant error at 40 yards, it is easy to see how one cannot see what is going on down the sight line. 

The first one I have used is the ShotKam.  This is a tool that attaches to the underside of your gun barrel and will provide you feedback on where your gun was pointed in relation to the target it is recording.  A video is then available to your phone and from there one can see in slow motion, the shot stream, and the target and how the two intersect.   Visually, this is a great way to provide all shooters feedback on the relationship between the barrel sightline and the target.  We all know one can break a target in a variety of ways.  When I work with youth shooters so many break targets from the back side or in a following manner rather than a lead.  Often it is stopping the barrel or never really seeing the target and catching.  If one watches enough of these videos, they will start to see patterns that may need to be corrected. 

The second one I use is Garmin’s Xero S1 Trapshooting device.  First, unlike other devices this is only for trap shooting and targets that radiate away from the shooter.  There are options within the device for types of traveling outward targets, but trap is the primary use.   With the Xero S1 the feedback is much different from the Shotkam.  First, one gets data that can be reviewed both on your phone through an app or on the device. 

In trap mode I can review reaction time to target, the position of the shot in relation to the target, the distance at which the target was shot, and in addition one can review across the five stations of trap where all five shot streams were in relation to the target.  The data is downloadable and can be saved.  Perhaps one set of data I find most relatable to shooters is the capturing of where all five shots were across each station as shots clustered at points around a target.  The program also provides the percentage of left, right and straights as well as average shot speed and target speed. 

Finally, one last piece of electronics is the Clay Tracker or ShotTracker.  In more of a comparison to the ShotKam, the ShotTracker also attaches to the bottom of the barrel.  While both units provide a slow motion of the target and shot, the ShotTracker also records the movement of the barrel.  What one sees is how the shooter addresses the lead of the target.  Of all the devices, this one provides feedback that helps all shooters better understand how they arrive at a lead.  I have seen barrels literally all over the place and others with a perfectly smooth swing to the lead.  I have also seen barrels coming back to a lead and ones that make no sense as to why the trigger was pulled.  The feedback gives coaches something to work with as to how one sees and approaches their interpretation of a lead.  As a final point the ShotTracker notes the point at which the trigger was pulled and provides reference to where the trigger should have been pulled. 

For all of these devices be sure ask for discounts.  So, provide discounts to educational groups and teams so it is worth asking. 

David R. Vaught, Ph.D.

Executive Director