Chasing technology

In this sport, like all others, technology present us with “new and improved” all the time. I’m a huge fan of video equipment that show me or my students for that matter, what we’re doing wrong. I say that because one of my favorite pieces of technology is the ShotKam. I love the thing; it’s been my best coach to date bar none. There is just simple draw back…they keep producing newer models with better feature, faster download speed and increase resolution in the video.

The point here is probably obvious and is that you can go broke chasing after the latest and greatest in technology, whether it be a new gun or ancillary equipment like the ShotKam. At some point, you need to decide where to draw the line when it comes to equipment purchases. My thoughts on this have changed, and now that I’ve been in the sport a few years I can make a case for the need to spend more money on ammunition and range time than on technology. There is nothing that beats time spent shooting presentations to get better at shooting presentations. I talk more about how to practice later on, but I will say here that there is no substitute to actually shooting clays. You need to decide, based on your experience level, which will benefit you most, a piece of technology or more ammo and range time. Mind you a couple of years ago, when I bought my first ShotKam, the money was well spent. I had a hard time trying to figure out why I was missing targets. I would try to change what I was doing with presentation that were giving fits, but somehow just couldn’t seem to get a handle on my shortcomings. In that case the expense for a piece of technology was worth every penny to me. However, at this juncture in my shooting life, a new camera isn’t worth the costs…or rather the cost of a new camera is outweighed by the benefit that comes from spending that money on ammo and clays.