As the 2013 Clay Shooting season starts to unroll, we’ve chosen some shooters we will be keeping an eye on over the season to see how they progress. The first of our tips for 2013 is Ronnie Green, a junior shooter from Kent who has been getting noticed in the medal places at a number of shoots. I caught up with Ronnie to find out a little bit about him – and what targets he has for the 2013 season.
ShootClay : Ronnie – thanks for taking time to talk to ShootClay – lets start by finding out a little bit about how you got started with clay shooting?
Ronnie : On the 22nd January 2011, The first clay I shot at I hit and this was after asking for a lesson for Christmas, I wanted to try clay Shooting for a long time but my dad said I would first have to have a lesson from a good coach to understand safety and to learn how to hold and mount a gun properly . From that day I have wanted to do nothing else, I just love it!
SC :Where do you usually shoot?
RG : My home ground is JJ’s Clay Shooting Club in Dartford although I shoot at as many different grounds I can for experience, I now shoot a fair bit at Greenfields Shooting Ground in Canterbury, I love it there and also at Southdown Gun Club because of the great variation of targets and settings.
SC : What has been your key achievement so far?
RG : It has to be earning my place in the Kent County sporting team. Its was a real achievement to qualify, to be accepted and then to have the opportunity to represent and shoot in the County championship.
In 2012, I won three colt titles “FITASC Kent County Champion”, “South East Inter Counties FITASC champion” and South of England Sporting Colt Champion. I was so proud when I received my badges.
SC : Looking forward what are your goals or aims for the 2013 season?
RG : My main goals are to re-qualify for the 2013 Kent County Sporting Team and concentrate on the county and regional championships as I think this will give me the experience I need to improve and progress on the competition circuit for 2013 – 2014. I will be entering a few Majors this year and hope to do well in those also.
I like to keep my goals achievable and will build on my achievements over the year but a bonus for me would be to make it into the CPSA’s top 5 colts at the end of 2013. I would be happy with that.
SC : Is there a specific area of your shooting that you will be focusing on during the season, what have you and your coach been working on during the winter break?
RG : I didn’t start shooting for the county until August 2012 so there is still so much to learn but I am very fortunate to have made some great friends and shooters in Kevin Howland, Scott Collett and Peter Kemsley who have all looked out for me.
I’m very lucky to have Kevin Howland agree to coach me towards the end of last year and we have been working on lots since then including basic and advanced shooting techniques. My focus is now on consistent technique. I did have a few “bogey birds” but we worked on these and their now gone.
I have also learnt that you have good days and bad days but as long as I have learnt something from the bad ones I’m happy as Kevin has taught me to use the experience to improve. He is very wise and won the Gamebore Gold Cup in 1995 as well as the English Open in 2010.
SC : What’s your equipment setup going to be for the 2013 season?
RG : I am very fortunate and grateful to have gained sponsorship support from the Worlds best cartridge makers Gamebore Cartridges. I use 28g Evo Sporting in different sizes depending on what discipline I’m shooting and they are awesome at any range but really smooth to shoot. I am also kindly sponsored by Just Choking.co.uk for my Muller Chokes, this cartridge and choke combination gives me a lot of confidence.
I wear MacWet gloves who also sponsor me and Sunglasses for Sport who sponsor my Oakley Shooting glasses, for me this is the best kit you can get. I also have a hand warmer…
SC : Which shoot are you most looking forward to taking part in during the 2013 season?
RG : I can’t wait for the County and inter county championships as this will get me ready for competing in the majors later on in the year. I am really looking forward The Essex Masters, British open Sporting and the Gamebore Gold Cup. These Competitions are brilliant to shoot no matter how you do although I will be going there to win my class.
SC : …and which shoot would you most like to win in 2013?
RG : I need to defend my County titles and would love to win the Essex masters and the Gamebore Gold Cup although I will try to win everything that I go in for. Its a lot for my first full year and I will do my best.
SC : Final question – if you could build you dream squad to shoot a major competition with – who would you shoot with?
RG : That’s not a hard question for me!
I would choose Mark Winser, Kevin Howland, Scott Collet, Jamie Brightman, George Digweed and Ben Husthwaite.
I think the mixture of styles, experience and world class shooting ability would be an amazing squad . I also think that if they were a team they would beat any other clay shooting team on the planet. I have seen them all shoot and they are just brilliant.
SC : Ronnie, thanks for taking time to talk to us – we’ll be watching closely during 2013 and cheering you on all the way!
If you want to keep up with Ronnies season – check out his website here
