I shot pistols competitively for 25 years. 4 1/2 years ago I started enjoying sporting clays. I took lessons from two very good instructors and reached a level that at first I was comfortable with. I am very competitive so I started competing. For two years I was stuck and was not improving. Many friends and fellow competitors would give me advice but nothing helped. A friend suggested that I contact Nick Berry. I did not know Nick, but occasionally saw his name at the top of many west coast sporting clays competitions. The first lesson with Nick was an eye opening experience. He could see easily what my issues were. He slowly and confidently developed a plan for me. Instilling in me the concept of “You must have a plan for every report or true pair.” If your plan is correct, the plan will and does work. Nick has the ability, like no other I have come across, to read exactly what I am doing incorrectly when I miss. He also has that same ability to perceive what I did right when I break a clay. It is obvious that I broke it but what were the components that went into the successful plan. If you want to up your game whether for enjoyment or competition, Nick is your guy. We are very lucky to have him in So. Cal.
Though I have been shooting sporting clays for a long time, I recently decided to start shooting sporting clays competitively and work my way up through the NSCA classes. After my first few shoots I quickly realized that, even though I have a lot of shooting experience, I really didn’t know how to read targets and improve to the level I desired. I have taken lessons from many instructors over the years, but the lessons always left me with more questions than answers until I met Nick Berry. Nick’s approach gave me a different perspective on how to look at the targets and improve my scores. I now have more confidence in my pre-shot plan and a better understanding of where I can break the bird the best. I feel Nick uses an individual approach and tries to work within the limits of the shooters current level to develop confidence and improve scores. Nick has the ability to see your misses, explain why and give accurate corrections. Not only am I shooting better, I am able to build on his training and improve my scores which makes sporting clays more fun for me than ever before.
After being frustrated at being plateaued for a year (or more), with no relief in sight, I started looking for someone I could talk with and would be able to move me off the current sticking point. I knew what my issues were but had no solution which would not negatively impact on my scores.
In late 2019 I shot with Nick and found him to be quite personable and approachable. We commutated in the following weeks and I took a 2 day lesson with Nick, at 2 different clubs with drastically different weather conditions and terrain types. Within the first 5 minutes of day 1 Nick identified the major flaws in my game and we started working to correct the issues and move towards sustained improvement.
Nick has a very easy to understand system that is easily integrated into ones game. I took my lesson at the same time as a buddy and now when shooting practice we help each other follow the system strictly. Possibly the biggest benefit to having a well-defined system to follow is the ability to diagnose not just where a person missed but why.
I highly recommend a lesson with Nick. He has the ability to work with a shooters current ability and move them to the next level (whatever that may be) quickly and with confidence. Practice will be much more meaningful, efficient and productive, post lesson. New and advanced shooters alike will benefit from Nick’s instruction. An additional benefit to working with Nick is his availability post lesson to answer questions.
Nick has been an excellent instructor. He does a great job of explaining and breaking down techniques, he has been a great help with my mental game. I highly recommend Nick to step up your shooting.
Nick Berry is an accomplished shotgun instructor with excellent communication skills. He has helped me immensely with technical targets.
I have been a long time self-taught shooter. My first lesson with Nick could have not gone better. Between tuning in the fit of my gun to working on my strengths and weaknesses on the course, his instruction is clear and demands execution to progress. It’s brought a higher level of motivation to my shooting and I can’t wait to keep working with him to achieve my highest potential.
I’ve had numerous instructors in the last 3 years. Nick was the first one to give me materials to take away that will guide me to improve my shooting. Some of the areas of focus are, eye dominance, gun fit, pre shot routine, reading targets, and planning. I was beginning to lose some enthusiasm and this lesson has rekindled my love of the sport. I can’t say enough good things about how Nick empowered me with a repetitive process that I can use to challenge myself. I now use less than 1/4 the number of shells in my practice routine with an intelligent process that helps me identify my weaknesses. I am surprised at the money I’m saving using my new skills. I highly recommend Nick as an instructor for all levels of shooters.
I have always been a recreational shooter not a tournament shooter. It was not until I retired at 65 that I was able to move up the classes to achieve Master Class at the age of 70. Over the years I have watched most of the Videos and taken lessons from a number of nationally known Instructors. I would rank Nick up there with the best of the best. He is able to break everything down into the basics of developing a plan, verifying your plan, and executing your plan with total focus on the target. A lot of instructors teach you how to break a target, but not a lot of them teach you how to break 4 or 5 pairs in a competition. There is a big difference. You will not find a more enthusiastic and dedicated sporting clays instructor than Nick. Your money and time would be well spent in taking lessons from Nick.
I started shooting sporting clays a short time ago and as my shooting progressed I saw an immediate need for an instructor that not only possessed the knowledge to help me take my shooting to the next level but also someone I could relate to and understand. My search for this type of instructor took me down many roads with limited success until I found Nick Berry. His ability to adapt a lesson plan to any skill level is without a doubt his biggest asset as an instructor. One of my biggest obstacles is that unknowingly I had a center dominance issue. Nick quickly diagnosed this and guided me through the correction process and in a short amount of time with his guidance I was able to learn to shoot in a way that opens up the door for great success in the future. I am constituently complimented by other shooters on how smooth and fluid my shooting form has become since I started working with Nick. I find it amazing from lesson to lesson that he knows exactly what he needs to instruct for where I am at in that moment, and it is obvious to me that he puts a lot of time and thought in helping me succeed. Once you start working with Nick it does not end when the current lesson is completed, he becomes a partner and is always in your corner and if you ever have any questions about what you are currently working on. I am extremely excited to be working with Nick and I am thankful for his knowledge, ability to instruct, and support, moving forward.
I was very fortunate as a young boy to have a Father that was an avid waterfowler & upland game hunter who took me with him every chance he had. After decades of hunting several of my friends convinced me to come out with them to shoot sporting clays. I did and I was hooked!
After shooting with them for several months they thought it would be a good idea for me to take a lesson. Nick was highly recommend! After a couple of lessons I started to see improvement. It’s about the fundamentals… Reading the Targets, Making a plan, taking the shot (matching the speed) and most of all Trusting yourself! Nick is a wonderful instructor and I’m looking forward to my next lesson.
Nick as a coach is great! He knows what he’s talking about and is very patient. He makes sure our time together is used well and checks up often through phone calls and texts to make sure I’m shooting well and is always available for questions if I need to ask anything. He’s very easy to get along with and wants to see everyone excel. My shooting has improved technically and mentally already in the short time I’ve worked with him.
I’ve had the chance to take shooting lessons with Nick when he visited France a few years ago. He is an incredible coach with great communication skills. He is able to cater his teaching style to every shooter. He sees mistakes and weaknesses very well and find ways to correct them. I am very thankful that I’ve been given the opportunity to work with Nick. My technical game has improved immensely.
I was struggling to break certain records and getting into YouTube I had the luck to run into my now good friend Nicolas Berry. I could see and studied his shooting style, sent him an email and from there he began to change my shooting horizon. I first started having virtual classes with Nick that consisted of sending videos of how I was shooting. He would study them and began to give me recommendations and advice. I began to see big changes in my game and this convinced me to gather several friends and we decided to offer Nick to come and give us classes in Mexico and he agreed. When he came to Monterrey Mexico to teach, we had an intense week with him. He personally already changed my way of seeing the shot through the virtual classes, but there was still some work to do even though he already polished my way of shooting and corrected in what who was struggling like,
1- Be soft on my shotgun grip.
2- Rotate my body using your hips.
3- Balance my body 50/50.
4- Make a pre-shot routine before starting to shoot.
5- Match the speed of the target with my shotgun barrel.
6- At any point, my shotgun should not go faster than 1mph to 2mph compared to the speed of the target.
7- Work on the timing that I must have between two pairs since I was shooting too fast.
8- Hard & Soft Focus
9- I work in my sports psychology. (this was the most important)
All these were his recommendations and advice to be able to go from the 80s to the 90s and boy, did it work! Adding that I have to recognise the patience and knowledge that Nick was able to transmit to his students, this made me feel very comfortable and not pressured. Consequently this allowed me to have a better uptake than Nick transmitted to me. Thanks Nick for your excellent shooting clinic. Thank you for your patience and your ability to transmit your knowledge. 100% recommended on my end!
Had two 1×1 (2hr) sessions with Nick in 2019, had been shooting for almost a year before the sessions and was at the high end of the beginner range, after the sessions had a really noticeable improvement which now puts me on the high end of intermediate. Nick focused on three main things thru the sessions ( Strategy , Form, Gun fit), the combination of having a better shot strategy, shooting the right way and having your gun fitted to YOU makes a huge difference and Nick was able to teach the three things effectively and simply. Another great thing about Nick’s style is that he tried to adapt as much as he could to how you already shot and made improvements to that, instead of pushing to completely change your shooting style/process. I would recommend Nick anytime for sessions ranging from beginner to advanced.
When I took the shooting lessons, I had 1 and half years shooting, at that point the only knowledge I had was from shooters and friend from the club
The shooting lessons with Nik had been a great experience, they basically cover 3 main points that most shooters said they were esencial for a good lesson
- Have a good gunfit
- Don’t start from zero, get better at the way you are shooting
- Private clases, NO groups
In my personal experience, the shooting lessons helped me to:
– Be confident that my gun is well fitted
– Understand why I miss a target, and plan the correct way to shoot it
– Have a better concentration in order to increase my score
All of us that took the lessons increased the average scores we were getting by that time, making cristal clear the effectiveness of the lessons, additionally all 10 participants are convinced on have a second lesson with Nik to continue improving our shooting scores.”
After more than 10 years of shooting I took lessons from Nick. Wow! My score and confidence improved a lot. I am very grateful to Nick, he is an excellent instructor and person. Highly recommended!!