Soooo, what advice y'all got for the following: which choke, what load and what "shot setup"?
Of course I will start em with stationary targets to be sure they understand to shoot the clay and that we aren't dealing with a single projectile like they are accustomed to with rifles. We are all right-handed in this family so I'm debating on left to right birds or straight away birds once we graduate to the thrower. I'm thinking straight away and focus on hitting the bird at its "peak". It's an electric thrower that will be firmly anchored so I should be able to get them a repeatable target.
I/C choke with 7/8 loads of 7.5 or 8s. Start them with straight away birds from standing right behind the thrower, then right to left targets as that's a right handed persons most comfortable and natural swing. Save the left to right until they're having fun with the other two and are consistent with the other two. Left to right shots are notoriously easy for a right handed person to never catch up to the bird and/or stop swinging as they pull the trigger.
This is what I tell my kids for sporting clays. After you've seen a practice bird thrown, and in your mind you picture about where you want to break the bird, follow these steps:
1 Trace the bird"s path
2 Trace the bird"s path and move ahead of the bird
3 Trace the bird's path and move ahead of the bird and pull the trigger
4 Trace the bird's path and move ahead of the bird and pull the trigger and keep swinging.
kids pick up on things quickly, and have faster reflexes and better hand eye coordination than you and I will. Starting off with some good habits, and they'll be out shooting most adults fairly quickly.
Now, with all that said above, don't tell them any of this unless they're having trouble hitting the bird lol. They may just naturally shoot well, and you don't want to give them more to think about than is needed. Have fun!!