Skeet derives from an American shoot called "around the clock" where the shooter shot at the targets from 12 positions corresponding to the hours on a watch. Nowadays the positions have been reduced to 8 positioned on a semi circular scheme with a radius of 19,20 meters.

At each end of the semi circle there are the "houses", a high one on the left called "pull" and a low one on the right called "mark". The shooter waits with the gun low for the target to be thrown and has one shell for each target; height and direction of the targets are fixed and it is the shooter who, by moving from one station to the other, changes his position toward the trajectory of the target. The trajectory and the sequence of the targets are known to the shooter and are always the same in every competition; the targets can be thrown singularly or simultaneously from the two machines

Ready Position

Shooting Position

 In skeet, men move through a semicircular range featuring eight shooting stations. At each station, single and/or double clay targets are thrown at least 65 meters from the high (10 feet) or low (three feet) house on either side of the range.The four-inch clay disks travel at up to 55 miles per hour, and competitors may fire one shot per target.

Competitors hold their 12 gauge shotguns at hip level until the target appears, which can be anywhere from 0-3 seconds after their call. Skeet has been a men's Olympic event since 1968, with the exception of two Games (1988, 92) during which it was open to both men and women. Womens skeet was first conducted at the Sydney 2000 Olympics

The Guns: Skeet guns have open chokes, which spread shot pellets at a wider radius. The barrels measure 26-28 inches in length.

Course of Fire: The match consists of 125 targets, shot in five rounds of 25 over two days. Three rounds are fired on day one; two rounds plus the final are shot on day two. Womens event consists of 75 targets and a final of 25 targets, in one day.

Finals: After the 125(75)-target match, the top six competitors advance to a 25-target final round. Medals are awarded based on aggregate (match plus final) scores.

Perfect Aggregate Score: 150 (100) targets.