Gun Digest
 

Upping Your Game With Garmin’s Xero S1 Trapshooting Trainer

Elwood Shelton

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Utilizing radar and giving split-second feedback, the Xero S1 Trapshooting Trainer is engineered to get you breaking clays all the time.

Breaking clays sometimes, no big shakes. Breaking them every time you step to the line and holler Pull! that’s another story. It takes a load of practice to get steely at what’s essentially a simple game – be it trap, skeet or sporting clays. And, if you’re lucky, a little instruction. Either way, you’re looking at spending time and money to get good with your shotgun.

Garmin, of all companies, has come out with a little something that might streamline the process and make it more efficient. The Xero S1 Trapshooting Trainer is designed to give you near real-time feedback on every shot you take. Lead a clay, trail it, fail to complete your swing, the ingenious bit of technology lets you know in a split second, which is a godsend. Before, if you didn’t have an instructor over your shoulder, it was purely a guessing game.

Utilizing radar, the Xero S1 sets up simply – just place it in your proximity before a round – and provides a load of useful data on your performance. This includes:

Used correctly, this has the potential to be powerful feedback. The sort of stuff that can get you dusting clays in no time. Better yet, it will be on your own terms. Basically, you have an instructor at your beck and call.

All that said, the Xero S1 Trapshooting Trainer runs on the spendy side – MSRP $1,000. But overall that’s a small price for improved performance.

More from Garmin:

OLATHE, Kan./July 9, 2019 – Garmin International, Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today introduced the Xero™ S1 Trapshooting Trainer, the first near real-time shotgun trainer that provides immediate feedback and detailed analytics for every shot taken. Using Garmin Xero radar technology and computer vision, the Xero S1 gives shooting enthusiasts never-before-seen insight into shot dynamics, shooting accuracy and performance. Users can pair their mobile device to Xero S1 through the free Xero app for a comprehensive view of shot analytics and historical shooting data providing even greater insight to help improve proficiency.

“Shooting accuracy and performance have traditionally been determined by best-guesses, but not anymore,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice-president of global consumer sales. “The Xero S1 provides a new approach for trap shooters, both novice and seasoned, to better understand their strengths, weaknesses and natural biases, as well as their shooting equipment. This understanding helps lead to faster-improved shooting accuracy. Additionally, the S1’s upland training feature gives users the ability to practice upland situations in a controlled environment with friends.”

The Xero S1 is made for American Trap (singles/handicap) or upland training. Prior to starting a round of clay targets, the rugged, portable Xero S1 device is placed in proximity to a user. Within seconds of each shot, the Xero S1’s five-inch high resolution display provides feedback generated through S1’s use of Xero radar technology and computer vision. Information displayed on-screen includes distance from shot pattern’s center to the center of clay target for both hits and misses, clay distance at trigger pull, and reaction time. For hits, information on quality of clay-break is categorized through a unique S1 scoring method referred to as “break factor.” At the completion of a round, the Xero S1 displays a complete assessment of shots taken. Much more than just a scorekeeper, users can review hit or miss performance by station and clay launch angle, and see graphical placement of every shot in the round with its relative position to the clay target.

The Xero S1 allows users to set up profiles for various shooting parameters. Users can configure a wide range of variables about their trapshooting setup, such as barrel length, choke, shot size, and shot material. Users can then experiment with those various systems to optimize trapshooting performance. In the past, this process required lengthy data collection or was based on intuition. Now, gun fit, choke, and ammunition performance can be quantified.

When paired to the Xero app, shooting information from the device is automatically transferred to the user’s mobile device for an in-depth view of their performance. This information includes total rounds, total shots, hit percentage per round, hit percentage per station, shot speed, clay speed, reaction time, accuracy performance at left/center/right, average score, longest streak, best and worst stations, and graphs of performance over time. The Xero app hosts historical shooting data, so users can reference performance based on event, location, station, and more. For that truly exceptional round, users can also quickly and easily post their scores to their favorite social media platform through the app.

Xero S1 operates in multiple trapshooting modes:

Clay Practice: Logs data for shooting a standard round of trap or a custom practice session. Near real-time data feedback about each shot is displayed while in this mode with complete performance details available after the round.
Trap League Shoot: Logs data and tracks shooter’s station and score. Only the standard score is displayed during the round. Performance details are available after the round.

Tournament Mode: Logs data and tracks shooter’s station, shots and scores but only for post-round analysis. All performance details, including scorekeeping, will be hidden during competition.
Upland enthusiasts who want to stay active in the off-season will benefit from Xero S1 Upland mode. Using the precision of the Xero S1 trainer, users can optimize performance through data comparison on shot size and speed, choke restriction, gauge, and reaction time analysis. This data helps improve performance, characterize gun fit, help reduce game loss, and improve overall shot placement. The Xero S1 Upland mode also has a unique scoring system referred to as “Upland Factor” that allows for competition-based target practice with multiple users.

To learn more about Xero S1 and Xero app, please watch the “Getting Started” video. For live demonstrations, visit Garmin’s booth at the Amateur Trapshooting Association’s 2019 Grand American World Trapshooting Championships August 3-5 in Sparta, Ill. The Xero S1 runs on an internal rechargeable battery with a 2.5 hour run time (approximately eight rounds of trap) or can be run on external power. It is water rated to IPX7, so it can be used in all weather conditions. The Xero S1 is available now for a suggested retail price of $999.99.

For more information on the Xero S1, please visit www.garmin.com.

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