These disciplines are where most Olympic and Universal Trap shooters started out and developed their competition skills. Although technically easier than the International Trap disciplines, DTL and ABT are just as competitive. For major DTL competitions nothing less than a maximum score of 100/300 is required to secure a place in the final, even a single point dropped could take you down the leader board so concentration skills and a consistent shooting style are vital.
Down The Line
Down the Line (DTL) or ATA (US), is the most basic of all the trap disciplines. Standard targets are thrown as singles. The horizontal direction is randomised with a maximum angle of 22 degrees measured from a line from the trap to the middle station. The height at which the targets are thrown is constant. The distance is constant at 50 yards. A squad of five shoot in rotation from five stations arrayed in an arc located 16 yards behind the traphouse; 5 targets are thrown at each station, after which the shooters move to the next station on their right. A round is 25 targets with one shot allowed at each target. An English variation is called Down-The-Line, a two-barrel discipline that allows two shots at a single target with a scoring penalty for a second-barrel hit.
Automatic Ball Trap
Also referred to as ABT, Wobble in the US, or Continental. Like Down the Line (DTL), the horizontal direction is randomised, but also the target vertical height is varied from l.5 to 3.5 meters. The horizontal throwing angle is widened from the DTL 22 degrees to 45 degrees. The distance is set at 75 meters. Squads of six shooters shoot in rotation as in Universal and Olympic Trap. Two shots are allowed at each target with no penalty scoring. Because ABT requires a single trap, ranges are much cheaper to build than an Olympic Trap range (15 Traps), as a result many shooting grounds all over the UK have ABT ranges, making ABT one of the most accessible Clay Shooting disciplines.
Mark Hampton - one of many successful Olympic Trap shooters who started out in Down the Line