What is the ready position in skeet?

The READY position, held "at the moment the athlete calls and until the target(s) appears":

• both feet entirely within the station boundaries;

• the shotgun held with both hands;

• the stock in contact with the body;

• the toe of the stock on or below the official marker tape, plainly visible to the referee.

• The marker tape: 250 mm long, 30 mm wide, yellow, with the ISSF logo, permanently fixed to the outer shooting garment.

• Where it goes: immediately below the point of the elbow when the athlete stands straight with the upper arm vertical and the forearm level. Two jury members check it and seal it.

• The vest: must not be made of stretch fabric or have anything that could adjust its fit.

• Time limits: the athlete must occupy the station within 10 seconds of the previous athlete leaving it, and has 30 seconds in total to call for all the targets of that station.

• First violation of the ready position, time or feet: a yellow card and a no target.

• Second or later violation of the same kind: the target is lost, with a green card.

• A tape in the wrong place: an athlete found in violation at a random check must be disqualified.

Mounting the gun as the target flies is the skill skeet sets out to test. Without the rule athletes would stand with the gun already at the shoulder, as in trap. The tape gives the referee a fixed line to judge by on every athlete, whatever their build.