What happens in a round of trap?

1. Five athletes stand on stations 1 to 5. The sixth waits on a marked spot, station 6, behind station 1.
2. The first athlete raises the shotgun to the shoulder and calls "loudly and crisply" for the target, which must be thrown at once.
3. The athlete may fire two shots at it.
4. When the result is known, the athlete on the next station does the same, and so on along the line.
5. After shooting, each athlete moves one station to the right once the athlete there has fired. The athlete leaving station 5 walks round behind the line to station 6.
6. This continues until everyone has shot at 25 targets.

• Which target: each station has a group of three machines in the pit in front. From each station an athlete gets 2 targets to the left, 2 to the right and 1 from the centre, in an order they cannot know.
• The call: shooters commonly shout "pull", which the glossary lists under pull. The rule asks only for a loud, crisp call.
• Moving safely: shotguns are carried open and unloaded between stations. An athlete may close the gun only after the previous athlete has completed their turn.
• Time: 12 seconds to call for the target after the previous athlete has fired and the result is registered.
• Before the round: test firing is allowed before an athlete's first round of the day, and targets are shown.

Trap tests reaction to a target going away at an unknown angle. Moving along the line gives every athlete the same mix of targets from the same five places, so nobody has an easier round than another.