Skeet shooting is a recreational and competitive activity where participants use shotguns to attempt to break clay targets which two fixed stations mechanically fling into the air at high speed and at a variety of angles. Skeet is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay shooting - alongside trap shooting and sporting clays. There are several types of skeet, including one with Olympic status (often called "Olympic skeet" or "international skeet"), and many with only national recognition. General principles For the American version of the game, the clay discs are in diameter, thick, and fly a distance of . The international version of skeet uses a target that is slightly larger in diameter [(110±1) mm vs. 109.54 mm], thinner in cross-section [(25.5±.5) mm vs. 28.58 mm], and has a thicker dome center, making it harder to break. International targets are also thrown a longer distance from similar heights, at over , resulting in higher target speed. The firearm of choice for this task is usually a high-quality, double-barreled over and under shotgun with 26- to 30-inch barrels and very open chokes. Often, shooters will choose an improved cylinder choke (one with a tighter pattern) or a skeet choke (one with a wider pattern), but this is a matter of preference. Some gun shops refer to this type of shotgun as a skeet gun. Skeet chokes are designed to produce a 30 inch shot pattern at 21 yards. Alternatively, a sporting gun or a trap gun is sometimes used. These have longer barrels (up to 34 inches) and tighter choke. Many shooters of American skeet and other national versions use semi-automatic shotguns and break-open over-and-under shotguns. The event is in part meant to simulate the action of bird hunting. The shooter shoots from seven positions on a semicircle with a radius of , and an eighth position halfway between stations 1 and 7. There are two houses that hold devices known as "traps" that launch the targets, one at each corner of the semicircle. The traps launch the targets to a point above the ground and outside of station 8. One trap launches targets from above the ground ("high" house) and the other launches it from above the ground ("low" house). At stations 1 and 2 the shooter shoots at single targets launched from the high house and then the low house, then shoots a double where the two