Hélice / ZZ

Hélice, also known as ZZ, replaces the clay disc with a spinning propeller-style target. Two plastic wings are attached to a small white centrepiece known as the witness, and the whole assembly spins rapidly as it is launched.

Because the target is rotating rather than gliding, it does not follow a smooth trajectory. It can climb, dive, veer sideways or change direction in flight, which is why Hélice is considered the closest modern equivalent to the unpredictability of live-bird shooting.

Every other clay discipline uses a target whose flight is essentially ballistic: once launched, a clay follows a predictable arc. A Hélice target is powered by its own rotation, so its path genuinely changes in the air and cannot be learned or memorised.

The scoring condition is also unique. In Trap, Skeet and Sporting a visible piece off the clay counts as a break. In Hélice the shot must separate the witness and that witness must fall initially inside the enclosure, so a hit that only damages the wings, or a late hit that carries the witness out of the ring in the air, does not score.

The equipment is different too: the targets are plastic propeller-style targets launched from dedicated machines rather than clay discs, and the ring is a dedicated installation rather than a field or course.

The targets are set on machines arranged in front of the shooting position inside a fenced ring. The shooter does not know which machine will launch, so the direction of the target is unknown until it moves.

Breaking the target is not enough on its own. To count as a good target, the shot must detach the white witness from the wings and the witness must fall initially inside the enclosed area. If it then bounces or rolls outside the enclosure, the target remains good. A witness that carries out of the enclosure in the air is not scored, which makes stopping the target early — while it is still well inside the ring — a fundamental part of the discipline.

Speed with control is the priority. Because the witness must fall inside the fence, shooters commit early, taking the target while it is still close and before its flight has had time to wander or carry towards the boundary.

Vision is central. The shooter cannot pre-plan a line, so the eyes stay wide and neutral across the machines and the gun follows whichever target actually appears. Hold point and stance are set as a balanced compromise that allows a fast move in any direction.

The break itself demands intent on the centre of the target rather than the wings, since only separating the witness scores. Many shooters treat the second shot as an integral part of the discipline: if the first shot fails to detach the witness, the follow-up must come immediately while the target is still inside the ring.

Competitions are shot over a number of targets announced in the programme. Shooters take their turn in rotation at the ring, and each target is judged as a kill only when the witness has been detached and comes to rest inside the fence.

Competitions are shot to the fixed programme of targets announced for the event, and the total of good targets decides the result. Placings, ties and shoot-offs are resolved according to the current FITASC rules for the discipline, or the rules of the federation sanctioning the event.

The discipline was developed in Belgium by Chevalier David de Lossy around 1960, as a way of preserving the challenge of live-bird shooting without live birds by using a mechanical target whose flight is genuinely erratic. It became established as ZZ and is known internationally as Hélice.

Hélice is governed internationally by FITASC — the Fédération Internationale de Tir aux Armes Sportives de Chasse — which accepted the discipline internationally in 1963 and continues to publish its rules and sanction its international championships. National federations affiliated to FITASC administer the discipline in their own countries.