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I think it is possible to do too much reading and thinking about how to do it. It took me a while to realise that.

My old man was a terrifically good wing shot, to the extent that he would do it with a .22, just for giggles, because a shotgun was too easy. He never could explain it to me though, or at least in a way that made sense to me. He would just see the bird and shoot it. I don't think he ever gave it a moment's thought.

Meantime, as a kid I would read about various theories on lead, and yet on any shot where I had time to think about it I'd likely miss. On a shot where I had no time to think, such as a bird erupting under my feet and catching me out, I'd have no such difficulty.

It took me a while to put two and two together, and that was helped by another bloke, who had been a champion shot and could also explain how to do it (the two don't always go together), and from reading Ruffer, and that was that I was missing the easy ones because I was thinking about leading - overthinking it in fact. This bloke (and Ruffer) both pointed out that your brain is perfectly capable of doing this subconsciously, so long as you don't let your conscious thinking get in the way. He also showed me the importance of gun fit and a smooth moving mount, just as you say, and firing as soon as the buttplate hits your shoulder. Forget about lead, and your subconscious will attend to it for you.

That is how I do it. I don't think about lead at all. I focus on the bird - in fact on the head of the bird if I can see it, or on the clay, and stay focussed on that as the gun comes up, hits my shoulder and goes bang. I don't think about anything, least of all lead. I don't look at the barrels, or anything else but the bird or clay. I have shot a good deal of sporting clays, as well and gamebirds, pest birds, ducks and ground game, and a bit of trap too. Won my share of prizes as well. This is what works for me.