I shoot straight grips, pistol grips, single triggers and double triggers equally poorly, and can switch from any configuration to any other without any forethought or problems.
As for the English and straight grips........... anyone who has ever shot straight gripped guns with heavy loads will realize very quickly that you give up, for a fraction of a second, control over the gun during recoil. More so than with any other grip configuration. The English, for the most part, leaned toward lighter loads in their guns than we Americans. I shoot a 32" A grade Fox which has 3" chambers and a straight hand stock, a lot. I can notice the recoil, though the recoil itself is a non-issue, causing increased effort to get on the second bird, clearly as I progress from 1 oz. loads on up through heavier duck loads. Even though this is my favorite sporting clays S x S I have quit using it in competition just because of the control issue, even with 1 1/8 oz. loads. I can control my 30" BSS much better.
I know Nash B. used a straight gripped gun with heavy loads, but he was a much more athletically built man than me. I'm 6'2" at 165#, and maybe I'm just a wimp.
