"now for the first time I can see the rings on the clay and distinguish front from back."

Congratulations! You are getting there!

This reminds me of the first time that I was "ON" from the high house shooting clays international style.
The bird seemed to stop mid range and then shatter into dust!
Damn, what a great feeling! Did not miss a bird the rest of that round; too bad that is not always the case.

NRA Patron, TSRA, Whittington Center, DWWC,DRSS
Reloading Ballistics App at http://www.xplat.net/