Posted by mako on January 21, 2001 at 22:47:47:
I got frustrated practicing today. Doing everything very methodically, "zen'ing" out before lifting the pistol, trying to concentrate on basics and still not maintaining good groups.
So I said to heck with it and started shooting fast. Shot some of the tightest groups that I've ever achieved! Still the occasional bad "flyer," but also as many as seven out of ten touching each other, straddling the ten circle.
I couldn't maintain this, I had already shot about 150 shots and my shoulder was getting sore, but how come I was able to shoot some pretty decent, very tight groups while just shooting almost as fast as I could? While shooting methodically I would get a couple of good 10's and then shot a seven or eight even though I thought it was going to be a pretty decent shot!?
Posted by Patrick Bennett on January 21, 2001 at 22:59:15:
Someone posted a useful tip here about being able to hold still just after getting into your aiming point. I have tried this and it seems to work. Although many shooters may know that if they keep holding in the hope of getting that perfect sight picture they will get more of a wobble up, I'm not sure that they avoid this problem by releasing their shots off quicker. It works for me.
Posted by Ed on January 21, 2001 at 23:01:37:
I would suggest that if you thought really hard about how you applied the trigger, you would find that on your faster paced ones, you were more aggressive and therefore had a more continuous force from start to fire. You may have been able to accept your hold better, as well. The ones that took more time were likely displaying a hesitation in the trigger while trying to make everything look too perfect.
Ed
Posted by Bob LeDoux on January 21, 2001 at 23:53:54:
I find that I group better when I move onto the target, taking up part of the second stage as I go, and release the shot as soon as the sight picture looks good. If I take more than a couple of seconds sighting on the target, the wobbles begin.
One challenge with this approach is to learn the trigger pull well enough to know to abort before a bad shot is taken.
Another challenge is to learn to avoid jerking the trigger because it looks good.
One question to ask is whether you can maintain this technique under competitive pressure?
This approach completely changes some of the traditional teaching approaches. Coordinating the movement of the sight picture into the aiming area while taking up pressure is more complex than just putting the sights in one area and increasing pressure.
But the traditional technique doesn't work for me--I wobble all over the place.
I have also found that wobble very much increases when I tense up my muscles, when I try to "reach" for the target with the pistol, when my grip is too loose or too tight, and when my mental state is tense.
One approach I am working on is "dry pointing." I move onto the target, like I'm shooting, but I don't pull the trigger. I then try to change different elements in my technique to see their effect on wobble. this approach has taught me much about the subtleties of technique.
I'm finding that subtle differences have a big effect on my scores and my shooting technique. What's difficult is learning to recognize the subtle differences and associating them with score outcomes.
Pulling all of these variations into a workable system has dramatically brought up my scores. But I still find myself losing it now and then, and having to stop, review and figure out what is going wrong.
A diary really helps avoid repeating mistakes. The frustration is high when I find myself repeating a mistake that took a couple of weeks to overcome, but I failed to document how I fixed the problem. Then I have to re-learn the solution all over again.
This is rambling, but I hope it helps. For someone like me, who is not a "natural," good scores come from work, and building on past mistakes.
Posted by TCooper on January 22, 2001 at 00:21:18:
I'm far from an experienced 10m shooter so I won't give my opinion. I will give an opinion of an olympic level shooter.
I was watching a video by Dynamit Nobel on 10m air pistol. The shooter was a German champion. The video was an excellent source of info.
This German champ only holds 3-4 seconds on target. He says this technique helps prevent wobble. After 6-7 seconds you are depleting yourself of oxygen enough to effect your vision and promote wobble. Muscles and eyes need lots of oxygen to function 100%.
This shooter starts above the target with a good breath and lets it out as he lowers gun to hold position. The shot is taken in 3-4 seconds from reaching hold position or start over because the wobble starts up.
FWIW,
Todd
Posted by Don on January 22, 2001 at 01:19:01:
Mako: I agree with everything that the other wrote. Almost everyone that I know that is a good to great shooter rarely holds more than a couple of seconds on target before releasing the shot or relaxing and doing it over. In no case should you ever hold more than 3-4 seconds. No matter what others may say, the longer you hold the less likely the shot is to be good. That is unless you are very!!! strong and can hold still for long periods. But, 99.99% of shooters can't do that. Get on target, good sight alignment and get the shot off NOW.
Posted by Larry Lohkamp on January 22, 2001 at 02:50:12:
Being methodical has nothing to do with 'Zen'. Being methodical is thinking the shot, while 'Zen' generally refers to shutting off your brain and letting your body do the work of aligning the sights and pulling the trigger. It is an amazing experience when it happens.
Shooting quickly is closer to the Zen concept, in that you do not have time to let your brain interfere with the process. This is a common experience for shooters (especially new ones) in the rapid fire portion of standard pistol and bullseye. Many people do not realize that the same de-coupling of the brain helps slow fire events like 10-meter and Free Pistol. Being systematic and methodical is how you train your body to perform. At some point you should be able to stop thinking it through and let things just flow. A useful exercise is to force your focus onto something else so that you can't interfere. Counting the seconds since your last breath is enough sometimes. You can try spelling 3 and 4 letter words backwards if counting isn't enough. I understand that a very fine lady shooter repeats 'kill, kill, kill, … while she shoots.
The amount of time you hold should be fairly short. Few coaches recommend less than 3 or 4 seconds, most recommend no more than about 5. US Army studies seem to indicate a maximum of 6 or 7 seconds to rapid disintegration.
Larry
Posted by jrwilson@ix.netcom.com on January 22, 2001 at 23:19:31:
I also can't suggest what's right as I've only been
shooting 10m for a very short time. However, I took
some good advice that worked for me from a better shooter
(actually it was you! :) and only take a few seconds to align the sights and if it
takes any longer -- I just abort. After watching Yifu's
free pistol technique, it seems to be along the lines
advice on this topic.
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