Posted by Cole on April 28, 2001 at 21:17:38:
Hi, guys. With my Daisy
853, in 3-position Air Rifle, I'm managing 95s in prone and kneeling, but my
standing sucks. My average is 78. I've nailed 80 right on the head a few times,
and even 87 once, but never over 90. This is really bothering me. I have a big
match coming up next weekend, and I still can't boost my standing scores over
80! I REALLY REALLY need to do better than 270(my current avg). I dunno if it's
my stance, or my trigger control, breathing(the latter two I doubt, considering
the K and P scores...), or what, but something needs to be helped. 85 would be
nice. I know, I know, practice, practice, practice, but it hasn't really helped
much so far....
Posted by Coach John on April 29, 2001 at 13:43:07:
I just came back from
the World Cup where I watched some interesting technique. One observation I want
to share with you is the way the German Rifle Team (men & women) set-up for
the shot. Every shooter on the line had a setup technique, but the German team's
method was unique.
All shooters on the line had a relaxation moment after
they picked up there rifle (with some taking more time than others). Alexandra
Schneider of the German Team won the gold medal and took the most time to set up
for the shot. Here's my observation.
During the finals, the match director
gave the following command: ATTENTION!..3..2..1..START!
At which 1 minute 15
seconds appeared on the timer.
Alexandra took between 25-30 seconds during
the finals to set up before placing her cheek on the comb. Alexandra's setup
sequence appeared to be as follows: When "ATTENTION!" was given Alexandra lifted
her rifle from the rest and paid attention to the fit of the butt onto her
shoulder (4-5 seconds) she then placed her forward elbow and checked for inner
position and sight alignment (3-5 seconds). Next she turned her head 90 degrees
away from the target and placed her chin on the comb for approximately 13-16
seconds. It appeared she used this time to let her muscular tension and heart
rate calm down and her body sways to settle from the effects of lifting and
positioning her rifle. I also think she was focussing her attention on shooting
a TEN. After 23-26 seconds from START!, Alexandra placed her cheek on the comb,
checked for proper sight alignment and fired the shot (app. 6-7 seconds). By the
time she placed her cheek on the comb, all psychological physical tension
was gone.
It seemed that about half of the shooters on the line had already
fired there shot before Alexandra had placed her cheek on the comb. She was the
last to shoot with around 40 seconds remaining on the shot clock.
It is my
opinion, her attention to detail, relaxation and psychological readiness in
setting up for the shot, made the difference.
You are obviously an
experienced shooter and don't have the luxury of using a stiff jacket, pants and
shooting boots, not to mention the rifle your using only weights 7 lbs.
But
with scores in the 540/600 range, I think I should be watching your technique
for tips.
Best of luck in the upcoming match.
Coach John
P.S. It's
time to move up to Precision 3-P and Int'l Air Rifle
Posted by Cole on April 29, 2001 at 18:51:50:
How do you get a 540/600? They had scores written like that for the Olympics.
Is it standing only? Do you fire 60 shots? If you shoot 540/600 you must be
pretty good! That's about 270 in 3 Position. If you shoot 540s, and it IS
standing only, you're getting around an avg of 9 for each shot! Why were you
watching Alexandra? You should have been shooting with her!!
Cole
PS
Would like to move up, but I shoot with my JROTC team, and they do 3P Sporter.
Posted by Michael Ray on April 30, 2001 at 09:30:42:
I'll throw in my 2
cents worth.
How is your foundation? If it isn't the best it can be, you're
going to get unnecessary movement. Then you can start worrying about what some
of the others have suggested.
I'm assuming you can't wear shooting boots
since you do sporter so what are you wearing? If you have shoes with lots of
cushion like most tennis shoes, it will be more difficult to balance. As an
experiment, you may try shooting without shoes if you've been wearing something
like that. Some studies have shown that is the best anyway, though impractical
in many situations.
Aside from the actual footwear, how do you have the
weight on your feet? You don't want it on the balls or the heels but evenly
distributed. You will sway less then. It's easiest to see this if you stand with
your eyes closed and focus on how much your feet are moving (adjusting) to keep
you upright. Do it for a minute in each scenario (ie, weight toward the balls,
evenly distributed, and weight toward the heels).
In a similar fashion, you
don't want excessive weight on the inside or outside of either foot as the body
will correct for that as well (aside from tiring out much sooner). This seems to
be more of a personal preference so see if it works better for you. For me, both
of my feet point outward just a bit (5-8 degrees) and my rear foot is about 2
inches behind my front one. Some say you should point your toes inward a little
which provides some free tension in the knees. Since you only have a few days
left I would caution you not to go too overboard. Just the act of changing
something may make your scores go up a bit simply for the fact that you're
concentrating more on this new position or one of the techniques the others
mentioned. It may not work out too well for you in the long run though. You
usually need to work with position changes for at least a couple weeks to
determine if it was a good change or not.
In prep for your next major goal,
you need to think about what muscles are causing the most trouble. Think about
what about the position does not feel right. All this should be done by dry
firing. You will be wasting pellets otherwise. Every few practices fire groups
to check your progress (WITHOUT a scope). You need to focus on your body and
your performance, not score. That will take care of itself if you do your part.
OK, so you got more like 5 cents worth.
Posted by Cole on April 30, 2001 at 17:57:34:
I do most of that. I usually
shoot without shoes, but they are now requiring me to have shoes(not boots). I
had a pair of hard-sole dress shoes that I used, but a dog at the match ran off
with one! Grrrrr...
I'll try some of that foot stuff, but it's pretty much
already covered. Thanks a lot!
Cole
PS I'd rather have one nickel than
two pennies any day!
Posted by Michael Ray on May 01, 2001 at 08:28:51:
: I do most of that. I
usually shoot without shoes, but they are now requiring me to have shoes(not
boots). I had a pair of hard-sole dress shoes that I used, but a dog at the
match ran off with one! Grrrrr...
Just watch the soles can be fairly slick on
those and your feet can move a bit without being able to tell sometimes. You've
got the right idea though.
So if your foundation is pretty sound, move up and
make sure the hips are parallel to the line of fire. Lots of people tend to
twist their legs around rather than above their hips so they don't get a good
tightening in the back.
Make sure elbow is placed the same, hand and cheek
pressure are the same, head is upright and not tilted.
It all sounds so easy
but it's amazing how many people cannot tell they are being inconsistent or
doing something poorly.
Then work on your individual shot plan like some
others have suggested. Every shot whether it's practice, sighter or match should
be treated the same way with the same intensity.
: PS I'd rather have one
nickel than two pennies any day!
Wouldn't we all!
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