Tips on Pistol Shooting

[tirpassion]

Dear friends,

Since I am late, I have started from the beginning. So I will talk about my experience with the first lessons.

Yesterday, I did the '8's and the Box drill on SA. I could only do 40 reps (20 each hand) of '8' (five '8's in each lift). Then I went straight to the SA box drill. 40 reps without any break. I reached a healthy 92.5% with larger arcs at the end but perfect SA image. Today's goal is 95% in 60 reps.
This exercise gave me a big boost. I understood that I can be quite stable and my so called 'lack of stability' is absolutely mental due to the 'Flight or fight' syndrome (Guruji Zindabad!). And there is also that bloody 'black circle' on the target card which adds to the woos. It is a funny sport; we have to reach it yet we can not look at it. It has to be there to guide us yet it has to be non existent in our mind.
I am happy to have quickly analyzed one of my major drawbacks.

warm regards to all

[tirpassion]

Just a word on the SOA.
I have never timed my SOA. But I have found out that I finish my matches (outside my own club) between 1h30m to 1h35m regularly with breaks (whenever there are two consecutive bad shots and the feel of fatigue) in between. I rest the gun in regular intervals to rejuvenate my shooting hand with a light massage and blowing air to my palm & fingers from the mouth. The light blow of air relives he sensations in the hand (takes the sweat away also). Then I regrip the weapon and continue. Gripping the gun for too long periods leads to an unconscious stronger grip and hence a frozen finger.
Your comments please!

[jitu sati]

u r absolutely right about the long grip problems. i faced the same in my last match. was scoring well initialy but then the mind probably started thinking of finishing the match rather than one shot at a time. i finished the match early with a sore hand and bad score
jitu

[hvj1]

Hello Titpassion,
Point No. 1 is really excellent way of starting of on the SOA, since you directly connect with the subconscious with your eyes closed. Also, splendid way of activating trigger finger and central nervous system stimulation. This makes way for good 'trigger execution'.

12- Think of something happy which brings a smile on me (I usually think of my little daughter's caprices)
Then I start afresh.

Nothing to beat your daughters antics, but you can supplement it with genuinely appreciating any element(s) of your previous shot ( just executed shot). For example, you can appreciate, good SA, Smooth trigger, Trigger timing, Good sharp clear focus and mentally rehearse whatever is lacking, without STATING it to yourself. For example, if the sights were not all that sharp- DONT say to yourself, damn the sights were blurred, INSTEAD, visualise, rehearse an excellent sharp sight picture.

My experience is that it works very very well if applied before each shot. But I am not able to stick to my SOA everytime. The tension / expectation gains over me and makes me forget the good work. There I need to do rigourous work.

This is more of mental discipline, which should not be difficult for you at your present level. You can even ingrain the discipline using Box Drills and gradually improve the percentage.

[hvj1]

Just a word on the SOA.
I have never timed my SOA. But I have found out that I finish my matches (outside my own club) between 1h30m to 1h35m regularly with breaks (whenever there are two consecutive bad shots and the feel of fatigue) in between. I rest the gun in regular intervals to rejuvenate my shooting hand with a light massage and blowing air to my palm & fingers from the mouth. The light blow of air relives he sensations in the hand (takes the sweat away also). Then I regrip the weapon and continue. Gripping the gun for too long periods leads to an unconscious stronger grip and hence a frozen finger.
Your comments please!

1. Please time each and every step of your SOA, get somebody who is seriously interested in your shooting career. Once you have timed each and every step of your SOA, fairly accurately, then it is the job of the coach to sit and time your shooting for several sessions (60 + sighters) for the standard 1.45 min course.

2. If an accurate graph is taken, of the timing taken for each step and compared with your standard timings, then you will DISCOVER some really astounding aspects of your shooting RHYTHM.

3. Since you are yourself a coach, take a dedicated shooter, time his SOA to set the benchmark timings for each step of his SOA. Then sit down behind the shooter, and start timing for each and every shot for 40 shots. Do this for five to six 40 shot matches. Draw a graph of score versus timings AND DISCOVER the GREATEST SECRET of shooting

[dev]

Hi Guru,

Please explain something yesterday I decided that i would just practice and do some shots on a target. The first ten were comprised a very tight cluster of five inside the 9, each pellet cut the other. In the next five the group opened to include a seven, an eight and then two nines and a ten.

I took a break and told myself number of shot not important and proceeded to shoot more five shot groups. Slowly, I managed to reduce the number of errors and began to add atleast one ten per five shot group. Now, I hadn't done much of holding exercises or figure of 8's but I kept trying to concentrate on a good sight picture and a smooth release. Doing so my 30-35 shot string was all kissing tens, and in my 40th shot, made of another five shot string I managed to keep all five in one tight cluster inside the 9.

But I noticed that all my groups were a little left of the ten. Even the ones hitting the ten tore the left part of the ten ring. Please explain how this occurs. Another question I had was what do you think of breaking the technique up into various segments (holding, dry fire, trigger control) versus just shoot a lot school of thinking?

Warm Regards,

Dev

[tirpassion]

Dear Sir, Guruji (I really like this term of Dev. He is right.)

Thanks for your word of encouragement.

'This is more of mental discipline, which should not be difficult for you at your present level. You can even ingrain the discipline using Box Drills and gradually improve the percentage.'

This is exactly what I told myself to do. But as I have started from zero again, I am working on the boxdrill of SA. Yesterday, I did the physical excercises after and with a heartbeat rate check. God! I did not do push ups/sit ups for years and I am broken from all angles... Anyway, I did what my physical fitness permitted me to do (without crossing 60% of the maximum heart beat rate). I went to the range in the evening and did the 1h45m of training. After warm-up I could only manage again 40 reps of '8' and 40 reps of SA box drill. The result is again 92.5%. What I understood is that I would better stop/rest the gun & regrip at intervals of 6/8 for a even better result. Perhaps, this is how I can make a 'shot cycle' of 6 or 8 shots. What do you think?

Respected Sir, I am lightyears away from even the word 'Coach'. I am just an Initiator as they call in France. I am learning and I am an avid learner.

My best regards to you and all

Just a bit of humour!
'Titpassion' (as you addressed to me in one post) is something... a few verbs in conditional form explain better; would, should, could in assertion and would not, should not & could not in negation....it is up to each individual

[tirpassion]

Hi Dev,

But I noticed that all my groups were a little left of the ten. Even the ones hitting the ten tore the left part of the ten ring. Please explain how this occurs.

I am daring a reply on this particular point. I abort the rest being unable to do so.
A great AP shooter in France told us during one of our classes that human beings function on cycles of life. It is never constant. So if one day the groupings are to the left/right/up/down (provided all technical aspects have been meticulously respected and satisfactorily executed) there is no need to search for the reason. It suffices to click.
Now, Guruji will enlighten us in this aspect also.

regards
tirpassion

[tirpassion]

Dear Sir,

1. Please time each and every step of your SOA, get somebody who is seriously interested in your shooting career. Once you have timed each and every step of your SOA, fairly accurately, then it is the job of the coach to sit and time your shooting for several sessions (60 + sighters) for the standard 1.45 min course.

2. If an accurate graph is taken, of the timing taken for each step and compared with your standard timings, then you will DISCOVER some really astounding aspects of your shooting RHYTHM.

3. Since you are yourself a coach, take a dedicated shooter, time his SOA to set the benchmark timings for each step of his SOA. Then sit down behind the shooter, and start timing for each and every shot for 40 shots. Do this for five to six 40 shot matches. Draw a graph of score versus timings AND DISCOVER the GREATEST SECRET of shooting

:

Regarding N°1, that somebody is a rare person... have to find out. But I can definitely ask somebody to do this.
N°2: That is interesting and I will definitely work on it after 2 weeks
N°3: I will try to be that rare somebody you talked about in N°1, for others.

Regards
tirpassion

[hvj1]

But I noticed that all my groups were a little left of the ten. Even the ones hitting the ten tore the left part of the ten ring. Please explain how this occurs.

Tirpassion is quite right regarding cycles, your grip and body is never the same from one day to another. Dehydration, (too much whiskey night before) , or muscle strain ( panjha ladhoing) , lack of sleep ( no comments) . Hence, before any practice session, make sure that your water intake is sufficient. ALWAYS do the warm up exercises, then check your body, see how you feel, tired, or relaxed?
Then commence with dry firing, a few groups. Make the necessary adjustments in the clicks if required.

Another question I had was what do you think of breaking the technique up into various segments (holdi7ng, dry fire, trigger control) versus just shoot a lot school of thinking?

First and foremost , do what suits you best. In my opinion, just shooting a lot without taking time out for training sessions dedicated to identifying and correcting errors, is a waste of a lot of time, effort and money.
Best Regards

[hvj1]

The result is again 92.5%. What I understood is that I would better stop/rest the gun & regrip at intervals of 6/8 for a even better result. Perhaps, this is how I can make a 'shot cycle' of 6 or 8 shots. What do you think?

Go easy on yourself, I need to do a little bit more tweaking of the NTP. In a few trg. sessions, you will begin to see some progress. Regarding 'shot cycle' start with 2-3 shots, then gradually increase.

By the way, Zelko Todorovich, Chief Coach (pIstol) for France was my insstructor at the ISSF Academy in Munich.

Just a bit of humour!
'Titpassion' (as you addressed to me in one post) is something... a few verbs in conditional form explain better; would, should, could in assertion and would not, should not & could not in negation....it is up to each individual

Did I do that Wonder what was on my mind, anyway pardon the slip of the dongue!

[dev]

But I noticed that all my groups were a little left of the ten. Even the ones hitting the ten tore the left part of the ten ring. Please explain how this occurs.

Tirpassion is quite right regarding cycles, your grip and body is never the same from one day to another. Dehydration, (too much whiskey night before) , or muscle strain ( panjha ladhoing) , lack of sleep ( no comments) . Hence, before any practice session, make sure that your water intake is sufficient. ALWAYS do the warm up exercises, then check your body, see how you feel, tired, or relaxed?
Then commence with dry firing, a few groups. Make the necessary adjustments in the clicks if required.

Another question I had was what do you think of breaking the technique up into various segments (holdi7ng, dry fire, trigger control) versus just shoot a lot school of thinking?

First and foremost , do what suits you best. In my opinion, just shooting a lot without taking time out for training sessions dedicated to identifying and correcting errors, is a waste of a lot of time, effort and money.
Best Regards

Bang on. I was rather thirsty and also a little irritated as I began the session. Though you will be surprised to learn that I seldom drink or smoke. But I took my time and soon I was feeling better. Had one of those ten ring flowering outwards type of cards and everything went North from there.
I was asking about the second question as I went back to the beginning of this thread and began to copy all your teachings into a word file. Since no comps are on the horizon till 2012 first quarter, I realised that I have the time to go back to the beginning again. It is amazing how much sense the box sets and SA are making to me now. Also read about where you have stressed on exercise. The mental part is very rewarding in itself.

Other coaches have more or less echoed your advise on building up every facet of the shot. Just wanted to say thanks for being so thorough in teaching us and leaving no secrets unexposed. I was thinking that what we have even as a log in this forum, could make a good book on shooting. Along with the questions and answers written here.

Hope we meet in the coming year and get to have our corrections first hand.

With my best wishes and gratitude,

Dev

[hvj1]

Thanks Dev, for the kind words, Ummm I plan to visit Delhi, in the new month or so. I cannot promise a visit to the range, since it will be a short trip compressing a lot of things to be done. But I do hope to have one evening exclusively for IFG friends.
Best Regards

[jitu sati]

hey hvj
how about a little detour to jaipur. would be honoured to host u
jitu

[airgun_novice]

Dear hvj1 Guruji, dev, jitu et al,
Though I promised "I will be back" after kissing 90, felt ought to share this one with you. 89, 73, 88, 89, (339/400) at Parle Mahotsav. "Royal Falooda" on the 2nd set. I continue to mess up in mid-sets. Pulled back on the third one after taking a "prolonged" break of 5+ min. Kept myself hydrated throughout.Though I was not at all tensed or under pressure (after all, I am a "nimboo-timboo" - a novice ), heavy sweating and increased heartbeats did me in. Mind was under my control, heart wasn't. And there wasn't a beautiful damsel around to lay the blame on - ah! Anyway, before the CE year turns over a new leaf, I want to practice on taking off a few kilos and increase my physical fitness. Thence shall I pedal the gas to 90 ! And then - "I will be back". In the interim, bros, good luck for your efforts and subsequent results.