Tips on Pistol Shooting

[jitu sati]

hey tir
did the first 40 shots with box drill for 3-5 secs trigger pull. the percentage was not good just 75%. ended up with jerking the trigger quite a few times and scored 12 8s. fortunately no 7. will continue

[tirpassion]

Today, I found I was jerking the trigger pull rather than squeezing it at times; plus SA was getting yanked to the LHS after shot. Need to iron than out. The next one is coming up in first week of Jul. Have to put in at least two sessions a day - one at range and the other at home. That's all - signing off.

hey tir
did the first 40 shots with box drill for 3-5 secs trigger pull. the percentage was not good just 75%. ended up with jerking the trigger quite a few times and scored 12 8s. fortunately no 7. will continue

Dear jitu & agn,
the box drill is a challenge and it is accounted for with a tick (Yes) or a cross (No). The main goal is to have the YES and refuse the NO. So if you are jerking the trigger, you are just trying to let the shot break within the time span as you have been asked to do. That means you are forcing it which is WRONG.
Your total concentration must be in the trigger squeeze when doing the 3-5 sec box drill while keeping the SA image intact. If the shot is not breaking, ABORT, rehearse the shot in your mind, imagine how you will squeeze the trigger and restart your SOA. If the shot does not break within the 3-5 sec, ABORT again and redo the same thing. If it is not breaking again, put the AP to the dry fire mode and release your tension by dryfiring (even if the pellet is in the chamber). Start again after tension release. DO NOT FORCE.
Well, it may take time, but this time is spent to learn when to abort a shot and applying the principle in practice; switching from the theory to the practical mode.
End up by writing in your diary that you are really learning how and when to abort a shot. Give your self a pat on the back, be happy and accept the challenge of doing better % the next day. All these in writing, in your shooting diary.

We will simply not tolerate trigger jerking and angular error. Hope I am clear .

best regards
tirpassion

[jitu sati]

hey tir
there is an open competition which has been scheduled on 25-26 jun at jodhpur. i am trying to participate. want to see how i perform with this new AP. it will help me to know where i need to improve more and how is this new AP shooting. am continuing on the standard prac drill as instructed by u. anything different i should do prior to the comp for the next two days

[sunnyc]

Is there any rules to participate in the same.

[tirpassion]

Dear jitu,
there is no need to do anything special. Please continue to do what you are doing and take the match as an additional practice match. The only difference is that the target cards will be intact without the cut outs.
I may be a bit demanding, but I did not get your SA hold % during your training sessions. Hope you do not mind .
best regards
tirpassion

[tirpassion]

Is there any rules to participate in the same.

Hello sunnyc,
we would have really loved to see your first post in the introduction part, starting with a Hello/Hi to the 8000+ members of this forum followed by something like
I am sunnyc, I am interested in ..., I came across this forum and ... so on...;

You will be surprised to know that there are so many nice and knowledgeable people over here with their ever extended helping hands!!!! The first gesture of introduction is to reach out for their hands

BTW, welcome to the forum!

warm regards
tirpassion

[jitu sati]

ok tir
i will let u know what i am able to achieve in the comp. the %SA is fluctuating between 85%-90%. BTW i suddenly realised that while i was taking the 40 shots i was going too fast. yesterday tried to reduce the speed and take my time with each shot except during the SOA and trigger op which i tried to keep at 3-5.performance was much better. the box % for trigger op was 86% and ended up with 7 eights. no sevens.
hey sunny c welcome to this thread and IFG if you are new. the jodhpur event is an open event and it is as per the standard rules any body can participate. contact akhileshji the chairman 9414136874. it is scheduled from 23-26
jitu

[tirpassion]

Dear friends,

the update of the Grand Prix de Versailles match of 23rd June 2012.

Free Pistol: I am again at 500/600. Now Guruji will run after me with a stick in hand . I have sent the photos of the cards to him for a diagnosis of my malady.
86, 76, 82, 79, 90, 87. The whole match including sighters was finished in 1h20mins.

I am lacking in confidence in myself. Lack of confidence in the zone, in the right grip pressure. May be also something else, I am not able to figure out.

I shot also an AP match in the afternoon. I earned an experience of either avoid to shoot 2 matches in a day or not to eat a heavy meal between the matches.
The FP was in the morning at 8:30 AM. I had to leave home at 6:45. The AP was et 14:00. In the meantime, I was so hungry that I ate a very heavy high fat, high protein kabab / french fries meal at 12:00 noon. I felt the effects of digestion during the match. I was not at ease. For quite some time, I was the epicentre of a highly sought after natural resource; GAS . Overproduction and overflow
I managed a 548/600 in 1h30mins. I also felt the trigger to be too heavy and needed to abort a lot. Could it be also the switching from FP to AP? Errors were due to jerks and the numbers of tens were very limited (19 only) which frustrated me and eventually provoked the errors.

Moral of the story. Do not eat heavy before a match. You should eat light and slow energy releasing food at least 3 hours before the match.

Best regards
tirpassion

[airgun_novice]

Missed a trip to Jodhpur Will compensate that one by the one in Aurangbad
@hvj1 guruji -> Would you be there at Aurangbad between Jul 3-8, Sir ? If so, looking forward to seek your blessings.

[airgun_novice]

Happened to witness two great Indian girls at Savarkar Smarak Air Rifle Range today - Tejaswini Mule - who recently won the world championship in 10m AR with 399/400 and to witness her encore was Suma Shirur the former World Champion in 10m AR with 400/400 - a world record then and still. Of course, our very own in-house champ - Vishwajeet Shinde was there to oversee.

No regrets about not been able to practice. After all, we don't really need to give the world champs a complex, right ?

[jitu sati]

trip to jodhpur was a disaster as far as my shooting is concerned but learnt a lot about my new AP, myself and my shortcomings.
1 my shooting- the range was in makeshift hall in a school. but was made pretty good by the organisers.
2 took 6 sighters before starting the actual shoot. hand was shaking the sighters were all over the card.
3 decided to go in for actual shoot inspite of mistakes in sighters. decided to make the first shot count. held the ap in the zone for more than 15 seconds. decided to abort but finger pulled the trigger as if involuntarily. first shot into the 6 ring. heart almost collapsed with shock.
4. next shots hurried to take the shot in the zone. concentration went for a six and scored 8/9s ended up with low score.
5. next set first four shots 10,9,9,10. was happy that i was being able to control my shooting. fourth shot the pulley got jammed. when i pulled hard on the turning handle it broke and my hand hit my pellet tin. all pellets on the ground. next 10minutes gone for repairing the pulley and collecting all the pellets.
6. by this time my concentration had deserted me and the hand was going haywire. anyway had little time to finish my shoot. i ended up finishing it just as the officials started asking us to mov out.
7. could not count my scores and was convinced that it must be below 300. final score announced was 327. all worse fears come true.
things learnt.
1. i panic under pressure. my hand starts shaking and stabilises only after 10-15 shots. Need more match prac and need to prac under time pressure. i need to do alot of holding ex prior to actual match to prevent the hand shaking.
2. the national and international level shooters and the coaches present there saw the grip of my LP10e. it had been modified by the previous user. after seeing the grip and my hand they unanimously told me that the grip was not atall suiting my hand. there is a big gap between my palm and the grip resulting in loose grip. during prac i seem to overcome the problem by strength of my fingers and concentration. but under pressure when i need the ap to fit correctly in my hand it does'nt.
3. my wrist lock seems to be faulty or my follow through is not correct. as i realised that i tend to feel a upward movement when the shot breaks. resulting in large No of 8s in the upper ring. guess adequate No of fig 8s have not been carried out by me. also conscious prac of follow through was not carried out correctly.
so back to the drawing board. whips and lashes and suggestions are welcome from all gurujan and the peer gp
jitu

[tirpassion]

Dear jitu,
it takes time to get adjusted to a weapon, specially the grip. You will have to get your grip adjusted by an expert in person. Your fellow shooter Mr Sharma must be knowledgeable enough to help you also.
There is obviously a 'Flight or Fight' syndrome, normal to every human being. But the incident of broken table and scattered pellets is very very disturbing for sure. This is the cause of a big panic.
One suggestion. Please do not use the pellets which have fallen down on the ground. You may have to discard a full box in a similar case (accident) . But is it is for the health of your pistol barrel. The dirt/dust particle accumulated on the pellet can cause scratches inside the barrel.

You are building the pillars of your success. Carry on with the good work.
tirpassion

[airgun_novice]

Dear Jitu,

It surely is frustrating when the pellets scatter all over and is bound to cause major disruption. Ideally when the pulley parts came off and the dude was anyway coming in for repairs, you should have simply packed the tin and pocketed it. But I guess that "sinking" feeling made you yank and that scatter was a domino effect ? I had similar exp at Parle and MRA and intuitively did just that; thus avoiding the disaster. (Musing here) Another idea is to keep an extra tin of same make pellets. Use it and gather the pellets later. Putting self in your shoes, I would have done just what you did but after gathering up a modest number needed for the match left the rest to be picked up later; after the match. After gathering what I needed I would have sat down to get the beats under control - did you do that or started firing ?

Wrt shaking - Fight v/s Flight as repeated by guruji and upacharyaji is possible. Nonetheless get your blood checked for diabetes, salt levels etc. Low Salt + Low sugar + High adrenaline will cause shakes/ spasms.

Coming to the grip - my understanding was that your AP was a new one. Anyway, as you know my P34 was technically "second hand" but my understanding was that it had passed through many hands of usage. The original FWB grip was since gone and replaced by Morini which was again modified "N" times. One of the silly modifications was a straight ridge line that dug inside my index finger cartilage in the fleshy part of the web and after an hour or two of prax left the region paining for next two days! I sanded it off eventually. It's of size "M" which is OK for Indian palm. Now there's another ridge that digs totally inside my mound of Venus. Not sure if I should sand it off too - so left it for now. However, due to the nature of the way the web indent is ground previously - I have put in rubber strips (from tire tube) and plastered it off with bandage gauze tape. Earlier I had put in a bit of sheet sponge (one that you get with Tee-shirt) and taped it off. So the grip has worked out almost OK now.

The previous paragraph is to give you idea on modifying grip for your *own* usage; may be you shall find it useful. (Do not share your AP as any changes in the piece will throw you off balance when your turn comes.) Else better get a new one from Steyr/ Morini or if you were comfy with your IZZY grip why not transplant it over here if possible and check. You have time till Sep (GFG)/ Oct (GVM) to get tuned, right ? If grip is a problem, that's the first area you must apply yourself to.

Dear guruji/ tirpassion/dev et al, Hope I am right above ? If not, please correct.

[dev]

Hi Jitu,

Welcome to the club of 'beginning the comp by pellet sorting'...happened to me and after I was settling down the ref found my shoes to be wrong. And so I had to go take em off and shoot in my socks. .

Work on your pistol grip, it is very important. Even if you don't do much just a little filing for the web of the hand area will help. put this tourney down to experience and move on.

dev

[jitu sati]

thx all. i was totally shaken by the drop in performance and was pretty disturbed. but i guess i will have to take the positives and move on. i am presently hunting for some expert to set my grip right. i will restart my effort as soon as i set the grip right.