Tips on Pistol Shooting

[jitu sati]

hey tir
have been following the drill u have advised for last four days. willl let you know the result of the 8 elimination drill after taking a shoot on sat

[jitu sati]

now hvj i am going to borrow your sholay dialogue. yahan par sannata kyon hai bhai

[tirpassion]

I am back jitu , tired... but happy.

Guruji instructed me to take up 90 holds and 90 dry shots with box drill to develop mental stamina. I swear, it is really for mental stamina. MY goodness Lord!!!!!
Sir, you hit the bull's eye in the diagnosis of my problems. Indeed, it is the mental stamina which is lacking in me. Thanks a million .

It was a real gritty affair to take 90 box drills moreover with the FP which weighs a good 200g more than the AP. I started on Monday after a practice match of AP. I could not do more than 30 SA hold drills. But achieved 100% in 30 holds. I took up again the SA hold drill on Tuesday. Did 90 holds with enough breaks and a hell lot of mental effort in 2 hours. Achieved 98% (89/90) with one error out of 90 holds. On the 86th hold the front sight suddenly drooped. , maybe because I was too eager to finish, being so near to the end. On Wednesday, I took the 90 dry shot box drill with emphasis on SA. I did a healthy 95% (86/90). But I must admit that a tremendous amount of mental effort and self motivation and self conviction with constant self talking is necessary to take up a 90 shot box drill. Keeping the concentration level high for such a long period is an extremely difficult affair. I was so much drained out that I rested for 2 days. I will again take up this weekend.

Let me know about your progress jitu.

best regards
tirpassion

[jitu sati]

hey tir and hvj
after fixing the grip i have restarted the SA hold and the elimination of 8 ex. now here is a problem ,the SA hold when i do it in isolation i achieve upto 95%. but when i do it during real shoot it does not translate into real score. now what i mean is in the 8 elimination drill if i achieve the SA% of 95 should i not achieve lesser No of 8s. But in actual shoot i end up hitting 6-7 8s which brings down the % to 75-80 %. should i qualify all 8s as a cross in the box drill as far as SA% is concerned. i know i must be sounding pretty confused. but what is happening is i do just SA box drill one day and am on a high after achieving 95% or so. next day when i do the 8 elimination ex i am in dumps after hitting 6-7 or more 8s. what is going wrong. is my trigger op not correct.
last week i made another self discovery that as per the SOA when is take the first pull on the trigger before the lift invariably the finger on the trigger starts contributing to the hold. so when i squeeze the trigger the hold gets affected. now have started prac in such a way that to isolate the trigger op from the hold. pl advise on this too.

[tirpassion]

Dear jitu,

You are doing very very good work. Just think the other way, the positive way (do not be complacent either). In a 40 shot drill, you are now scoring 6/7 eights. Is it less than before?? I believe it is. It is your hard work which has brought you to this level.
What is more important is to understand and analyze why you shot the 8 and rectify the error. Are you being able to do it?

When shooting live on a comp target, the error sneaks in because either your eyes look on the target (the black circle) when you are not even aware of it (I had discussed the relation of vision/stability a few pages earlier) or your trigger control was not optimal. At this point, I understand that your arcs are confined to your zone only. Develop a self command to remind your sub conscious to see the perfect SA image before you settle down in your zone.

last week i made another self discovery that as per the SOA when is take the first pull on the trigger before the lift invariably the finger on the trigger starts contributing to the hold. so when i squeeze the trigger the hold gets affected. now have started prac in such a way that to isolate the trigger op from the hold. pl advise on this too.

I am also happy to know that you are feeling things more and more and you are discovering yourself in shooting. Yes, your trigger finger has to be free and the gripping pressure optimal. So, you will have to add this point in your SOA. Grip pressure/placement of trigger finger on the trigger blade check before lifting the gun. Work on this point in your SOA meticulously and with time it will get programmed.
Are you working on the wrist locking procedure?

I called you yesterday, but the phone kept ringing. Bad luck for me...

best regards
tirpassion

[jitu sati]

hey tir
it was nice spking to u. it clarified a few basic things like elbow and shoulder position. so let me see how i can manage it today with this new system. i will continue the 9ring drill and tell u how and what happened

[hvj1]

Hello Tirpassion,
I sincerely hope that your physical conditioning for the entire body is really good. If not, then the 90 shot box drill will certainly lead you to injury. Please note that you alone are the sole judge of the level of physical conditioning you are in. Your body will certainly warn you of the same. Critical areas are as follows;
1. Recurring pain in the neck.
2. Tendon pain in and around the elbow joint.
3. pain around the ankle, knees and hip.
4. Sharp acute pain in the shoulder region, along the shoulder blades.

Please stop shooting if you have any of the above symptoms. Continue only after the pain has subsided. Then after the pain has dissapeared, gradually start exercising your body. Let me know whaer the pain occurs, i can recommend exercises for strengthening the same.

Also you must pay serious attention to your warming up routine. i have discussed the same in great detail.
Best Regards

[airgun_novice]

First milestone of MQS (345/400) achieved - thanks to blessings of hvj1 guriji and upacharya tirpassion "da" . 347/400 at Aurangbad MAWC last week (results out today). So dev/ jitu, guess we shall meet after all at Delhi in Sep/ Oct. OK now the details -

After a lot of tension as "to go or not to go" due to some bungling of dates of details, I finally did manage to get to Aurangabad thanks to MRA persons there who accommodated me in the last detail on 5th of July. I already gave tirpassion the detailed account of the SOB Tale which I shall avoid here as irrelevant.

RWS R10s with me were in dwindle mode at the time of practice itself and could not get my hands down on one more tin - didn't want to change to jitu/dev's latest choice without their feedback at such short a notice (though Ms. B kept urging me). Finally good old friend Vishwajeet ran to my rescue and gave me a tin of H&N Finale Match pellets out of his personal kit - just before he set off biking to Ladhakh.

Early morn of the match I walked from my hotel near Central Bus Stand to the Aurangbad District Rifle Association, a good distance of about 2KM, talked to a familiar face from MRA there and verified that I was indeed listed for the 4:30 detail since the notice posted outside did not have my name but showed me against the "bungled" 11:15 detail of the day before. This 4 KM walk actually set my cramped muscles (thx to Train CC) in place. The range is decent albeit has that sloping "half-roof" with steel sheets supported by steel beams upheld by rods and two trusses. My heart went out to the rifle shooters with their canvas kits. However, a couple of powerful pedestal fans set the air in circulation at the back thus reducing the heat effect and at the same time stayed away from the shooting area thus not disturbing the pellet trajectory. Good job organizers !

I walked back to the place and reached it a bit before 3.30PM. The match started prompt on time 4:30PM. Lessons learnt from the last time (Capt EZ debacle) were put into place with help from tirpassion. So now I was fully equipped with "Electral"-ised water, Box Drill Paper right down to the boxes for Dry Fire, Sighters et al. Then I remembered our guruji's "F v/s F syndrome" and tried to sink into Zero to get the heartbeats, breathes etc. in control. Then the match started. Dry Fire - almost perfect. Sighters - first set of 5 all in #9/#10. Happy. Second set of 3 - Pesticide spray ! No panic yet - Irritated. Should have stopped - didn't. Went for another set - kabhie haan kabhie naa - some inside #9 a few outside. Finally the Inner Voice screamed - BREAK ! I stopped and sat. Started the record - could not help looking at guy next to me (as he was looking at me when I was filling in the BD) - a couple of bad shots from him - I realized that my AP was loaded and I hadn't shot yet - ABORTED. Focused and then started - #10 the very first shot and that too in center of that center. "Good Omen!" - I joked inside. Second shot #9 but between the two rings. Good. I will take that - I thought and then the thoughts went astray - #8 -> warning... careful now and so on... the game started. In midst I realized that my AP grip ridge has dug deep into my Mound of Venus and that it has started hurting much. I looked at it and saw that there was a blood red line - literally BLOOD RED. But that was also so even during practice since I had taken care of the problem afflicting my web (index and thumb). Then I realized that in spite of all the gyaan that was distributed to Jitu by all, I had decided not to make any changes to the grip here till this meet was over. Sighed and decided not to take another look at it and went on. What was the use of wasting sympathy on the palm when the "Lakshya" (as Hrtitik Roshan would say) was right in the front.

Overall, shot a whole bunch of #9s and quite a few #10s. 2 shots went badly into #5 ring at SW - exactly at the same spot but on different sets - 2nd and 3rd. I remembered my talk with tir - "two of my shots in matches often end up in white" and he had said that my thought process is the one that diverts them there. So another Break - "OK now have given the Devil his due- no more whites". A series of #10s followed and quite suddenly 3-4 #8s made their appearance. A couple of #7s also had their cameo missing the #8 marginally. I realized that my hand was now jerking sporadically and understood that it was because of the pain in the palm. But the good thing that came out was I was calling my shots and most seemed to land where predicted.

One shot as usual sat on the No man's land - which I as usual, I did not seem to have got the higher end. Since I had 15 to spare, I had a brief count - tallied 347 or 348 (optimistically) - raised my hand and surrendered the cards and then packed up and left for the agonizing wait for the train that would take me through the night back to Mumbai the next day.

Of course I still fell shy of "tir-set MQS" of 355, but MRA now seems satisfied to allow me into the set of registered shooters from MH state. Next step - work on my grip and my short-/ mid-/ long term goals and get in somewhat of a shape for Sep GFG at Delhi.

[tirpassion]

Dear hvj Sir,

I do not know if it would sound awkward or unlikely, but I have achieved 100% in the SA hold box drill today in 90 holds with the FP. I have done the whole thing in 1 hour & 40 minutes with sufficient breaks and lots of fluid. Needless to say that I am very much satisfied . I did this just after an hour's shooting of AP, intentionally to see if I could withstand the pressure. Frankly, I have never done such a long session of practice. 3 hours at a stretch in total. I am tired at the end of the day without exaggerations.

The first 30 holds were tiring (due to back ache on the left side lumber region) and needed more breaks. I found a solution. After every 5 holds, I compensated my left side by holding a 1.2kg weight for 40 to 50 seconds on the stretched out left hand in the stance of shooting (without moving from my position), with the head turned to the left side. The back ache subsided gradually and there was no trace of it when I stopped the box drill.

Physically, I do not feel that pain as of now. I have a light persisting pain in the joint of my right hand thumb base after I injured it while doing push-ups on fingers 2 months back. I have stopped finger push-ups since then. Since, last week, I am feeling a light pain around the right hip bone. Is it due the new practice schedule or due to taking up physical training after a brief break of about 10 days? I do not know. The shoulder and elbow are fine.

My time devoted to warm-up is 10-12 minutes max in which i work on the shoulder muscles, the forearm muscles and the neck muscles. Is it too miserly?

Best regards
tirpassion

[tirpassion]

Congratulations agn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get your grip fixed first and fast so that you have no more excuses

Laage raho agn bhai!!!!


tirpassion

[brihacharan]

> CONGRATS AGN WHAT A WAY TO GO!!!!!
> You have done us proud - Persistence - Perseverance - Practice ...Bravo!
Cheers
Cheers

[jitu sati]

yo agn congratulations. hope i can achieve the same in sep states and meet u in gvm at delhi.
hey tir
tried out the shoulder down sys. though my hand moved around a lot in this new sys the shoulder was much less strained. now to keep prac this. i did one 20 holds SA drill and to my pleasant surprise i could achieve 100% with shoulder down. further more the elbow facing down position helps me with this shoulder down sys. so hopefully with a few days of prac i will get comfortable with this shoulder down posn. let me take a proper shoot of 8 elimination with this style and let u know the result

[tirpassion]

Dear jitu, agn, dev and others,

My objective of being behind you was to assure that you are ready (mature physically and mentally) to understand and feel the lessons taught by Guruji. In simpler words, bring you back to the classroom. You are approaching towards that direction and I will be more demanding because I understand that you CAN DO IT now.
Now jitu, you WILL HAVE TO ACHIEVE THAT 100% in SA hold in 3 weeks maximum. If you can do it in 20 holds, you can do it in 60 holds also . 3 weeks is enough time.
I take for granted that you have adopted well the lessons 1, 2 & 3. To begin with please refer to the pages 3 to 7 of this thread (specially the 6th and 7th page), refresh the lessons 4 onwards and re read your own interactions with Guruji.. Feel it! Your interpretation and comprehension will certainly be different this time because you have matured in shooting sport.
Please do not go beyond the page 7 for the time being. Make sure that you work and adopt everything till page 7 in the next 3 weeks. There is everything written there for you to achieve 100% in SA hold drill.

While shooting live on the target with the 9ring cut out, please do SOA box drill and nothing else. Do not get carried away if there are some eights. Try to understand why the 8 came and rectify. But focus solely on your steps of SOA. Tick only if all steps were followed. Otherwise cross.
Please get your stance checked and report back, as we discussed.

hope i can achieve the same in sep states and meet u in gvm at delhi.

I do not accept your statement jitu. Why hope when you can achieve for sure??? You can and so you will!!! Your goal is the Nationals jitu. Hope I am clear .

The above statements hold true for you also agn bhai with the only exception that your countdown starts after you have modified your grip and we have checked your position/stance .

warm regards
tirpassion

[tirpassion]

> CONGRATS AGN WHAT A WAY TO GO!!!!!
> You have done us proud - Persistence - Perseverance - Practice ...Bravo!
Cheers
Cheers

Brihaji,
please get this man physically fit. You only can do it. Being senior you can use the cane when needed . I am not being able to do so . Our Indian traditions oblige. Kamine, Bade bhai par haath uthana chahta hai????

This is with a glass of red wine for you Brihaji!!!
tirpassion

[airgun_novice]

> CONGRATS AGN WHAT A WAY TO GO!!!!!
> You have done us proud - Persistence - Perseverance - Practice ...Bravo!
Cheers
Cheers

Dear Brihcharanji, Thank you very much for the encouraging words. A bit extra "taarif" for a baby step - wonder what the *tariff* might be ! Jokes aside, I will certainly be worthy of the faith reposed in me.

Dear Jitu,
I was under the impression that you already have that milestone under your belt. Nonetheless, Good Luck for the preparations for the September RJ meet - does it happen before GFG ? You surely shall make it - not to worry. Just focus on "tir-set MQS" and the actual will come ringing and singing along. Good Luck for getting that 345+, nay, 355+ !!!

Dear tirpassion,
Only a French Marquis (de Sade) could speak of using the cane I am very much on the track, Sir. Will get the stance pix upon my next visit to the range. Will also mail you the MS Excel sheet lining my ST/ MT/ LT goals shortly. The real credit for this 347 is fully yours. Will also re-read the thread diligently and start working out the regimen.