Tips on Pistol Shooting

[airgun_novice]

The two on the right are due to wrist jerk either due to sloppy grip or wrong stance and attempt to correct it on the fly.
The one below is due to lack of follow through and eagerness to see if it hit a ten.
The four to the left are due to lateral errors - possibly caused due to wrong stance, wrong placement of trigger or foresight to the left of center alignment due to concentration on target or rear sight at the point of release.

Now that I have submitted my test paper, I await the marks in tensed environs.

[tirpassion]

Not bad!!! But you will have to hold on for some time hoping that there will be a few more replies.
Best regards
Tirpassion

[dev]

I'd hazard trying hard to squeeze the trigger as you descend, even when you were out of rhythm. Maybe you needed a break and were losing the rhythm and still kept shooting.So forcing the trigger, unlike the normal effortless squeeze. I would also say fatigue as the group has opened up. At least that is what I have experienced.

Warm regards,

Dev

P.s. are you in town?

[dev]

Hello,

Is anyone out there? How about your analysis Tir? HVJ1 saar some inputs from you too.

Regards,

Dev

[hvj1]

Dear Tir and Dev,

My opinion(s) are as follows;

1. For those coaches who sit throughout the entire shoot of their pupils and later examine the shots in sequence. For such fellows, the probability of identifying the errors and reasons thereoff is very high.

2. For those coaches who do not sit behind the shooter and later examine the cards, the probability is lower.

3. For those fellows, who examine a shot group for the entire match on a single card and then try to comment , the probability for being correct is equivalent to a 'crystall ball gazer'.

4. Saar, I yum not a very good coach, mind it, nor saar do I have the balls to outright bullshit with straight face, however 'crystal' it may sound to you gentle souls Saars, so kindly the excuse me Saar for not being clairvoyant.

[dev]

Then saar we should remove this method of inquiry, if it is an unreliable technique. Your esteemed self only has to do ishara . After all we is attempting to learn saar. Please not to leave us rudderless for long maun vrats.

Regards,

Dev

[hvj1]

Dev Saar,
Please try to the understand, I humbly beg for your the understanding, I yum looking farward to genwine lurker coach to teach my poor self a thing or three on how to unravel shooter error, I myself have seen, with my two eyes, in great awe, great coaches , no, no not being sarcastic.. Truly great bwana coaches read cards, flipping them like playing rummy you know, shaking their wise heads and tut tutting... all the while giving advice in words weighing in gold. Sorry to say Saar, Itried many many times to myself lurk closer, I bent my ear till they became like elephant, but still the mystery remains.
Best of the regards

[dev]

Hi Guruji,

Jokes aside, please keep telling us when we BS. A leader has to hurt feelings and tread on toes. A student must take the occasional slap from the Guru, in the right spirit. You have made all of us into national level shooters and some lurkers have even become renowned shots. I think that is testament enough to your coaching abilities...that also online. If we could just join you at a range for a few weeks, imagine how much we could grow. This is the next best thing that we have,so please to keep giving regular doses of vitamin as otherwise this thread will collapse.

Regards,

Dev

[tirpassion]

Dear Sir,

I am in the process of learning the gripping of the pistol. My aim was to understand my gripping through this grouping analysis and get it checked by you. I still have a doubt that the trigger shoe is placed a bit too far . Can it be a reason for the core group to be lightly on the left side?
When I am shooting, I do not have anyone to watch and analyse my shooting. So, I try, as much as I can, to be my own coach during the shoot. The good thing is that I am learning to analyse my own errors during the match (every error was given due thought and was followed by a good shot in the process of error correction). The grouping analysis gave me affirmative information on these errors and the regularity of my gripping.

Now having imposed my thoughts/analysis on my shooting on others on this forum has been a certain mistake. This will lead to more confusion than acquiring the right knowledge. I realised that when replies to my question started pouring in (hence my silence). How can one understand my particular error (out of so many possibilities) by looking at the picture??? there are numerous possibilities and it is only by guess work can one reply or by gazing at the crystal ball as you say .

Thanks for bringing us back to the right track.

best regards
tirpassion

[brihacharan]

[quote="tirpassion"]
Dear Sir,

I am in the process of learning the gripping of the pistol.
My aim was to understand my gripping through this grouping analysis and get it checked by you. I still have a doubt that the trigger shoe is placed a bit too far . Can it be a reason for the core group to be lightly on the left side?

Hi Tirpassion,

> After going through what you have mentioned above - I came across some in-sights concerning this - I am appending these below - hope they help

GET YOURSELF AN OLYMPIC AIR PISTOL
Sounds simple - But where do you find one of these contraptions?
Here are some things to consider:

1. Minimum Weight: 1500g (3.31 lbs), including all accessories (balancing weights, unloaded magazine, etc).

2. Minimum Trigger Pull Weight: 500g (1.1 lbs).

3. Ported barrels and perforated barrel attachments are allowed.

4. Grips may be adjustable, but no part of the gun or grip may touch any part of the wrist.

5. The heel rest must extend at an angle of not less than 90 degrees to the grip.

6. Any upward curvature of the heel and/or thumb rest and/or a downward curvature of the side opposite the thumb is prohibited.

7. The thumb rest must allow free upward movement of the thumb.

8. The grip must not encircle the hand.

9. Curved surfaces on the grips or frame in the longitudinal direction of the pistol are permitted.

Gripping the Pistol
Your grips must provide you with firm purchase on (and good control of) the gun, and must be comfortable. Many grips are adjustable so you can customize the fit to your hand. This is very important, since you will be shooting with only one hand, and must be able to hold the gun steady.
Your grip must also be consistent, because the slightest variation in the strength of your grip may cause substantial loss of accuracy.
Trigger Control
As in all types of shooting, the way you squeeze the trigger can greatly affect your accuracy. You may want to experiment, placing your finger a little differently on the trigger until you find a position that gives you the utmost control and consistency
Blinders
When you use sights to shoot a pistol, you use only one eye, and the other eye can be a problem. Squinting leads to tiring fast, causing tension in your facial muscles and resulting in loss of concentration and consistency. For that reason, many shooters wear special glasses or blinders, to cover their non-aiming eye.
To give this a try without dropping a lot of dough, you can simply cover one side of your shooting glasses with something like dark paper or opaque tape. You need to be wearing eye protection anyhow, so a simple modification to the glasses you should already own ought to be very easy.
You may also wear a cap, visor, or headband with a side blinder on it, no more than 40mm (1.57") deep.

Practice!
It's going to take a lot of practice to become a good shooter to qualify for Olympic competition. There are no shortcuts to achieving proficiency and consistency.

Enjoy!
Shooting is a wonderful activity, which hones such skills as concentration, muscle control, and breathing control. At the same time, you get to have fun and meet good people who share your interests, all without breaking the bank. Have fun!


Briha

[airgun_novice]

Oops- Terribly sorry for picking up the lead-induced (crystal) ball and yet not picking up the pure lead. Probably will start Monday on.

These days experiencing shoulder joint pains and a feeling of "dislocation" there after waking in the mornings. Wonder if arthritis has set in or just cold damp weather causing rheumatic pains.

[hvj1]

My Dear Dev and Tirpassion,

Why is it that I am misunderstood when I am genuinely trying to be funny?

I was not sarcastic at all, not on TOPs, I only get sarcastic on other threads when I come across boors. Having said that I will now indulge in plainspeak.

Really, it has been a mystery to me how coaches in India, who have never seen the shooter firing ATTEMPT to read cards. Based on such readings the coach pronounces errors, which may not be correct. This results in a lot of waste of effort, time and worst a steady drain in self confidence.

Now Tirpassion showed us a card with all sixty shots transposed on it. Only Tir knows how the poor shots came about. To unravel the mystery, I will have to watch Tir shoot, not just one session, butseveral sessions over a period of at least a week, BEFORE I can narrow down the errors.

Specifically, I need to keep track of his shot cycle an follow each an every shot during the match/session. From this record, I can arrive at a reasonable hypothesis.

Now all this is slow, true but as a coach I am saddled wth the responsibility of nurturing my shooter and be ultra carefull in my diagnosis, lest I lead my student astray. That is why I rather shut up and feign ignorance rather than lead a student down the garden path with a self annointed false halo of greatness around my head.

Best Regards

[tirpassion]

Dear Sir, dear friends,

Now all this is slow, true but as a coach I am saddled wth the responsibility of nurturing my shooter and be ultra carefull in my diagnosis, lest I lead my student astray. That is why I rather shut up and feign ignorance rather than lead a student down the garden path with a self annointed false halo of greatness around my head.

What we are really missing is your physical intervention. Your virtual intervention has lifted my under 550 level to the doorsteps of 560 in less than 2 years. It might look long but radical changes had to be brought in during this period (read erasing old accumulated errors and programming new data in place). I am sure that if we do a one week's camp under your guidance in person, things will change drastically (obviously we will do the follow through oops follow-up accordingly). But is it possible?????

I am serious about it if Guruji agrees. The options visible to me are Balewadi or Gurukul Ashram in Satara as per Guruji's decision and availability.
In option Balewadi, we stay in hotels and Guruji will be our honoured guest.
In Gurukul Ashram, it will be otherwise (no I am joking ). We can reserve a hotel for our stay and hone our physical fitness skills by jogging with Rambo.
I will be in India again for 4 weeks from end September onwards.

best regards
tirpassion

[hvj1]

Tirpassion.
I will seriously give it a thought. Mentally I agree on the concept, but I truly do not know what the scene would like (work wise) during september. There is only one condition. God should be with us.
Best Regards

[tirpassion]

Friends,
The French Indoor National Championships of the 10m events are going on this week. Here is the latest result of the Womens Pistol event (D1 category: 20 to 45 yrs). Only the 1st 10 places out of 84 are mentioned here. Please note the score gap between the 1st three and the rest.
1 GOBERVILLE Céline PIC 96 92 99 98 385
2 TIRODE Stéphanie AQU 95 96 97 95 383
3 GOBERVILLE Sandrine PIC 94 95 94 99 382
4 BERTON Karine LOR 95 93 93 93 374
5 COTTIN Elodie AQU 94 94 94 92 374
6 PARDON Karine CEN 92 95 93 93 373
7 ROY Brigitte AQU 91 94 95 93 373
8 FÉVRIER Aurélie NPC 90 97 96 90 373
9 GIRAUD Aurélie CEN 92 92 94 94 372
10 SEIVE Bertille PIC 91 92 96 93 372

Céline Goberville is the current silver medalist of London Olympics in 10m AP. Shooting is in the family and in their blood. Both her father and mother were French national champions in rifle and pistol. Now look at her sister Sandrine Goberville at an astounding 382.
Talking about shooting in blood here is another one. Stephanie Tirode, 2nd placed here, is a member of the French national team. Her sister Sylvie Tirode was ranked
34 TIRODE Sylvie AQU 94 90 91 90 365

best regards
tirpassion