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Part 1 in a series |
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The components of a good
shot
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Oct 15 2011 |
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Let us start by defining ‘a good shot’ by what it is, and what it isn’t. What a ‘good shot’
is:
What a ‘good’ shot
isn’t:
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So, what are the components of a ‘good’ shot?
No individual component listed here is more, or less, important than the others: they all have to be present for a shot to be ‘good’: they are listed chronologically as they are applied in the release of a good shot:
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Preparation
In its own way ‘preparation’ is part of some of following sections on ‘no distractions’ and ‘arousal’, but it goes further than that and deserves its own section. If you are serious, it’s not merely a matter of loading and picking up the pistol[1]: your preparation for firing an individual good shot starts MUCH earlier. A listing of your preparation for a ‘good’ shot goes like this:
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No distractions
Your conscious and subconscious brain needs to be concentrated on the task at hand: i.e. achieving a good shot. |
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Balanced and stable
shooting platform
Balanced stance
A balanced stance is how you provide a stable platform for holding the pistol steady and the release of the shot. Your stance needs to (reasonably) natural, balanced with your centre of gravity over the support provided by your feet, have an upright posture, your feet, pelvis and shoulders all in the same alignment with your head upright and the shooting eye within 5° of straight ahead to the target.
Your most stable position of the feet is with them approximately as far apart as the across your shoulders and with the feet pointed slightly outwards at the toes. If you observe the stance of the top shooters at a major competition or look at the videos on the ISSF website you will notice that there can be considerable variation in the way these top shooters place their feet: however, without knowing the circumstances affecting the individual shooter you should not assume that any one shooter’s stance is better or worse – e.g. shooters with a background in gymnastics will tend to have a ‘narrower’ foot placement while those with a background in xxxx will tend to have a shooting stance with the feet further apart. For a shooter starting out in the sport the placement of your feet as stated above will be your best option. Balanced stance 2 – centre of balance
Your weight should be evenly distributed across the front and back of each foot, and evenly distributed between the two feet – more on this in Balanced stance 5 – weight distribution over your feet, but I might as well mention now that your body’s Centre of Gravity will change as you raise the pistol to address the target: the weight of the pistol and your arm in the raised position will shift your Centre of Gravity towards the target. Given that Balanced stance 3a – vertical posture An upright posture without any unnatural strains is recommended. You will feel better, tire less, breathe easier and have better balance.
Unless you have some specific muscular-skeletal condition preventing this from being ‘natural’ for you: · your feet, pelvis and shoulders should all be in parallel alignment · a line through the shoulder joints should be reasonably parallel to the ground, · similarly, a line across the pelvis should be reasonably parallel to the ground, · your feet should be angled slightly and equally outwards. It is of advantage to have somebody else observe your stance and assess these alignments for you – chances are you will not be aware of any misalignments. Balanced stance 3c – alignment of the head There are two objectives here: 1. is to have the shooting eye looking to the target with as little deviation from its ‘straight-ahead’ alignment in the eye socket as possible. This objective is to: · reduce the strain on the eye’s aligning muscles these muscles will be relaxed if your eye is in a ‘straight-ahead’ position, and ·
eliminate any possibility of one of your eyelids
interfering with your line of sight – this can be a subtle problem that you
will be probably unaware of, Your head should be upright and the shooting eye within 5° of looking straight ahead to the sights/target. Unless you are standing face on to the target this will require some sideways twisting of the neck to achieve. 2. Not to have your neck twisted to such degree that the position restricts the flow of blood to the brain or is painful. Balancing these sometimes conflicting requirements can be a problem; less so for the ‘rapid fire’ stages and events, but of major importance for precision stages and events. Balanced stance 4 – angle of body to the target/s There is not one ‘perfect’ angle of the body to the target/s that will suit all shooters – this not only varies from shooter to shooter, it can also vary for an individual shooter with the passage of time. There are so many considerations (the type of ‘work’ you do, your build, etc.) that it is impossible to generalise – that stated, for a shooter beginning in ISSF pistol events it is going to be easier in the long run to start with your feet (pelvis and shoulders) aligned at about 30° to the line to the targets. This 30° can be modified if/as needed as you gain experience in the sport. Balanced stance 5 – weight distribution over your feetxxxx Balanced stance 6 – body awareness xxxx The shooter’s
muscular-skeletal structure & ‘condition’
Some important points to consider
Xxxx All that said, there is one pert of your body that improved strength will improve your pistol shooting: your wrists (note the plural – whatever wrist strength exercises you do with the right, do with the left)! Arousal level
OK. Stop sniggering – this nothing to do with sexual arousal: xxxx Breathing
The natural respiratory pauses You have two natural pauses in your respiration when breathing normally (i.e. sitting or laying down when relaxed): one that occurs when you complete an inhalation phase and one that occurs when you complete an exhalation phase. When completely relaxed, at the completion of each inhalation or exhalation there will be a pause of between ½ and 2 seconds. Neither of these natural pauses occurs anywhere near your maximum inhalation or exhalation, but they are important in providing a balanced and stable platform of your body as at these natural pauses the muscles involved in breathing are relaxed and will not interfere with your stability. Usually precision shots are released at a natural exhalation pause. Recommended for newer (and good practice for all) shooters is the ‘two breath’ method. For this method the shooter accepts that the shot will be released xxxx
For beginning pistol
shooters, the 'two breath' method is recommended for
precision shots. For this: AFTER the shooter has
the correct body position, AND the correct grip of the pistol You can take a
slightly larger-than-normal breath to start the breathing sequence - if you
find that you take a longish time to release the shot, this slightly
larger-than-normal breath will give your blood a bit more oxygen, but with
the 'two breath method' and releasing the shot within a few second of getting
into the desired aiming area you should not have much need for 'extra'
oxygenation. The shooter inhales
a NORMAL breath while raising the pistol to 'aim' in an area at the top of
the target, and the sight alignment is adjusted (if necessary) while exhaling
NORMALLY The shooter inhales
a second NORMAL breath THEN while slowly lowering
the pistol through the black aiming mark of the target, exhales (again,
NORMALLY!) As the pistol comes
through the desired aiming area, add pressure to the trigger If you have followed
this procedure, at first some shots will 'go off' before you are in the
desired aiming area( i.e. high); some shots will 'go
off' after you have passed below the desired aiming area (i.e. low) -
however, with some practice you can shoot lots of 10s with this technique. For the Rapid Fire Pistol and the rapid fire stage of ‘Sport’ and Center Fire Pistol most shooters release the shot/s at a natural exhalation pause (exhaling as the pistol is raised from the READY), though releasing the shots at a natural inhalation pause (inhaling as the pistol is raised from the READY) is equally valid. For the 20-seconds series in Standard Pistol while it is possible to either a) fire all five shots on one respiratory pause, or b) fire each shot after a short breath cycle, neither is advisable. Far more preferable is to ‘break’ the series into 2, 2 and 1 shot. xxxx
For the 10-seconds series in Standard Pistol xxxx For the first shot in the series, follow the breathing synchronisation set out for the first shot in a 20-seconds series, above. For the Rapid Fire Stage of 25m Womens and Center Fire Pistol the 10-seconds shot cycle (3 seconds facing and 7 seconds away) suits most shooters as a breathing cycle. xxxx
For Rapid Fire Pistol it is fairly simple to bring your breathing cycle to synchronise with the Range Officer’s commands:
Hyperventilating; its plusses and minuses Hyperventilation – breathing more deeply and/or faster than normal to increase the amount of oxygen and decrease the amount of CO2 in your blood – can be a two-edged sword. Hyperventilation
can, but does not necessarily always cause symptoms such as numbness or
tingling in the hands, feet and lips, lightheadedness,
dizziness, headache, chest pain, slurred speech, nervous laughter, and
sometimes fainting. reduces the carbon
dioxide concentration of the blood to below its normal level because one is
expiring more carbon dioxide than being produced in the body, thereby raising
the blood's pH value (making it more alkaline), initiating constriction of
the blood vessels which supply the brain, and preventing the transport of
oxygen and other molecules necessary for the function of the nervous
system.[4] At the same time, hypocapnia causes a
higher affinity of oxygen to haemoglobin, known as the Bohr effect further
reducing the amount of oxygen that is made available to the brain. Xxxx The time factor
Breathing - respiration and your eyes Simply, holding your breath too long will affect your eyesight at the time. Affect and reasons Worse, during a precision stage or event this affect can be cumulative – the ‘cure’ is fortunately simply achieved, do not hold your breath to long – with training and practice, the breathing suspension at the natural breathing pause as you release the shot Breathing – build up of lactic acid The shakes The difference between having the pistol raised and ‘holding on the target’ |
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Grip/hold and trigger finger placement |
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Sight
alignment
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Trigger
release
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Follow-through
…but wait; there’s more… The shot (or series) is nowhere near over merely because the projectile has left the barrel on its way to the target!
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Analysis
of the shot/s
…but wait; there’s even more… |
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© 2011, Spencer Tweedie |
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Balanced
stance 1 – placement of feet
Your
toes and heels will define a trapezoid on the floor: ideally in the shooting position with the pistol
raised to the target your centre of gravity (
Balanced
stance 3b – alignment of feet, pelvis and shoulders