Pulse shooting technique

[Giddaymate]

Do you guys practice shooting in between the heartbeat/pulse?

If yes - how important is this? I have not found any material on this aspect of shooting training.

[Martin H]

Well, I think we all do it most of the time. But we never knew we were doing it until we started looking closely at our shooting using Scatt.
I have many Scatt files with lots of different shooters, all showing their shot releases happening between heart beats. When questioned they had no idea that they were triggering between heart beats. But they were doing it quite consistently.
Martin

[Giddaymate]

Well.... Many shooters are affected by rising pulse (amongst other things) during competition, getting lower scores. So it would make sense to practice shooting between beats......if that is possible in a realistic way

[Jimro]

What follows is my opinion, worth all that you pay for it ;)

It isn't something to worry about standing, simply being relaxed and focused will help you fall into a good rhythm and break the shot at the proper time.

It is something to think about when using a sling, but if you have good form and are breaking the shots correctly then don't worry about it.

Not that it has any bearing on pulse, but the "meditative state" of a properly executed shot is literally transcendent. To quote a German who lived in Japan on the art of archery:

"The archer ceases to be conscious of himself as the one who is engaged in hitting the bull's-eye which confronts him. This state of unconscious is realized only when, completely empty and rid of the self, he becomes one with the perfecting of his technical skill, though there is in it something of a quite different order which cannot be attained by any progressive study of the art" Eugene Herrigel "Zen in the Art of Archery"

So yeah, the secret of great marksmanship is in not worrying about the little things like pulse (at least from the Japanese Zen Archery perspective).

Jimro

[KennyB]

Do you guys practice shooting in between the heartbeat/pulse?

Yes - but I only do prone and Jimro may be correct about standing position - or maybe not...

If yes - how important is this?

In my opinion - essential. If you watch someone like Mike McPhail shooting a World Cup final on ISSF TV, you can see the end of his tube bouncing around with his pulse - he still manages to hit deep tens... I remember Matt Emmons mentioning it during the commentary.

I have not found any material on this aspect of shooting training.

Apart from the article on the SCATT website : http://www.scatt.com/articles/17/pulse-technique/ I think it's up to you.
Personally, I can hear my pulse - especially when I'm excited - and have enough rhythm to be able to anticipate and trigger between beats but it took me many months of training and it's a still a semi-conscious thing 4 years on.
Coincidentally, we have been having a training weekend and part of that was doing finals with everyone who wasn't shooting making as much of a racket as they could - so much that I couldn't hear my pulse, and my scores were 3 points worse (206.5 as opposed to 208.9/209.6 with nobody banging drums behind me, just singing Kumbaya - hilarious...)

I think you have to find a "tell" which works for you. SCATT is probably the only way to do this.

K.

[patriot]

Pulse? What pulse? It is critical. Work on your position until its gone, particularly for prone. The coat, sling, and arm position are critical. Experiment with want you can and can not eat before and during a match. Don't let your friend talk you into a breakfast buffet before the match, don't drink cold water half way through a 1000 yards string on a 95+ day, and don't take a nap between relays (don't ask me now I know).

Mark

[23's Dad]

I don't claim to be a world class shooter. As a matter of fact I'm pretty mediocre. I do know this: If I am thinking about my pulse, then I'm not fully focused on the front sight. I know my scores show a noticeable drop when I am thinking about anything else. Sight Alignment, Sight Picture, Sight Alignment, Sight Picture...over and over. That's all I can think about. YMMV.

[Martin H]

When I changed to a Precise stock my pulse trace on Scatt changed shape. It went from a spikey pointy trace to a softer rounder shape. This rounder trace doesn't give those "flick" shots that caused 9's at 1-2 o'clock.
I put this down to changing the pressure point around my thumb. I suspect part of the pulse also comes from my forearm where the sling wraps around the arm.
I have worked very hard to reduce the pulse but it really never went away, I can reduce it by staying calm, but the movement never completely goes.

Going back to what Ken said, on reflection, I think I must listen to my pulse too. If I pause before I fire, I get "in phase" with my pulse and subconsciously time the shot.
However I couldn't tell you that I was firing in between heart beats, it just somehow happens.
Martin