Am I too old?

[ChameleonMCP]

I'm still new to the sport but when looking at websites of clubs in my country that win the competitions they all seem to prefer to train kids instead of adults. Of course it's better to start at a younger age but is there any hope for someone older to get to international competition level? Or is starting young so much of an advantage that it would be almost impossible? I'm 23, I've been shooting for few months and I'm not hiding that I would like to get to a very high level in this sport if possible.

[alpineboard]

Try it and find out. You maybe extremely talented. Shooting is a lifestyle, hang in there and you will see what you can do. IMO, it is convenient for the young to train and pursue this goal, because there are not any other demands on life when you are younger. So if you have the means at 23 and your life is set up so you can shoot, then by all means do it.

[KDZ]

Joao Costa is a very successful shooter who remained competitive well into his 40s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o ... t_shooter)

[-TT-]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar_Skan%C3%A5ker

[Gwhite]

Don Nygord shot on the US Olympic team in his 50's, and won a gold medal in the Pan Am Games at 55.

https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/44729

[toddinjax]

When you're lying in a casket and somebody closes the lid, you are too old.

[Rover]

Of course you're too old, you doddering wretch. Look how proudly Biden the Ancient serves our country. But then he's special!

Obnoxious abuse aside, you're OK. Just go for it.

[fc60]

Greetings,

I was about your age when I started shooting competitively.

Two years later, I earned the 1979 National Collegiate Pistol Title at Camp Perry.

I did have an excellent coach.

Cheers,

Dave

[brent375hh]

No, you are not too old. I shot my personal best 577 a couple of months ago. I have been doing this for 5 decades. Some physical training, but mostly concentration on every facet of every shot is what it takes to score well.

[kevinjab]

I am 63 years old, I am from Argentina, I started shooting with a pneumatic gun about 15 years ago, I think if I remember correctly, I am not a good shooter, I know that I will not reach high levels, but that does not bother me, I try to do my best in every moment of shooting, I like this shooting discipline, and the most important thing is that I enjoy it, giving me satisfaction in its practice.-
Don't stop trying, don't get frustrated comparing your results with those of other shooters, try it and enjoy the shot.-
Sorry if there are translation errors, since I don't know English, I use the GOOGLE translator to communicate with you.-

[atomicgale]

. . . is there any hope for someone older to get to international competition level?

Never too old. I recently won the title "Old-blind-shaky-guy-with-a-bad-attitude," at the international level.

[Gwhite]

. . . is there any hope for someone older to get to international competition level?

Never too old. I recently won the title "Old-blind-shaky-guy-with-a-bad-attitude," at the international level.

That sounds like an award I could compete for. I've got the Old-blind-shaky part down pat, but my attitude is only lousy. I haven't made it all the way to "bad" yet. I need to practice yelling "Get off my lawn!" more...

[Mike M.]

23? (snort. giggle) Hell, you're just getting started.

If you look at the oldest competitor at any Olympics, they are invariably a shooter...and in their mid-50s or older.

Favoring very young shooters is an artifact of one-size-fits-all approaches to funding - an approach that is dominated by the Spandex Sports, where 30 is considered old and 35 ancient. And it's one of the problems with the shooting sports in the USA. There are youth/college programs, the professional military shooting teams...and competitors who are paying out of their own pockets. Which can get pretty expensive. Each American competitor at the World Muzzle-Loading Championships will be paying around $4,000 out of their own pockets.

But if you're in this for the money, you're in the wrong sport. :-) And if you're in it for the fun, 23 is a fine age to get started.

[David M]

23...your still in nappies.
I started pistol shooting at 30 as a winter time sport (too cold to go sailing).
Went to my first Nationals 6yrs later, first International 2 yrs after that, then
the first of three Olympics at age 47.
I am now 70 and still competing at National level in the top 10.
23...Ha

[Grippy]

Plenty of people that competed at the Olympics started around that age or even later. This isn't the kind of sport where you need to start at 6 so you can peak at 17.

[PirateJohn]

I started at 46. I'm now 49 and am flirting with scoring 570. My coach, who has competed internationally, doesn't think me scoring 580 someday is unrealistic.

So, yeah. Go for it.

[john bickar]

I heard a rumor (unfounded) that a washed-up has-been 46YO won the President's Pistol Match at Camp Perry in 2023. I heard another rumor that 2nd place in that match was a Senior.

It's not ISSF pistol, but it is iron sights.

You might be OK.

[Gwelo]

Interesting story. Congratulations John! For those that don’t know:

https://thecmp.org/bickar-achieves-dual ... rs-pistol/

[KDZ]

The OP's question seems different than the one being answered. ie is there a big advantage to starting young if the goal is to be extremely competitive at some later time. There are many examples of older champions, but most (all?) started training / competing at a young age.

Anecdotally you see this in other sports - tennis for example.

Are there precision shooting champions who entered the sport later in life?

[JulianL]

Yes. There is hope. It's a matter of spending the time and learning the craft. I'll give you a couple of examples. A friend of mine started competitive pistol around 27. He competed at the Rio Olympics and earlier this year made it to finals at the CAT Games. I know of a second that picked up pistol at 25 just for fun and didn't start competitive shooting until he was 27. He's won 3 World Cups and shot at the Tokyo Olympics.

I think resilience is more important than talent. It helps to start young just because you have that much more time to train and gain experience in competition. At the same time, I see many young shooters that have early success and then give up when they feel they can't break through to the next level. These were national level athletes that gave up before they were 23. It's a matter of how willing you are to put in the effort and do the boring things before staring at your score. Shooting is a skill sport. Talent always helps early on, but everyone plateaus and it's a matter of how willing you are to struggle through those frustrating times.