Am I too old?

[porkchop]

No, you aren't too old Chameleon. Decide what venue you want to shoot whether it's Bullseye or any of the International sports. Find a mentor or coach at your club, or get an online coach and let them know what you want.
I'm 72 and started Bullseye about 9 yrs. ago and air pistol about 5yrs ago. I'm too old to seek the big stands, but have oodles of fun trying to get improvement, I find it very rewarding to shoot and compete in matches.
Stan

[Dagpistol]

I'm 79 and took up target pistol two years ago. Yes, I'm useless but getting better the more I shoot, in fact i do better than quite a few who are much younger than me - but even more useless than me!
More importantly I love it! You've 56 years on me so go for it!
Jim- in darkest Surrey -UK

[Jmillan27]

Buddy, I started at 38. My first air pistol match at 39 and I shot a 548.

I wish I started at your age. Who knows how much I could have improved over 17 years?

Best time to start was yesterday. The long you wait, the question will turn from “am I to old,” to “what if I started” when you are no longer able or capable.

[M-1903A4]

I love these types of questions. You limit yourself when you start going down this pathway. When I was in college I never really hit my stride or potential and was an above average shooter, but nowhere near where I should have been. Getting older and more mature helped immensely. I calmed down, did not stress out as much and was hitting around the 550's to 560's. My training became much more focused. I was 51 in 2022 when I hit my high scores in all of my ISSF disciplines. On Netcompetitor.com you can view my progress up until that point. I scored a 587 - 16X in Air Pistol, scored a 589 in Center Fire, scored a 575 - 15x in Free Pistol, scored a 586 in Rapid Fire Pistol, and scored a 588 in Standard Pistol. This was after coming back from getting my knee ripped apart by a reckless driver in a head on collision in 2017, surgery in 2019 and starting a comeback. What I didn't know, was that at 52, I would make the US National Kata Team for USA Judo and be in the Pan American Kata Championship in 2023. The pistol experience and discipline helped me in ways I could not comprehend when I went onto the mat in International Competition, I was extremely focused, nerves were under control and yes, I had a number of my competitors and coaches that were amazed at my age I not only made the team, but placed 4th in International competition as well as out scoring everyone at Nationals that year with my teammate. At 53, I made it again this year and also qualified for the World Championship as part of the US. National Kata Team. I never let age dictate my ability to try and overcome any obstacle I wanted to achieve. At some point my body is probably going to tell me otherwise, but until then I am not going to let an artificial limitation be a barrier.

[Peter Lovett]

May I suggest that setting a goal such as competing internationally at the outset is not helpful. However, at 23 you have that chance but there needs to be intermediate goals. I am 73 and took up pistol shooting only 5 years ago. I had shot pistols back in the late '90s but due to work requirements it was not feasible to continue. Now, all I look for is an improvement, in scores, in technique, in mental attitude. I don't care where I score in relation to others, only in that I am improving. I found in the past that being hyper-competitive (while playing tennis) did not help my mental well-being and I have tried to avoid that with pistol shooting. Enjoy the journey.

[Reinhamre]

Statistics says that 80% of those who do well in sports at an early age do NOT become elite at 30 and that 80% of those who are elite at 30 did NOT do well when they where young. And that is for athletic sports! Shooting? I think 40+ is the time to start thinking of a future in shooting. I am 80 next month and have NO desire to quit. 23? I eat them for breakfast :-)

[SweShooter]

If you are too old, wtf does that make me!? I took up this sport at 47 and am doing just fine. Sure wish I would have done it at your age.

You might not make the olympics (but then again, who knows!) but you can have a lot of fun. I shoot to have fun but as I live in a country where there is proficiency requirements to get a license, I do need to be somewhat decent to maintain my license. I don’t see that level of proficiency as a hinderance due to my age. Sure it wasn’t easy to do it the first time around but with practice it won’t be that hard.

[kqrxbn]

Was also over 40 and am most likely subject to the same requirements as the previous poster. Most beginners here are on the older side, in my experience: it is a hobby that benefits greatly from having a car and some time on the weekends. Hard to combine with that time in life when kids are small, for example.