TargetTalk

Greetings From Texas All!!

I have been a rifle competitor for some time but I am a realtively new competitor in air pistol having only competed in 3 matches since July of this year. I am trying to figure out the best techniques in terms of hold. As I have no coach I am going to rely on everyone's input from this forum.

In practice I have ranged anywhere from a 490 to a 515. My 3 competition scores are as follows 473 (July), 492 (August), and 504 (November) which I know is not very good but at least I am improving. I currently use a sub-six hold. Is this the "recommended" hold technique or would there be an advantage to a center-hold technique. I know that this probably varies from shooter to shooter but I am trying to find out what may have worked for others as they begin to progress toward a decent score for this discipline.

As a side note, I have found that shooting air pistol has actually helped my air rifle scores so maybe this addition to my growing number of shooting disciplines was a wise choice. Thanks in advance for your help!

A sub-six hold is generally considered best in precision shooting, although some shooters do better centre aiming. You should be aiming for a gap between the bull and the foresight of 1 - 2 cms (very roughly speaking) and that in turn should be roughly similar to the gap either side of the foresight. The theory being our brains like nice regular patterns - the same philosophy behind rifle target shooting.

This has been discussed in depth on here so try searching through old threads.

Rob.

Most people hold at 6 o'clock because they can see the front sight better against the off-white contrast of the target, but there is nothing wrong with a center hole. Try each one for a while to see which works best for you. Especially, if you have very good eyesight, the center hold might be the way to go. The most important part is to entirely focus all your vision and attention to the front sight only, making sure that it is perfectly aligned in the rear sight notch. Keep equal light on both sides and the top of the front sight level with the top of the rear sight. You don't want to aim at a point on the target. You must accept that you will have movement. This is your holding area. As long as your sights stay in alignment with each other and you make an effort to keep them aligned during the release of the shot and even a little beyond (that is called follow-through) you will have a good shot You will be amazed at just how much movement you can have in your arm and still have a good shot, if your sights were aligned with one another. When you train you need to call each shot based on the relationship of the front sight to the rear sight. You need to confirm the call with a spotting scope, etc. By using these shooting fundamentals of focusing only on the front sight and follow through, you will build confidence in them and reinforce them.

Paul:

We've had a bunch of threads on this before- some relatively recently- the key is this:

1. Alignment is critical

2. You have to be focusing ont he front sight to achieve proper alignment

3. The best way to focus and align is against a neutral background

4. There is a reason why I call it the "Distraction Bull!"

e.g. if you use a center hold, your eye is going to be constantly yanked to the target (really bad). If yoiu use a six oclock hold you will be trying to "aim" (line up the front sight, rear sight, and target (really, really bad).

So if center hold and six oclock hold both such, what's left?


[Yes, yes, I know, the superhuman beings among us can overcome the natural disadvantages of both center and sub-six hold. True enoguh, and ganted for the sake of argument. However, most of us mere mortals though prefer not to walk uphill in knee deep snow if ya know what I mean . . . ]