TargetTalk

As above:
if you are on a plateau, free pistol, around 530, and want to jump on 560, what else do you think to change or train better?

The reasons are likely numerous and different for every person. If you tell us more about yourself some of us could make educated guesses.


For example,

We don't know if you are a 530 shooter who shoots lots of 10s and 9s but has several wild shot per match. Other 530 shooters, may shoot lots of 9s, some 8s and few 10s.

Another guestion, is how large is your arc of movement *ie your hold. If you can only hold the 8 ring you will have to work on different things than a shooter who can hold the 9.



My guess would be that if you are asking how to jump in 30pts in free pistol, you are not ready to jump 30pts. Try asking yourself what you need to do to get to 540, 545, 550, etc.... These small goals will help you achieve your goal of shooting in the 560s.

If you really want an answer on how to achieve 560, a good place to start is volume training for free - 200rds a day, be in good physical shape, have strong mental plan and truely use your plan. Not to mention your grip has to be well fitted to your hand,

Shooting in the 560s in free is beyond most shooters on a regular basis.

Brian

Ie. no easy simple answer but Ragnar Skanaker once told me "you have to not only want it - you have to decide to and then do it" and that made the trick for me -:)

I guess the main question is if you are willing to invest the neccessary time and effort - and why stop at 560?

Dears,
you give me in few words lot to think about.

I'm a 530's shooters with few few 10s, lot's of 9s, some 8s, generally not outside the black.

For grip fitting, i have a date with Mr Rink by a couple of weeks.

Maybe i'll take it too simple.
Start planning.

See you later,
best regards,
LukeP.

My most abrupt jumps (both directions) in score have been due to attitude and goal changes, but I wouldn't rule out technique as a limiting possibility.

First I would look at your attitude toward your accomplishments. As Shootist referenced, you have to decide to pursue it at a level that means when faced with a choice of training or another event, training wins out. But that training has to include belief in yourself and confidence that you ARE progressing.

I made a large jump by looking over past smaller accomplishments and mentally moving my perceived potential and focused goals to a level above where I had previously been focused. My next two match scores were considerably higher. You must also be careful of the converse - if you let your dedication or focus slip, so will your scores.

As to technique, you may have to change something to move on. If you have reached a plateau, it is quite possible you need to physically change some part of your shot plan.

If you have a somewhat peripheral group with few in the center, you might be waiting too long before you finish your shot. Remember that the shot should happen as you reach the best settle. You have to have started it prior to that point to be able to finish when you reach it. This can only be accomplished through in depth study of your settle and full confidence in your ability to start the trigger at the appropriate time and complete it without hesitation.

Take Care,
Ed Hall
Air Force Shooting Homepage
Bullseye (and International) Competition Things

I do agree with Ed in that change in mindset or techniqe may be the key to improvement - For a long time I struggled with CF pistol, then I made a change in equipment (from pistol to revolver) and since I've been steady in the 580's.

Further I do belive that practice and competition have to be treated the same - the same quality and sharp focus on the task at hand, every session has to have a plan and clear goals.

Bertil Olson (former swedish coach) said: You go to a competition (or practice session) to win - not over your peers, but over yourself

Take the fundamentals one at a time. For instance, can you shoot three tens in a row ? If you are having difficulty following a good shot up with another, I would sugest this points to a mental issue. The fix is to train in the mental control area. First think about your intensity level. How intense must you be to fire a good shot? Work on figuring out how to bring the intensity level up and down to reach thel evel at which you perform best.Next you might take a look at how positive your thought process is before each shot. I have found that a very small injection of a negative can cause major o problems in the shot delivery. Even at the 530 level, the mental game is relevant and must be mastered if you are to have a realistic chance to reach 560. But at 530 there may be a simple misunderstanding of how you should execute the shot sequence. I can't stress too much how important it is to have the pistol fire with out distrubing the hold or sight allignment. Long distance coaching is a bitch, I hope something the various posters have sugested will help. Good SHooting Bill Horton

Ed makes some very good points. When you hit a plateau you need to start really analyzing everything about your shooting. I recently jump from shooting 20-22/40 averages in small bore silhouette rifle to 27-30/40 averages by taking the time to make sure I was doing all the little things right and trying to work on new things. This in turn has given me more confidence and got me to the level where I could justify an Anschutz Custom 1712 as I reached my goal of making AAA and that is my reward and new iron to aid me getting to Master. Between my new tweaks and this vast improvement in a Rifle for this game I am confident I can reach my goals and then set new ones like Nationals etc.

Good luck with your shooting. Just remember don't go changing more than 1 thing at a time if you can. Get an old timer that has some knowledge to watch you shoot as your shooting you could be overlooking something simple that would give you more points.


Bo

To get to 530 you need all the basics to come together, to get to 560 it is a mental game, so do lots of big competitions.
(Plus standing knee deep in empty shells during training usually helps.)