TargetTalk

Anyone use one of these for training for 10 meter air rifle or pistol shooting? If so, can you comment on how effective a tool it is? I've been considering using one of these as a no impact way of toning up the legs and I hate to use the term... "core". What kind of exercises do you do. I'd like to hear from shooters and coaches.

I still go to the gym three times a week and my exercises consist of 15 minutes treadmill---5% at 3.5mph; leg presses 160# 3 reps of 5; leg lifts 75 # 3 reps of 5; Calf lifts 50#, 3reps of 5; Tricep lifts 90 # 3 reps of 5; Bicep lifts 70 # 3 reps of 5; Bar pull 70# 3 reps of 5; tricep pushes 70# 3 reps of 5. I also practise standing on one leg to improve my balance and try to achieve stability for as long as possible (at 78 this is the first to go believe me). This all amounts to usually 90 minutes minimum in the gym. I have definitely noticed increased ability to shoot an entire AP and/or FP match without becoming tired on the fourth target FP and # 45 in AP. You know, the fifth target droops. BTW I alter those weights or increase them as I become "stronger," there is an old joke I know, but I would be banned for writing it here. Try it you will soon become hooked, it's like another bad habit. "Doc" (the Crotchety Old Coach)

Thanks for your insight Bob. I work out at the local YMCA. Weight training hasn't seemed to be the ticket for me. The swimming I do there has really helped me with an old shoulder and side problem. The elliptical trainer has helped the legs and wind. I was wondering if adding a wobble board routine might help this old body to shoot a little better.

Some of the NCSU rifle shooters have tried shooting on wobble boards. Based on the number of people still doing it, I don't think they found it too effective. However, in their workouts, we have them doing squats and a few other exercises on bozu balls. This helps build the smaller stabilizer muscles in the body. We also have them use free weights as much as possible over machines to help build those same muscles.

Best exercise is probably just shooting! Builds strong legs. Anything that helps increase strength of balance should be good for rifle standing position.
Maybe, Soupy, why you don't see much increase for the college age shooters is that they already have good balance as they are used to skateboarding, rollerblading, scooters, lots of walking & running, etc.
The simple act of standing on one leg and slowly swinging the other is what I was taught from a Russian champion. It's an exercise that can be done in many situations, & without special equipment. But wobble boards are a lot more fun!

I would think that college-aged shooters would have strong thumbs from text-messaging and playing video games. Their neck muscles should be toned from leaning into their cell phones. Their right arms have some extra development from hefting all those beers. The boys should have good gripping strength in their hands from pulling up their over-sized pants.

LOL! That's why the rifle team works out, to correct those muscle imbalances.

If and when I don't get much exercise, my control goes down. Generally I shoot best when I exercise a lot and practice a moderate amount. The peak of my scores occur during hunting season when practice time is limited. I would also guess that my stress level is also lowest during those weeks. So I'll go out on a limb and say target work is both physical and mental. But everyone already knows that.

PL wrote:Best exercise is probably just shooting! Builds strong legs. Anything that helps increase strength of balance should be good for rifle standing position.

If only that were true. There's lots of exercises that shooters can (and should) do to improve their muscle tone, core stability and equally importantly improve their CV function.

Think of exercise as kind of like building up a skeletal support framework. Rifle (or any other) shooting then uses that scafolding to support the body and rifle, improving performance and helping prevent injury.

That said, you can easily undo the good work if you don't do a full warm up and stretching routine prior to actually shooting.

Rob.

I use these quite a lot; good for back/posture, and increase the workload when walking.
But they also affect balance.
I wore them while shooting AP yesterday, apporx. 100 shots while wobbling! I believe it lowers my score about 5%.....

Back to normal shoes in competition helps.

Sorry: forgot to link in pervious post:

http://us.mbt.com/

MBT shoes

I'm sure those MBT shoes do everything they are supposed to, but for the money they should dance and serve drinks!

They're expensive, "Swiss made".
Got my second and third pair at 50% discount: hard to sell :-)

But they make shooting more of a challenge; that subtle sight correction you make due to increased body sway.....
But I handle it better now than first time around, so I'm learning something from this.
Others seem to have experienced similar things with soft soled "Crocs" and "holey soles".

Take them off in competition and you're rock steady?

I did hear talk of some people playing with their Wii Fit balance boards for this purpose. Kind of like a Scatt for your core stability!

Don't know how much use it is, but when analysing a position, I imagine any data on sway and balance is bound to be useful to build up a fuller picture.

have you tried the trx suspension system for workouts.. it works useing your a own body wieght as the wieghts.. plus it has diff core workouts for the body to add stength and grace to your body for standing still for shooting .. plus it a low inpact typle workout ..

www.fitnessanywhere.com is there website ..

Looks like Skechers has a fitness shoe out that is a little less expensive than the shoe from Switzerland. They still seem pricey to me, but here is the website: http://www.skechers.com/shoes-and-cloth ... e_ups/list

Off-hand shooting is about balance. Wobble boards aren't the only way but are a great way to improve balance. They should be part of every serious shooters training gear and part of their match warm-up.

Hemmers wrote:I did hear talk of some people playing with their Wii Fit balance boards for this purpose. Kind of like a Scatt for your core stability!

Don't know how much use it is, but when analysing a position, I imagine any data on sway and balance is bound to be useful to build up a fuller picture.

I have tried this and its actually quite interesting to see what sort of movement your body has when your holding. I do recommend to give it a try if you have one just to see where you are.

I have used wobble boards to some success, but I really can't be bothered with them. When I want to work on balance I find standing on 1 leg with your eyes closed. Learn to do it for a minute on each leg and you won't have a problem with balance

Hemmers wrote:I did hear talk of some people playing with their Wii Fit balance boards for this purpose. Kind of like a Scatt for your core stability!

Don't know how much use it is, but when analysing a position, I imagine any data on sway and balance is bound to be useful to build up a fuller picture.

There's some yoga exercises on them that definitely do get you thinking about balance.

Wobble boards are useful for getting the brain and you to recognise the muscle groups that allow you to balance. When standing, they're working on such a small scale, many people are unable to feel them, and thus they aren't pushed... so if they're wanting, it's hard to develop them further because you don't know where to start. Wobble boards expose them and allow them to develop them further.

But it's no quick fix. It will take a long time before you see a natural benefit to using them. But then that's true of most things beneficial in shooting, past the initial progress curve that most people see.

I used a wobble board for a hip injury, but it also helped with posture and stability. Stand with one foot on a chair, the other foot on a wobble board as far in front as you can be and still keep your pelvis perpendicular to the legs (on the chair behind you and the wobble board in front).
Do split squats this way.
As much as possible keep the trunk vertical (no leaning forward).
One may need a chair nearby so that balance can be restored by grabbing the back of the chair.

Other things like.... Stand on one (bent) leg with a light (say 5 kg) dumbbell in the hand on the same side. move the dumbbell from the other hip diagonally across the body to full extension on the same side as the leg you're standing on. (the angle is about like the "forward slash")... / but a little farther from vertical.

These exercises help leg strength, leg flexor range of motion, torso strength, lower leg stabilisation, and the shoulder (while doing tricky balance things) strength and endurance....
HTH
W