TargetTalk

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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 :-)

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.

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.