TargetTalk

Need Help-My daughter consistently shoots high eighties low nineties in kneeling. Have been working on it for months without getting any better. All shots are 9's or 10 running always from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock. What should I be looking for? Thanks for the help!!!

P.S. She shoots a Daisy 887 for sporter and an Anschutz 8002 for precision. Scores for both are the same.

Try turning the left foot in towards you (right handed shooter). This should help the horizontal shots.

1st always on this issue. Make sure heel is directly under spine & that foot is straight up & down, toe to heel. Next make sure that holding arm & thigh are aligned (not shooting across herself nor outside alignment)

You don't give your daughter's age or size, but a lot of kids have a poor kneeling position when starting because they have not yet developed hip muscles. They wind up allowing the support leg to collapse inward, and shoot "across" the top of the knee. Good enough position to get into the low 90's, but that's about it. Left to right stringing is a normal symptom.

Try getting her into position without the rifle, and see how it look (keeping in mind what PCU has said about the support foot). If her shoulders are pointed more than "slightly" to right of the target, she is probably shooting across the position. Add the rifle and take a look Proper position should be similar to prone with left elbow about 2-3 inches to left of the barrel.

Have her get back into position with out the rifle, and face the target when in position, then add the rifle (you will have to adjust the foreend stop and sling length - usually longer). Don't worry about NPA for a minute, just have her watch the front sight and see if the left-right motion is gone. If so, you can now make minor adjustments (probably turning very lightly to the right, maybe only left foot movement twisting to the right) to get on target and check NPA.

Sorry for the slow response to you all but I got buried at work. Thanks for the tips for my daughter-I will work with her and see how it helps. I do have one question for Pat-what do you consider "slightly" right of the target for her shoulders? Would one target frame over be too much to center her shoulders on. (shooting at 10 meters)

Thanks everyone for the help.

It depends on her body conformation. If she has wide shoulders she may be that far right.

Start without the gun and facing the target. Kneel down with kneeling roll in place and adjust right knee out a little bit for stability. See how it feels. She will probably be only slightly right of target (if any).

You WILL need to lengthen the sling and move the handstop out. Again, without the gun, get a good feeling position with her support arm pretty much an extension of her upper leg on that side.

The biggest thing is to keep the support elbow outside the rifle (like in prone) so it cannot pivot over the knee causing the L-R pattern.

She needs to know that it may feel like a major change, but her old position has taken her as far as it can, and a small step back will pay off in large returns (small groups).

Good luck, and let us know how it works.