TargetTalk

Hello all,
I attended a training course (in The Netherlands) for trainers who want to start training handicapt shooters. It was mentioned that many shooters use devices/supports to stalilise their wheelchair.
I am very intersted to see examples/pictures of such devices. Every comment is apreciated.

Thanks,
Albert T
(The Netherlands)

I'm not sure what they would be using to "stabilize" a wheelchair. I shoot in my everyday wheelchair. I use the brakes so it doesn't move. Otherwise IPC decitates how high the back of the chair can be and the depth of a sling back. There cannot be any hard contoured backs. Give me some more detail on what you're thinking about.

I have seen a disabled shooter from the Netherlands who had support legs made to his wheelchair that could be lowered to the ground and fastened once he was lined up with the target (Natural Point of Aim). See attached picture, where he is pointing tot the supports that can be lowered. I heard of some other person who put his wheelchair on wooden blocks after he was lined up properly.
I am interested to know of other ways people use to make their chair unmovable and rigid when they are properly lined up with the target.
In The Ntherlands there are only a 4 or 6 disabled shooters who shoot on competition level, so info about the subject is hard to obtain.
Albert T (The Netherlands)

I did get to learn more about what you're talking about. I have not yet started to modify my chair but will be soon. I heard of the things you show and another device in the making that stabilizes the chair by lifting it off the ground all together.

5 Years ago I started coaching Wounded Warriors in Northern Virginia. I also found it had to get much if any information. I just got back from 8 days at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado springs.

There were lots of variations in ways to stabilize chairs. Some people have a separate chair (stool) and table. Some are attached to or actually part of the table. Looking at the large number of variations of wheel chairs that were there, it quickly becomes daunting to try and design something that fits any wheel chair out there.

I have lots of pictures, but they are too big for this system.

Matt Skelhon has an air powered system with 4 small actuators in the four corners of his chair. The last day, at the last match, one of the actuators quit and he could not use his system. Even without his stabilizers he shot slightly higher that the day before with his stabilizer and won the match.

Most of the people that shot out of a wheelchair just set up at their NPA and locked the wheels. It is much easier with electronic targets.

Most prople just apply the brakes to the chair. Some use curved blocks to sit under the wheels and prevent movement. Others place rods at the corners of the chair. My opinion is that just locking the wheel brakes is adequate.

Most wheel chair users sit on a cushion either foam or air to prevent sores. That being said, it is not a solid platform to be sitting on. This will allow movement. Try using scatt and see what the movement is with and without stabelizing additions. I think you will notice no difference. Also using blocks or stabelizers makes the small adjustments to get proper NPA more difficult.

I met Mike Tagliapietro and had a few beers when John Zurek was training him at my club. Apparently, Mike listened good.

I'd like to say that, for a pistol shooter, there is NO NPA. One might be a bit more comfortable in one spot than another, that will change constantly.

NOT the same for a rifle shooter.

Thomas Monto wrote:Most prople just apply the brakes to the chair. Some use curved blocks to sit under the wheels and prevent movement. Others place rods at the corners of the chair. My opinion is that just locking the wheel brakes is adequate.

Most wheel chair users sit on a cushion either foam or air to prevent sores. That being said, it is not a solid platform to be sitting on. This will allow movement. Try using scatt and see what the movement is with and without stabelizing additions. I think you will notice no difference. Also using blocks or stabelizers makes the small adjustments to get proper NPA more difficult.

At the IPC World Cup - Ft Benning this past week, probably the chair that got quite a bit of attention was the one of Veronica Vadovicova of Slovakia. She has screw down jacks that stabilize and level her chair. This was especially handy on the 50m line where the floor back from the door is not level. They had a small battery powered drill to run these jacks up & down.

The only issue that I saw that could potentially hurt someone who had a complex system such as this is in a final ... a bit more time is taken up jacking down the chair (not very high ... just enough to level ... wheels not jacked off the ground) moving the position and then jacking them back up for the new position. All of the coaches/helpers moving about the line in the final may make the IPC make some rule changes limiting how much help the shooter can have in a final. They, like ISSF, are very concerned about the appearance of the line during the portions of the events that are sure to be televised.

It did not hurt Veronica all that much, timewise, as it was obvious that their finals choreograph was a practiced one.