Coaching Advice?

[Thedrifter]

Hello,
First Off I would like to thank everyone who helped me with my neck pains a few months back.

now I am looking to get some advice on my prone shooting position as it is today.
Below is a video and a picture of the target i shot at 50yards.

some funny things happened that i thought i should share, first off i shot my first 200 in the prone position "A-23" and i managed to get this on video, reason i chose to video was so that i could watch myself from start to finish. I would also like to know if you could share some key areas that I should be watching, or things that I could be looking for. to help en-prove my ability to critique myself from the video.




One last thing wile cleaning my rifle I discovered the front sight aperture was loose so this target could have been better or worse hard to say but I have loc-tite on that problem now.


Target shot from top left,bottom left, bottom right, top right


All opinions welcome.
Thanks
Cameron

[Tim S]

Hello Cameron,

It's a small suggestion, but you could refine your loading technique a little. You don't really need to look at the breech, you have to lift up your head to peer around the rearsight, and this can move the butt slightly, and you may not get a consistent head position. Practise loading by feel alone.

Tim

[Telecomtodd]

Cameron - first of all, excellent job! Now the challenge will be to duplicate your effort so it is reliably repeatable.

Some thoughts...

1. You have a problem I also share. To reach the chamber, you have to remove your elbow from the mat. This means you are changing your position slightly with every single shot. Have you ever tried reaching the chamber without raising your elbow? The rest of the position can sag away, it doesn't matter, but the elbow position sure does.

2. Yes, you don't have to watch the round go into the chamber. Trust your feel.

3. You aligned your scope so the legs were *just* off the mat. You should think about bringing it onto the mat or bringing your position to the edge of the map to you can get closer to it. The scope being on the mat should be your last concern - your ability to look through it without moving your head much. That uses neck muscles...we've been through that before!

4. Have you thought about articulating shooting glasses? They will allow you to align the lens parallel to the aperture of the rear sight.

That's all for now...try taking a video from the side next time, I have questions about your knee and elbow placement.

Like Big Daddy Dre once said...Internet coaching ain't easy. :)

[Thedrifter]

1. You have a problem I also share. To reach the chamber, you have to remove your elbow from the mat. This means you are changing your position slightly with every single shot. Have you ever tried reaching the chamber without raising your elbow? The rest of the position can sag away, it doesn't matter, but the elbow position sure does.

could you demonstrate what you explaining here? or better explain?

Thanks for the imput guys

[Jason]

Cameron,

Shooting glasses should be your next purchase. I use and recommend Champions because you can position the lens parallel to the rear site. If you don't feel like spending $$$ on the Olympic model, the World Champion 3 or 4 are perfectly fine. If you're nearsighted like me you'll likely need your normal prescription upped by +0.25 or +0.50 diopters to account for the greater distance from the lens to your pupil. Talk to your optometrist and see if he/she will let you bring in your glasses and rifle.

Does the shooting pad slope toward the targets? I've heard of some ranges doing this to help with rain run-off. It looks sloped to me, and your position -- and the spotting scope -- seems high as a result. Everyone's different but most shooters tend to prefer a lower-ish position for stability. What @Telecomtodd is referring to is leaning the rifle over to the right to reload without lifting your right arm. This is much easier with a lower position but it's never worked for me. YMMV.

Something to practice at home is getting into position and having a friend mark the position of your right elbow with a spot of tape, and then dryfiring while "loading" and focusing on putting your elbow down in the same position every time. A mirror is helpful for monitoring as you shouldn't be looking to see where your elbow goes while breaking position. I don't do this nearly as often as I should but it did help me. Moving to a shooting mat with "Top Grip" material helped, too.

I like your idea of filming your training: how high/far away did you position the camera? I'm a long way away from any other shooters and having a video diary to show coaches is interesting. . . .

Jason

[Thedrifter]

Cameron,

Shooting glasses should be your next purchase. I use and recommend Champions because you can position the lens parallel to the rear site. If you don't feel like spending $$$ on the Olympic model, the World Champion 3 or 4 are perfectly fine. If you're nearsighted like me you'll likely need your normal prescription upped by +0.25 or +0.50 diopters to account for the greater distance from the lens to your pupil. Talk to your optometrist and see if he/she will let you bring in your glasses and rifle.

OK i have to clear this up, i don't have a "real" prescription i have a minor astigmatism other than that my vision is perfect i have the glasses for safety reasons, range requirements. the clear plastic safety glasses get scratched easily are difficult to see through, and fog easily.

Does the shooting pad slope toward the targets? I've heard of some ranges doing this to help with rain run-off. It looks sloped to me, and your position -- and the spotting scope -- seems high as a result. Everyone's different but most shooters tend to prefer a lower-ish position for stability. What @Telecomtodd is referring to is leaning the rifle over to the right to reload without lifting your right arm. This is much easier with a lower position but it's never worked for me. YMMV.

OK i will look into this more tomorrow, what does YMMV mean?

Something to practice at home is getting into position and having a friend mark the position of your right elbow with a spot of tape, and then dryfiring while "loading" and focusing on putting your elbow down in the same position every time. A mirror is helpful for monitoring as you shouldn't be looking to see where your elbow goes while breaking position. I don't do this nearly as often as I should but it did help me. Moving to a shooting mat with "Top Grip" material helped, too.

unfortunately i cant dry-fire or practice at home :( i live on a military base and have to keep my rifle locked in the armory unless I am working, cleaning, or shooting with her. i do however now have access to an area at the range that i am allowed to use 24/7 i set them up with an air rifle range and was issued a key, i clean and maintain also

I like your idea of filming your training: how high/far away did you position the camera? I'm a long way away from any other shooters and having a video diary to show coaches is interesting. . . .

Jason

the camera is Nikon from wal-mart and i have it placed on a tri-pod about 10' away. but like mentioned earlier other angles might be more useful i choose the above angle because i wanted to see my head position.

[Thedrifter]

in further news i shot 2 more 200's on this target today, i think now that ive done it it will begin to become easier not getting as gittery on that last target.

able to keep more calm i suppose you would say.

[Thedrifter]

That's my most recent