Score progression

[Akitaki]

Hi guys
Since I'm fairly new to the sport, what would be a good score progression, what should I expect (trying to achieve) in the first year, second year etc...

[Gwhite]

It varies enormously. I coach a collegiate team, and we have students who've been trying to break 500 in air pistol for over a year. We have a couple students who started this Fall who are already shooting around 520. Our best students shoot around 540 to 550, after 2 or 3 years. They practice roughly 3/4 of an hour a day 3 days a week when school is in session, so about 7 or 8 months a year.

A lot depends on how dedicated you are in terms of conditioning & training. Learning to shoot really well is NOT about the number of pellets you put down range every day. You can learn from every shot if you work at it. Lots of dry firing is also a huge help, and an electronic trainer can show you things that are hard to ferret out live firing without one.

[Akitaki]

Thank you,
I know it depends on a lots of things, mostly your dedication and if you're doing things right, what I was trying to understand is, saying you're doing all the above, what would be a good score/years ratio, one I should reasonably hope/trying to achieve.

[Ramon OP]

And then you have someone like Manu Bhaker who in two years of training won a world cup and started breaking records. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Bhaker. According to the Wikipedia article she trains 10h per day . I wish I shot like a girl...

[David M]

Mistake number one is to worry about scores, they will look after themselves.
The group is the thing.
So, first big Goal is to be able to shoot and keep all the shots in the Black.
Start by keeping all the shots in the 6 ring or better.
Then slowly reduce the group size i.e. all in the 7 ring, then 8 ring or better.
By the time you are all in the 9 ring, you should know what you are doing.

[Azmodan]

i had never touched a gun until last year (at 40).
after a few months of playing with an airsoft replica, i got a real competition pistol (Feinwerkbau 100) in March this year and i started training alone at home (no coach). by summer i was hitting an average of 540 (with peaks around 560). i have since plateaued at 545-550 though...
started competing in the national championship this fall and shot 545 in my second competition in November.

[Ramon OP]

All my shooting stats from the first day I shot an air pistol to about a little less than a year later are here https://docs.google.com/a/serendipityac ... C/pubhtml# When I started training and not just shooting match after match I stopped tracking my trainings. Everything is explained here https://www.olympicpistol.com/my-shooti ... readsheet/.

In that time I progressed faster than most people in my range, but I was shooting a lot more than them 3 times a week. Attitude has a big impact. Also age, I was 46 when I started and I could focus amd be in the moment better.

So I don't think that this is representative but it may be helpful.

PS: I kept track of too many things. I've simplified the tracking sheet a lot and only have competitions now.

[Akitaki]

Thanks guys

[Akitaki]

Which score is considered to be "easy", so to speak, to achieve, a score that almost everybody sooner or later is able to shoot and were does it start to get difficult, were most people start to plateau usually... Again obviously it depends on the individual, training, motivation etc... but if you have to talk about the average trend you see at the range or in general...

[Gwhite]

There is a huge range, depending on the individual. What is easy for some people is a lifetime struggle for others.

The team I help coach has a process that the previous Coach used, centered around a "Minimum Qualifying Score" (MQS) of 500 (in a match) for air pistol. The theory is that when the students can shoot that, they have at least understood the fundamentals, although they may still be struggling with consistency and one or two areas of technique. At that point, they get upgraded to a higher quality air pistol. The second time they shoot an MQS in a match, they can start shooting .22's. The matches can be practice matches, or competitions against other colleges.

We have some students who don't "MQS" for a couple years, and many give up the sport before that. In the 9+ years I've worked with the team, we've only had ONE student who shot an MQS in his very first match, but we typically have at least 2 or 3 out of 15 new shooters who qualify by their 2nd match.

It's not all on the students. This year, we completely re-did our training process, and we have seen a record number of students qualify for .22's this Fall. We used to give a 1 hour safety lecture on the 1st day, then a 1 hour lecture on the fundamentals of pistol shooting 2 days later,, and then dry firing in the range a 3rd day. The following week starts with a 1 hour lecture on more advanced marksmanship technique, and then 2 days later, they get to live firing.

This year we started with the usual safety lecture, but after that, we did 5 sessions starting with a 20 to 30 minute lectures, immediately followed by range time to practice what they were just taught. They get the info in smaller doses, and get to apply it immediately before it fades over a day or more between classes. For example, the fist short session was on stance & natural point of aim. The 2nd was on grip, sight alignment & trigger control, and then they dry fire on the back of a target, and so on.

Having done this for a while now, I think the biggest problem a lot of students have is developing bad habits early that take a long time to break. With 15 students all learning at once, it's really hard to work with each shooter individually enough to spot and correct all the problems as fast as I would like. A lot of the one-on-one "coaching" is done by returning students. They are mostly there to watch for safety issues, and they don't necessarily know what to look for, and how best to help the new shooters correct technique issues. Because a number of the returning shooters still haven't MQS'd, there also problems of the blind leading the blind, or worse, teaching the new shooters incorrect technique.

As an example, after about 3 months, I just discovered a few days ago that one of the new shooters is shooting with a 6 O'clock hold. We mention it in an early lecture (and what's bad about it), and then spend a lot of time in the lectures teaching them to use a sub-6 hold. I have no idea how the student could ignore all of that and decide to shoot with a 6:00 hold, and unless you ask, there is no way to know that they are doing it.

If you are just starting out, the sooner you can find a good coach, the sooner you can fix technique issues before they become ingrained. Reading books and on-line stuff is OK, but working with an experienced coach FROM THE BEGINNING is a quicker path to success. Of course, by the time anyone reads this, it's probably too late...

[Akitaki]

Thank you Gwhite for the usual thorough answer!
I started shooting AP back in June this year (I've been shooting normal guns before but just recreationally, with no serious effort to get better) and I'm averaging 530 right now. I would like to star competing and get good at it, problem is there are no coaches were I live, the air guns section at my range has very few people shooting and none of them seem particularly good. I ask some questions here and there but I don't wanna bother people too much so I have to find all the info on internet :)

[Ramon OP]

You can find a coach to work remotely with in this list: https://www.olympicpistol.com/coaches/

[lamap]

I am wandering how efficient a remote coach can be?
How are errors in posture, timings etc.corrected?

Kind regards
Luis

[Gwhite]

In theory, you can do some remote instruction via Skype or with videos, even still pictures of things like stance. It won't be easy or efficient, but it's better than nothing.

[Ramon OP]

A remote coach is better than no coach.

None of them perform miracles.

I've learned from all coaches I've worked with.

Nothing beats seeing each other regularly.

The most important thing is communication: even if you speak the same language you may not understand each other.

Talk to them before engaging yourself, try to talk to at least one of their athletes, and discuss how you can do a test to see if you are a good fit for each other.

If along the way yoy feel that the relationship becomes less fruitful or engaged just find another coach a give yourself a few weeks of your own independent training.