Sergei Martynov

[GolfShot]

Has anybody been able to figure out what made Sergei Martynov so successful. Ive always found him to be fascinating as he is so unorthodox.

To name a few of his oddities,

- Awkward position
- Canvas sling
- Jacket undone
- No foresight level
- No extension tube
- Wood stock
- Dirty action
- No eye-relief
- No filters on rear-iris
- Ear-muffs

Could his success just be a case of hard-work and talent?

[Tim S]

Martynov's position looked awkward, but I think it was very cleverly constructed. Matt Emmons gave an interesting critique while commentating on ISSF TV once. The main points were:

Wide upper body angle: allows left hand to reach a loonngg way forwards. This increases the support base of the rifle, and reduces the leverage that recoil can apply.

Lower body angled. This is probably the most unusual aspect. Pretty much only Belorussian shooters bend at the waist. But, doing this, allows Martnov to bring his right knee very high. This adds weight/resistance to the recoil, necessary since the exaggerated upper body angle puts the butt on his deltoid (even with the plate offset to the left).

Uneven shoulders: By bending at the waist and pushing up his right knee Martynov's left shoulder is very low, and his right is high. The low left shoulder increases his reach. The high right shoulder, with a correspondingly high butt, counters muzzle rise.

The canvas sling isn't unique. Quite a few Russian/ex-soviet shooters have used these successfully: Artem Khadjiebekov (World and European Champion), Viatcheslav Botchkarev (World Champion and World record holder) Konstanton Prikhodtchenko, Yuri Shcherbatsevitch, Vitali Bubnovich come to mind. Canvas may be less likely to stretch that leather, and is cheaper.

As for the comments about his rifle (wood stock, no extension tube etc), remember Martynov started his International career in the 1980s. Wood stocks were the only choice back then; I believe he used a MTS 112-1 at the 1990 World Championships. By the time metal stocks were widely available (ca 1995), he had his Anschutz 1913. Once he'd shot his first World record equalling 600 scores, he may not have felt any need to change. After London 2012 Martynov did try other rifles: a Bleiker Challenger (composite wood/metal stock w extension tube) at the 2013 European Championships, and a Grunig Hybrid 3000 with a trusty 1913 around 2014.

ISSF TV showed he used a filter in his foresight tunnel at times. I suspect the simple rearsight iris was chosen to accommodate eye relief. His head is far forwards due to the wide upper body, and he'd already reversed the dovetail clamp on his rearsight to avoid fouling the breech of his rifle.

I think it's obvious that Martynov had talent by the bucketful, and likely worked very hard too. Shooting a 600 (631 decimal?) at the London Olympics when (almost) everyone else struggled a bit with the conditions is testament to this.

[GolfShot]

Interesting that you mention the Matt Emmons critique, as I remember it as-well.

Here are the timestamps if you wish to listen to it again,

https://youtu.be/Kl3q3ZYW2XI?t=762

https://youtu.be/Kl3q3ZYW2XI?t=838

https://youtu.be/Kl3q3ZYW2XI?t=926

https://youtu.be/Kl3q3ZYW2XI?t=1211

https://youtu.be/Kl3q3ZYW2XI?t=1342


Why do you think only the Belorussians use his position style?

[Tim S]

Why do you think only the Belorussians use his position style?

Probably because a more conventional position works. A lot of European shooters roll their torso heavily to drop the left shoulder anyway. If you don't adopt the same 45° degree upper body angle, there's no need to bend at the waist, or to have the buttplate on your deltoid. It's also worth remembering that Martynov (and Bubnovich) are pretty short by Western standards; a 6ft+ 13st shooter naturally has more reach and more weight behind the gun.

Some contemporary Russian/Soviet shooters had similar positions. Thinking of Gennadi Lushchikov here, but Martynov's version seems to be the ultimate evolution of this.

[gstewart]

Olymp R, enough said.

[Tim S]

Olymp R, enough said.

Gale,

Quite. Although Donald McIntosh, when he was GB coach, reported Sergei shooting shooting 600 in elimination at Fort Benning with a mix of R50, Tenex, and Olymp.

[Rover]

Olymp R, enough said.

Gale,

Quite. Although Donald McIntosh, when he was GB coach, reported Sergei shooting shooting 600 in elimination at Fort Benning with a mix of R50, Tenex, and Olymp.

Well, that sure puts a crimp in all the "testers" style on here.

[rgibson]

Maybe he was testing in lots of 50 rounds.

[Tim S]

Well, that sure puts a crimp in all the "testers" style on here.

There's nothing to say he hadn't already tested these from a rest back in Belarus. My guess was that the R50 and Tenex shot well, but he wanted to evaluate the performance in the wind.

The really brave step was mixing ammo after firing his sighters. Although he'd already won a quota at the World Championships the previous year.