TargetTalk

Being new to precision air rifle shooting, I have to ask this question. How much movement do you see? Is your arc of movement within the black all the time? Does the front sight look still? Does your arc of movement go outside of the black?

It all depends on who you are. Yes, there will probably be some movement at the very least in standing and kneeling, maybe prone. I can say my holds are all inside the black, but they weren't always that way. If you still think you have too much movement in your holds, keep practicing until it disappears.

I think the key is just practice as soupy mentioned.

I used to be not very steady, barely inside the black but now on air rifle for example i can preatty well hold inside the 7 or 8 ring probably. In kneeling at 50m it is probably about the same, 7 or 8 ring and then prone I really don't see any movement at all, unless the sling/coat/gun is positioned wrong and I get a pulse...

time for some homework.

step 1: download the SCATT program, it's 2mb
http://www.scatt.com/support.htm

step 2: go to the FTP site where others have dumped their trace files
http://ematch.scatt.com/download/
select a few to download, esp. abhinav bindra and dick boschmann, and run them in the scatt program (boschmann has an air file and a prone smallbore file).

notice how there is a uniform rhythm throughout every shot. the sinking from above into the center, the brief hold, and the release. to answer your question, during that brief hold and especially the final second before the shot, there is very little movement and it is probably invisible. the hold is in the 10-ring for only 3-4 seconds. take a look at the numbers and graphs. an olympic shooter has an average muzzle speed of 10 mm/sec in the final second before the shot, with particularly steady shots around 8 mm/sec. hardly perfect, but it's the best that it gets. one other thing you might see in the program is that if the aim is slightly off-center but still in the 10-ring, they will take the shot there instead of trying to steer further in. this leads me to my ultimate point: the shooter appears to be (ideally) not in the 10-ring long enough to think about himself moving. i wish i remember the link to an article where they describe this as "dynamic aiming". it is difficult to do because it must be accompanied by a flawless trigger pull. if there are any national team or olympic shooters on this board, please confirm or deny this.

as for me, i overhold. i'm in the 10 for 7-8 seconds because i have trouble committing. what i see in the sight is the bull constantly coming very slightly out of center then floating back into center, which on the SCATT is shown as an inner-9 hold.