TargetTalk

Good afternoon everybody. What is the difference between shooting with the feet parallel to the target vs 45 degrees to the target when shooting air pistol. Please give me advantages and disadvantages. Thank you in advance for your help.

45 degrees loads the chest muscles.

More inline shares the load with chest and back muscles.

But, the more inline you get, the more your neck is twisted. So, if you are young and felxible go as inline as you feel comfortable, but, as you get older and your neck ages, you will fine yourself creeping around towards the 45 degree position.

Go with what is comfortable for you, don't copy someone else.

I first started inline but found that the shots were prone to sway and would go left and right so i moved to 45% this evened it out between left and right /up and down now i shoot at 25% nearly face on to the target as for muscle usage i find my shoulder is the part that uses the most muscles now i seem to have got crab syndrome were my right shoulder is massive compared to my left i did try to go back to inline but found it uncomfortable

LeLongCarabine wrote:I first started inline but found that the shots were prone to sway and would go left and right so i moved to 45% this evened it out between left and right /up and down now i shoot at 25% nearly face on to the target as for muscle usage i find my shoulder is the part that uses the most muscles now i seem to have got crab syndrome were my right shoulder is massive compared to my left i did try to go back to inline but found it uncomfortable

The above agrees with what the Leatherdale book says. Standing at an angle to the target gives a more circular wobble.

later

Mike

The post describing muscle balance is very important. I was taught by an early coach to find that balance by assuming the shooting position and moving the arm holding the pistol from side to side and settling my hold at the nuetral point of tension. I found that the neutral point changed from day to day depending on how the muscles were previously streached. This ment that sight allignment and grip were both effected to some slight degree. My approach to solving this problem was to streach and warm up the muscles involved until my normal position could be assumed with good muscle ballance and relaxation. Good Shooting Bill Horton

The "neutral position" can also change during a match as the muscles fatigue & stretch. I always get a kick out of people who carefully find their neutral position at the start of a match, and then trace their foot position in chalk. I know that by the end of the match, they will probably be fighting with a non-neutral position. I've never seen any of them re-evaluate their position part way through a match.

My sights do not even begin to line up on my line of sight if I assume a completely natural position. I end up having to change my shoulder angle and cant the gun some.

Jack, I correct for the circumstance you described by changing my foot location until I have the correct allignment with my target. I suspect this post is not needed because you are a very experenced shooter and I am suyre you know and understand how this works, Good Shooting Jack H. Bill Horton

Indeed. The feet are the final thing we move to orient our line of sight/whole body onto the aim area. That is after the grip, wrist, arm, shoulder, head, and eye, all line up properly on the line of sight.

I was relating my position regardless of the target. As if on a blank wall drill. With my gun gripped and wrist firm, I need a bit of cant and arm swing inwards to position my sights square to my eye. Other wise my sights are way left. Different grips have different degrees of this problem.