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training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2022 10:03 am
by toddinjax
Are there specific exercises one can work on to decrease one's wobble? I do holding drills and dry fire exercises and I'm sometimes surprised how motionless the front post appears between the rear cutout, but I'm considerably less impressed with the amount of wobble I display. I made a gradual switch to decaf coffee thinking that would really quite things down but have actually noted little if any improvement. I do feel that the sway is more so from whole body mvts rather than just my arm.
Thanks.
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2022 11:18 am
by Ramon OP
How long are your holds exercises? Do you just hold or try to hold still? How often do you train? Do you do any balance and proprioception training?
Trust what you notice and try to sway less. Just paying attention to it will help.
My holds routine goes up to one minute per hold:
https://www.olympicpistol.com/pistol-ho ... -strength/
Holds articles:
https://www.olympicpistol.com/?s=Holds
Dry fire articles:
https://www.olympicpistol.com/tag/dry-fire/
Balance articles:
https://www.olympicpistol.com/tag/balance/
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2022 2:28 pm
by toddinjax
My holding drills with 3lb bell are usually 45 seconds, switching L / R I was a cyclist and inline speed skater, and have beed noted to have quite good balance, though it seems skating with one foot held up off the ground is not the same thing as remaining motionless. I train 4 or 5 days a week, dry fire at home every day. Balance and proprioception drills are what I'm looking for, though I did not have the proper vocabulary to ask so directly lol.
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2022 7:20 pm
by PirateJohn
A gyro exercise ball is very good, too, for building your forearm muscles
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 1:22 am
by Ramon OP
All you do sounds great.
Do the holds standing on inestable surfaces, like inflated disks or foam pads. One leg holds are part of my routine. There's some footwork included in the first link I shared. I added instability on purpose to work balance and to make them less boring.
You can also train on instable surfaces or with different feet positions to work on your balance.
Doing balance exercises with eyes closed ads another layer of instability.
Sometimes I notice the increase in body sway when I'm tired well into the match, and that I am more bent backwards. Then I rest and pay a bit more attention to that.
Noticing puts you ahead :)
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2022 8:14 am
by toddinjax
Thanks for the replies. Fwiw I tried some variations in my stance and found some improvement by keeping my feet right at shoulder with rather than a few inches wider than shoulder width. A few inches wider feels perhaps a little more "natural', hence how I naturally adopted it but pulling my feet in that little bit does lessen my sway.
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 7:44 am
by BobGee
I followed the "comfortable stance" dictum for a long time (years) but looking at all the elite shooters on the ISSF video channel it seems that they all, to a man/women, stand side-on. So I thought "perhaps that's the way to go". I know mimicking is not a guarantee of success but I've been doing that for a few weeks now and I find that my holds seem to be much steadier. Scores are not much higher but I feel more "in control" and what you "feel" is important, yes?. There is an 81 page paper on stance on the ISSF website under Pistol should you care to plough your way through it followed by a 91 page paper on the rest: hold, sight picture, trigger, etc.
Bob
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 7:56 am
by BobGee
Sorry toddinjax I misconstrued your point. If you are able to hold the front sight steady in the rear sight but still have "wobble" then it really is a body movement issue. I think the side-on stance will help but also if you lock your knees and ankles by having your feel parallel.
Bob
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 8:53 am
by Gwhite
BobGee wrote: ↑Tue May 03, 2022 7:44 am
I followed the "comfortable stance" dictum for a long time (years) but looking at all the elite shooters on the ISSF video channel it seems that they all, to a man/women, stand side-on. So I thought "perhaps that's the way to go". I know mimicking is not a guarantee of success but I've been doing that for a few weeks now and I find that my holds seem to be much steadier. Scores are not much higher but I feel more "in control" and what you "feel" is important, yes?. There is an 81 page paper on stance on the ISSF website under Pistol should you care to plough your way through it followed by a 91 page paper on the rest: hold, sight picture, trigger, etc.
Bob
Bob,
Do you have links to those papers? I went to the ISSF web site, and after some digging, I found the "Pistol" section under "Education", and all it says is "under construction".
I have a couple papers I've already downloaded through a library, mostly authored/co-authored by Rick Hawkins, who was the US Coast Guard Coach for many years. He has a ~ 250 page PhD thesis titled "THE EFFECT OF THREE STANCE COMPONENTS ON POSTURAL STABILITY, PISTOL STABILITY, SHOULDER MUSCLE RECRUITMENT, AND SHOOTING PERFORMANCE OF AIR-PISTOL COMPETITORS"
Now I just need the time to read it...
Thanks!
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 10:01 am
by Th.
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 11:05 am
by Gwhite
That matches the 91 page paper description, but Bob first mentioned an 81 page paper. Maybe that's a typo and it's the same.
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 11:33 am
by Th.
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 12:26 pm
by Gwhite
Thanks! That's one I hadn't seen before.
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Wed May 04, 2022 10:04 pm
by BobGee
Sorry Doug, I hadn’t picked up on your post. Glad you now have the links.
The two papers are quite hard going and intended for coaches. One section I really struggled with in the Pistol Shooting (91 page) paper was the section beginning on page 58. Zeljko talks of an angular factor which has a large impact on shooting errors. I read the section several times but could not understand what he was on about. When you've read it maybe you will understand what he means by angular factor. Then perhaps you could explain it to me!
Bob
Re: training to minimize wobble?
Posted: Thu May 05, 2022 8:25 am
by Gwhite
I try to give it a look, but it may be a while...