Developing Juniors & New Shooters

The question of how juniors should be introduced to target pistol shooting sport raises a couple of important issue.  The main issue being the shooter’s wellbeing followed by his/her current and continued enjoyment of the activity.

In this situation, I use the term wellbeing as distinct from safety, because if a beginning junior has received and continues to receive adequate instruction and supervision, then safe practice and behaviour on the range should not be an issue.

The major concern regarding wellbeing is in the context of sports injuries.  While adolescents of either sex can vary dramatically in build and physical maturity within the normal age bracket of 12-21 years, the following discussion points are based on an age 12 entry level and the next 2 or 3 years of development in the sport.

Up to about age fifteen, various growth sites within the body remain susceptible to injury.  Although not common, damage at these sites can result in various abnormalities, up to and including limb deformity.

Most injuries of this type are due to shock or impact of some kind, which is a good reason to discourage the use of centre-fire pistols by immature juniors, with “full” or “magnum” loads a definite no-no.  However, repeated overload over long periods can also lead to problems although even less common than impact injuries,

In Germany about ten years ago, an Olympic medalist in Women’s Air Rifle had a deformed pelvis, as a result of sustained training overload during her teenage years.  Apparently, she had spent several hours in her room each day, without her parent’s knowledge, training the standing position.  By the time her parents and her coach found out, the damage had already been done.  Of course, this was an extreme case, but it serves as an example of what can happen if there is inadequate or inappropriate supervision of junior shooters.

So, as a general rule, when dealing with immature shooters, particularly those of slight build, it is necessary to keep physical loads at a moderate level.  Heavy pistols and long shooting sessions should be avoided, particularly in the one-hand standing position.

As a matter of interest, in an attempt to protect the wellbeing of young shooters some years ago, a State Association actually specified the age at which juniors could begin to shoot matches.  Below this age, they could only participate in developmental activities of a non-competitive nature.  The concept was sound and the ruling may still exist, however, it achieved only limited implementation at club level because the arbitrary age limit makes no provision for the weight and type of pistol involved or for individual differences in physical development.

The risks involved in shooting are quite small when compared to most other sports but this does not mean to imply that juniors should be kept in cotton wool as sensible physical loads are part of their natural development.  But a certain amount of caution is advisable because we all have a “duty of care” in this regard.

With regard to the matter of enjoyment; satisfaction in any activity comes from fulfilling the requirements of the task, which in this case, means achieving what the shooter sees as an acceptable performance standard.  In other words, young shooters want to succeed and everything must be done to enhance their sense of achievement, if they are to maintain their interest in the sport.

Although young (and some not-so young-) shooters are advised that hitting the target is, in itself, a satisfactory outcome, most still see the “bull’s-eye” as the primary benchmark.  Regardless of how unrealistic the expectation, the closer a young shooter comes to achieving this, the happier they will be.  This has long been recognised in other sports, where the rules or physical requirements have been modified to help beginners achieve satisfaction, its reasonable to make similar adjustments for beginning target pistol shooters.

The standard ISSF “slow-fire” target is good in this respect as new shooters generally see the “black” as a bull’s-eye of sorts.  Fortunately, scoring rings on a target reduce the hit-or-miss situation that applies in Metallic Silhouette shooting, but the fact remains, shooters aspire to having their shots placed near the middle and preferably in the “ten”.

The easiest way to achieve this and to learn the basic skills of sighting and trigger squeezing, is to start off holding the pistol with two hands, over a sandbag on the bench, while in the seated position (on a chair).  In this situation, the shooter is not distracted by an unstable stance and is therefore better able to concentrate on sighting and correct trigger squeezing technique.

Shooters often overlook the need to adjust the pistol sights specifically for use in this application.  Because the sights are closer to the shooter and are at a different angle to the eye, coupled with the fact that the pistol recoils away from increased resistance offered by the sandbag, normal sight settings may be inappropriate.

Initially, the experienced shooter or club coach should take the opportunity to make the necessary sight adjustments, when demonstrating the bench rest position etc. to the beginner.  Once the new shooter starts to develop a degree of consistency the sights should be adjusted to centre the beginner’s group over the ten ring.

In the very beginning, it may be worth starting with the slow-fire target at very short range, to increase the shooter’s chance of success - perhaps 10 or 15 metres.  As the beginner becomes more proficient the target is moved (in stages if necessary), out to 25 metres.  Additionally, the sandbag is moved back to support the wrists, rather than the hands and pistol.

This will assist the shooter to learn to cope with a gradually increasing amount of movement of the sight picture on the target.  Hopefully, he/she will also learn that this has little effect on the result, providing the sights remain aligned through the trigger squeezing process.

When the shooter is comfortable and confident shooting over the bench, he/she can move on to a supported one-hand standing position.  Although not seen very often in Australia, the use of an adjustable support sling or stand is quite common in other parts of the world, both for new shooters and for those coming back after a few weeks break.

The wrist sling is generally favoured over a stand because, when used with an overhead pulley and a variable counterweight (such as a container of sand or water), the degree of support can be adjusted to suit the shooter’s current stage in physical and technical development.  In the case of immature juniors this gradual increase in load reduces the risk of injury to a minimum.

Interestingly, some elite shooters at the international level also use a support stand or wrist sling, usually during the early stages of each training program.  There are various training factors involved, the main one being the development of a stable sight picture (independent of holding ability), but the support can also be used to train good trigger squeezing technique.

The two-handed hold in the standing position isn’t recommended for a beginner learning to shoot the ISSF matches.  Apart from the fact that a different stance is required, the use of two hands reduces the effect of triggering faults and can therefore slow down the development of good trigger squeezing, necessary for one-hand shooting.

Many will find this surprising, but the two-hand standing position is actually less stable than a correctly executed single-handed position.  This isn’t easy to prove without access to a force platform or one of the electronic training and diagnostic units (e.g. SCATT, Rika or Noptel).

The reason why shooters use the two-handed position is because the hold allows much faster recoil recovery and reduced sight misalignment when squeezing the trigger, particularly when shooting power-factor loads in the shorter time series.  For matches such as Service Pistol and International 1920 Match the advantages far outweigh a relatively small loss in stability.

Development of shooters in the ISSF disciplines usually entails the transition from a supported standing position to the unsupported position without a significant loss in performance.  However, if necessary, the target can once again be set at a shorter range, which may require the construction of a moveable wooden target frame (no metal should be used at short ranges), but if new and/or younger shooters are to be protected and encouraged, this is a worthwhile investment.