Author Topic: ??? How tite do you hold? (Read 791 times)

slopoke · « **on:** March 16, 2005, 07:39:26 AM »

Just wondering how tite do you hold during practice and during a match?

ajj · « **Reply #1 on:** March 16, 2005, 09:42:01 AM »

The advice I hear (and read) most often, and what works well for me, is to grip the pistol grip very firmly and pull the rifle back into your shoulder, thereby making it easier to relax the supporting arm. That is, a right handed shooter tries to relax his left arm and let be simply a pillar. When I let the right hand relax I find the muscles of the left arm coming into play to support the rifle, not good. I've been told it's ok to squeeze a little with the left hand to discourage muzzle jump but to avoid pulling back with the left. Hope this helps.

slopoke · « **Reply #2 on:** March 16, 2005, 12:58:44 PM »

I agree AJJ and do the same. Should have been clearer with question. I've heard some top shooters "dot" never leaves the target, this seems impossible to me. Most of the time my "dot" is not on the target very long, muchless laying there Sorry for the confusion.

shootingpaul · « **Reply #3 on:** March 16, 2005, 03:42:52 PM »

yes.
I heard stories like that to, one think is for sure that the dot never leaves the dot, and as for the animal............ these are very good stories.......

durant7 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 17, 2005, 01:53:59 AM »

AJJ: Interesting. While at Jacksonville Sunshine classic I got some advice which was exactly the opposite. Work to completely relax the trigger arm and use the "resting" arm to push the gun back into the shoulder.

Obviously, the point is everyone has tried a number of holds. What matters is what works for you....bla bla bla.

For me I find the challenge is not getting stale or even worse, stop experimenting. After doing this for four years I feel I have lost my passion to experiment and in general do the same thing every match.

So....what do you veterans do to keep from getting lax? How do you keep improving? How do you experiment at the risk of "slowing down to speed up"?

Look forward to some of "all y'all" thoughts.

ajj · « **Reply #5 on:** March 17, 2005, 02:38:12 AM »

Slopoke: Your hold will have good days and bad and some in between. On a decent day I can keep the dot inside the animal for a few seconds and I know the good shooters can do a lot better. Thing is, just holding in a small area and actually breaking a good shot without disturbing the rifle are two very different skills.
Maybe the answer to this challenge and to Mr. Durant's is to keep working to learn new skills. Some of the books are really starting to preach balance exercises. On my recent visit to the Dallas range (a wonderful time, many thanks to all for their great hospitality) I noticed you guys have balance boards available in the airgun room. I've been meaning to make one and start working with it. "Ways of the Rifle" says "Standing still is a very complex form of movement."

nomad · « **Reply #6 on:** March 17, 2005, 02:40:09 AM »

I experiment all the time...and keep getting worse!
(This might not be the path to follow...)

nomad · « **Reply #7 on:** March 17, 2005, 03:01:17 AM »

On a serious(?) note, I've been thinking that I used to hold much more tightly (Is this part of the "The older I get the better I was." thing?) ;-) when I was into martial arts. (I began that sort of excercise because a group of kindly old fellows with stripes on their sleeves thought that two or three hours a day in the hand-to-hand pits was beneficial! Later I found that I enjoyed it -- but I've drifted away...))

I've been wondering if the better hold was:

1. Because I was younger. OR
2. Because I was physically in better condition. OR
3. Because that sort of 'training' promotes balance and muscle control.

(I'm sure that it was all three -- but I wonder if #3 wasn't more important than I gave it credit for being. Maybe I should get off my butt and get back to the workig on the Kata...?)