High School Rifle Team

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Walther LG300's

Good looking rig.
Keep us posted on your teams progress. Very interesting subject.

[Aragorn243]

Second match of the season had me a bit nervous. I did not feel good going into this and discovered shortly before the match that my #3 shooter was serious about not competing today. Family situation that she told me about last week. One time thing. We were away at the team that has historically dominated the league for over a decade and they had the high score the first night of competition.

The problem with this sport is it is very difficult to prep kids for competition. In nearly every other sport you want to get them fired up. Cheering, yelling, back slapping, etc. In this it's the exact opposite, mental peace, quiet, focus. Very easy to put too much pressure on them and have them shoot poorly because of it.

It was a close match but we did win 496-495. To top that off, there were several upsets in the league and two other powers went up against each other and we are the only undefeated team in the league at 2-0. Usually takes at least 4 or 5 matches for that to happen.

I had 6 girls, 3 boys, should have been 7 and 2 tonight but I took the alternate. They had 9 boys, all looked like football players. I had a quiet chuckle just comparing the two teams because only one of the three boys I have is "big", the girls in particular are in general small and skinny and one is a "little person". They kicked those boys collective asses. They were pretty fired up coming home and at McDonald's afterwards.

Still have a lot of room for improvement. That elusive 500 is still waiting.

[CINDERS]

I have told you guy's the female shooters are a force to be reckoned with they seem to just have that type of temperament for the sport, allot has to do with the coach as well as your all one team not just the shooters as they rely on the coach to bolster them when they feel they have let the team down or your the go to guy with all the answers they may ask you the 500 will come in due course don't say anything about trying to get it.

The old motto my friend;
"If you cannot blind them with brilliance then baffle them with bull$hit."

[Ovidio]

I'll start teaching my son in January.
I just found out that the age limits are a purely private limit set by the Italian shooting range association (the official and state run one).
Private ranges can do whatever they want, so my range decided that at age 14 a kid can come and shoot if accompanied by a parent who has a valid carry permit. It will all be my responsibility, but I have absolutely no qualms with that.
So, among some books and other stuff, "my" present will be a letter where I tell him what I think of him (too good a guy) and, on the rear, copy of the registration form I'll deliver today.
I really can't wait for January to come!!!
Then, after starting this teaching operation, I'll certainly be smart enough to help you with your team.
Ah, by the way, Sunday I went to the end of the year shooting competition of my range, where all the best shooters go and........got 2nd. With my vintage Walther PP-Sport.
Too much fun.
After taking up shooting pistols again following a 12 years stop, in just 2 months I beat almost all the good chaps.
I'll have to watch my back now.

[Aragorn243]

Tonight was one of those matches I felt like tearing my hair out. We are up against one of the league bottom dwellers and going in knowing it should be an easy win. This generally should allow them to relax and have fun and shoot well. But the opposite happened. The first relay shot three 99's when in practice last night they shot three 100's and in the previous match two 100's and one 99. Disappointing but not a disaster. Second relay has three shooters that all missed their first shot and then went from bad to worse very quickly. A 95 and two 93's. A 97 is bad for any of these three. None of these scores will or should make the top 5. Third relay rallies and I get a 100, 97, and a 96 out of my freshman so they made it an easy win 494 to 487 but that second relay remains very disturbing. We go into the holiday break undefeated and have two weeks to figure out the mental side of all of this.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

We go into the holiday break undefeated and have two weeks to figure out the mental side of all of this.

Curious what % would you say is mental. I have an friend who shoots bench rest @ 600 yds. and am going to ask him as well.

[CINDERS]

Thing is they can get a mental relax facing the bottom sides been there and done that playing competition basket ball for 14 years till my knees packed it in.
Yep we were on top all season then you get a match against a very low ranked team and the wheels fall off shots that should have gone in just rimmed and rebounds one should have taken slipped from ones grasp and silly rookie mistakes whilst their game edged up to 150% better than they always played.
I am not going to ponder why your team shot the way it did but I will say this the only way to get a handle on this is to say OK we had a bit of a stumble but lets pick up the ball & run with it thing is A they probably know whats expected of them from you and when the first lousy shots crept in thats when their world probably crumbled, but win you did.
The only way to move from this is to say hey we were a little bit wobbly there but the better team won now moving on from this we will now go into each match like its the grand final and really show them what we can do as a team after all they are just young adults. Besides your still undefeated that counts for allot.

[30Three]

That sounds like a very encouraging win you had there.
I agree that women do often have an edge when shooting. My wife hardly ever goes to the range these days; but she seems to not need practice to shoot well. If she did take it seriously, she would probably blow my socks off in competition.
My daughter will be starting to learn next year when she's 7. So I'm starting to look for 2 air rifles; one I can shorten the stock for her and another for my wife and I.

[Aragorn243]

The mental aspect once the skills develop is easily 80%. You can see it in how they shoot. There are major stumbling blocks in the development phase and they vary from kid to kid but basically the first big barrier is high 90's a 97 and up. Then they reach that stage and stay there pretty consistently. The next is a 100. They will shoot 99 after 99 and just not get it. When they shoot about three 99's where they missed their last shot, they figure out it really is them but getting past that is still tough. Once the first 100 comes, they shoot them pretty regularly. Occasionally, you get one that skips all but the 100 block. I have one of them this year. Freshman, shot a 97 real early and has shot two 99's to date and competed in all three matches, two 97's and a 96. He really lacks focus at this point but the physical skills are basically complete. I have a sophomore girl that broke the 100 barrier this year. Many 99's last season and quite a few this year until last week her first 100. Several since then. But then again, she is one that shot one of the 93's last night. She told me she got flustered after the second miss, concentrated on keeping it there, missed again and got even more flustered at keeping a 97 and it was all downhill from there. They are supposed to be thinking about only the shot they are making, nothing else. The number 2 kid in the league last season has yet to shoot a 100 in a match, probably because he is too concerned with finishing 1st in the league this year. One tiny loss of focus leads to a miss in this sport.

As a coach, I tell them that I can get them to a 97, the last three are on their own. I have not figured out how to coach out that last three points. This is all mental on their part. I can talk about it, explain it, encourage them, etc but they have to figure out that last three on their own.

[Ovidio]

Very difficult. Sunday I shot a 96+5 and was very pleased with myself, considering I picked up handguns again just a few weeks ago and am shooting lousy ammo.
But I really noticed that once you reach a certain level, then you can easily keep it, until something "matures" inside your brain and allows you the next step.
I went shooting again Tuesday because I'll be having some holidays now and wanted to get rid of the ammo I had, and again I shot consistently over 95, though it was freezing cold and people were chatting and making fun all around me.
Also with the S&W 29 I got much better all at once, steadily at 95 + something (here I still have to get 96, crap!).
Now I'm trying to figure out how to get steadier, in order not to throw any shots.
I learned again how not to pull on the trigger, the next step will be a steadier hand generally and learning to put down the gun after a few seconds if I don't shoot. Now I sometimes just feel I have to get rid of that damned round and land an 8 or a 9, whereas I could have scored a 10 easily.
No hassle, no pressure, just concentration and discipline! Discipline and again discipline.
Not always easy when you have a very demanding life, but that is exactly the added value of this sport: if you get to concentrate that good also on tough working days, then you learn a skill which is even more important than shooting straight itself. You learn to cope with stress and to control your emotions.
This is one of the things I want to teach my son.
I guess teaching is more difficult. You have to get to know the pupil "intimately" in order to find the right chords to strike so that he or she understands where to get that little extra out of.
Might be different "chords" than yours.
Let's see how this one works out now.


Sorry, I have to correct myself. Got a bit confused. I scored a 146+5. We shoot 15 rounds.
I'm regularly around 145 now, but don't crack the 147 barrier...