New to Target Pistol Shooting?
About the Sport . . .From the outset it should be said that what we practise here has as much relevance to combat as javelin throwing has to modern warfare. The accuracy and sophistication of target pistols has evolved to allow the demonstration of skills very far removed from those of using a handgun as a means of defence from an attacker six yards away!
The air pistol we use is of a type used at the Olympics and if held in a vice, would be capable of putting shot after shot into a single shot-sized hole in a paper target ten metres away. Our attempt to achieve something approaching this level of accuracy while holding the pistol one handed (two handed if under 13 years of age) is the challenge that the sport presents. To do this demands concentration and a considerable amount of training to reproduce the same series of actions for each shot while maintaining an expected level of performance. Your opponent in competition has no influence whatever over your performance – any “struggle” is entirely of your own making! Therein lies one of the sport’s main attractions. Emphasis is placed on the elements of precision shooting which forms the basis of all Olympic pistol disciplines. As skill is gained, members can move on to timed or rapid fire shooting. Here, series of shots are fired within a time limit at different types of target such as those used in Pony Club or Modern Pentathlon competitions. |
