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Improve your fundamentals of shooting

 

ImproveTheFundamentals

Image credit: Bigstock.com

Learning and improving the fundamentals of shooting takes time and patience. The difference between a good competition shooter and a mediocre one is how good their foundation skills are.

Having the proper stance or body position is important as it can help you control recoil when firing at the target. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart with your weight on the balls of your feet. You should feel relaxed and comfortable in this position while firing and this will ensure you do not exert excess strength and energy to  maintain your balance while firing.   

It is close to impossible to not move your arms while breathing, so a good way is to take a deep breath and let it out slowly while aiming and firing. Do remember to breathe between shots because lack of oxygen can cause tremors in your muscles and your eyes will lose focus.

Use even pressure on the trigger to avoid moving your firearm off target when depressing the trigger. Trigger Control is important and placement of your trigger finger also plays a part in reducing target misalignment. A method used by the more experienced shooters is to maintain the trigger pressure when the target is misaligned, then fully depress the trigger when the target comes in line with the gun sight.

Training your mind to follow through from the shot is important, it prevents unnecessary movement before the bullet exits from the firearm. The key element of the follow through is to hold your position for a few seconds after the bullet leaves the firearm.

Another aspect to practice and gain confidence is the hand grip. The firearm should be held firmly and comfortably with the wrist loose and flexible. It is important to have the same grip each time you hold your firearm. By being consistent, you will be able to manage and control the recoil.

Sight alignment is sighting the target on the front sight in line with the rear sight. To be accurate in hitting the target, the front sight should be centre of the target and in focus to your eye while the target remains fuzzy in the background.

When all the fundamental aspects are honed to a consistent level, shooting accurately will become second nature.

 

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