For the novice Biathlete, aim to spend about three months in the Preparation Phase, focusing specifically on the fundamentals of precision shooting. Usually this would mean that from May to July inclusive, you are doing your most amount of dry firing, and your time at the range does not involve any kind of physical or psychological stress.
Now, where to start. You should begin by obtaining a rifle and having a qualified individual ensure that it is fit specifically for you. It will be difficult to excel in shooting if you do not have regular access to a rifle, or if it is not properly fit for you. With access to your own rifle, you will be able to practise dry firing on a regular basis at home.
For the beginning athlete, here are some annual guidelines you should aim for:
- +/- 4000 rounds
- 40 hours of dry firing (dry firing sessions can be as brief as ten minutes)
- 30-50 hours of shooting
- Sight picture (concentric rings; what you need to see before you pull the trigger)
- Prone position (more stable than standing and thus easier for many to learn)
- Breath control (even more important for Biathlon than other disciplines)
- Trigger control (as little pressure as possible; be consistent!)
- Aiming process (sometimes called target acquisition)
- Natural alignment (rigid muscles + uncomfortable position = missed shots!)
- Concentration
I honestly believe that Biathlon training should begin in the summer, and/or in an environment where there are as few distractions as possible. This way, you can focus on learning how to shoot instead of, let's say, freezing your butt off outside in -20 weather! With the many technical and mental aspects of shooting, the athlete must pay close attention in order to acquire the skills which equate to success.
You may ask why one should start with precision shooting - something that doesn't involve any physical duress - when Biathlon is all about shooting under duress? The reason is simple: if you do not have an awareness and command of sound shooting principles when you are in a calm, focused environment, I guarantee you that you will most definitely not have these skills when your heart rate is at 150, your muscles are shaking, and your competitors are skiing and shooting all about you! Therefore, get the basics down in the Preparation Phase before you move on!
Now I will provide some more information on the fine points I mentioned in the list above.
Sight picture: This is what you see; it's that simple. If you do not know what a good sight picture looks like, you are doomed, so let's see what a good sight picture looks like - what you see when looking through the sights of a Biathlon rifle:
Prone position: Despite the prone target being much smaller, about the size of a golf ball, this position is usually easier because you have much more body contact with the ground - creating a firm base of support. When you come in to shoot in a race, make sure to take the time to set up this position because ideally, you will not have to make any adjustments once you are in it. Here is what the prone position looks like:
That is, this is what it would look like for a right-handed person. If you are left handed, it is the exact opposite. You may wonder why the athlete faces the target at an angle. I was thinking about this the other day at the range and it is like this. Because one of your elbows will be behind the other because of how/where you hold the rifle, you must consequently angle your body in order to create a straight, relaxed spine. Relaxed is the key word! If there is any unnecessary tension in your body, it will result in pushing or pulling the rifle off target at the crucial moment. The best way to check natural alignment is to get into position, line up for your shot, look through your sight, and take a couple of breaths. Now, close your eyes and take a few breaths. Open your eyes and look through your sights again. If you are off target, this means that you were not in the most ideal position, that is, naturally aligned with the target.
Breath control: During practice and when you are not under physical stress, I find that it is quite easy to forget about my breathing. I will hold my breath as I am acquiring a good sight picture. Frequently this works and I am able to hit the target. However, the cold reality is that you will not be able to do this during a race! In a race, your body will be screaming for air, and if you hold your breath, your body will start shaking and you will miss your shot. Thus, practice breathing in, breathing out, coming on to your target, and holding this position for no longer than two seconds. If you do not see a good sight picture within that two seconds, let your breath out and start the cycle again. Breath in, breath out, breath in, and then let your breath out half way before holding it. At this point you should see the target come into perfect view. Here's some hard evidence of how this works. When I was at the range last week, I fired off some rounds and was mindful only to hold my breath for no longer than two seconds, even though I was at rest. Here is what my target looked like:
I was pretty excited by this, as really, I'm not the best shooter. Amped up over this good shooting, I decided to shoot again. I knew I could do an even better job and so decided to take my time. Alas, this meant I was holding my breath for much longer, maybe 4-6 seconds per shot. Even though I was under no physical stress, my shooting was much worse. Specifically, my shots were strung out from left to right instead of being in the tight cluster seen above? You know why? It's because as I held my rifle and my breath for too long, my rifle started to waver left to right, which is what it does when hooked into your arm band with your sling. Now, had this been a race, I probably would have missed all my targets by taking so long. And so, my advice to you is ensure you do not hold your breath for longer than two seconds, even in practice! If you have not achieved a good sight picture that you would feel confident shooting at within two seconds, exhale and start the process again.
Trigger Control: A biathlon trigger should be set to no less than 500 grams of pressure. This is a lot heavier than the trigger on many precision shooting firearms, and most likely this is because you don't accidentally want that trigger going off because you couldn't feel it through thick gloves! On this note, try to practice shooting in the gloves you compete in as often as possible! Get used to how the trigger feels through gloves. If you practice with bare hands all the time, you will develop an incorrect feel for the trigger. Practice dry firing with your specific rifle. Get a sense for how much pressure it takes before the rifle fires. To do this, practice graduated pressure. That is, apply 10% pressure, then 20% pressure, and so on all the way up to the point that the rifle fires. If you practise this enough times, your sense of how much pressure your trigger takes to engage will get better and better. If you are at a competition and the weather has suddenly turned much colder or warmer and you must use different gloves, practise dry firing with the gloves you will be using in competition. As far as pressure goes, you should only apply as much pressure as you need to make the rifle fire and no more! After the rifle fires, you should in fact still be able to move the trigger back even more. If you can't that means you applied too much pressure. Trigger control is important in the same way that shutter control is in photography. Both of these will create movement, and so the less pressure you exert and the more controlled you are, the more clear your shot will be.
Concentration: Above, I talked about trigger control. Your emotions could have a negative effect upon trigger control, causing you to jerk the rifle and move your shot off target. If you are excited or angry, this may cause you to exert too much pressure on your trigger; additionally, if a competitor suddenly comes in to the shooting mat next to you, you may jerk the trigger by surprise and cause a missed shot. It is great to be in touch with your emotions, but when you are on the shooting mat, you want to forget that you ever had emotions. Maybe your joy or anger will help you get up the steep hills on the race course, but Biathlon consists of two disciplines. When you come in from the course and settle on the mat, you must shift your mind. The athletes who can do this the best are the most successful. Period. On the shooting mat, you are neither happy or sad, nervous or angry. You cannot think of anything else - the fight you had with your boyfriend/girlfriend, the cold weather, the pain in your lower back. You cannot think or feel anything. If you think or feel anything, you will miss your shot. Some say that shooting is 90% mental and I think this is true. I also say it is like a form of meditation, and teaches you how to control your thoughts and emotions. In a world that tells you that you must multi-task in order to be productive, shooting is one of the few activities where your full and undivided attention is absolutely mandatory.
In many movies, you see actors full of rage who are shooting and they somehow manage to hit their mark. This is garbage. Anger, just like any other emotion, will cause you to miss your mark. If you must take any lessons from movies, remember Luke Skywalker and the focus he must use to raise his fighter jet from the swamp, or to defeat Darth Vader. Ah, you laugh, but it's true! And this is yet another reason why I think Biathlon is the best sport in the world - because it teaches you control and focus.
Remember this every time you pick up your rifle to practice and you will learn fast, and you will learn well.
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