Recap:
During the
Preparation Phase of shooting, the focus should be on developing foundational marksmanship skills in a relaxed atmosphere. You should give yourself plenty of time to find your natural alignment on the shooting mat, and should also get used to how breathing affects the movement of the rifle. You will also want to practise taking your rifle off your back and putting it back on in a smooth, fluid motion that you don't have to think about.
Because the Preparation Phase focuses on the sort of skills that can be practised anywhere,
this is also a phase that is characterised by the most amount of dry firing. Even if you only practise ten minutes a day, these minutes can be used to get used to taking your rifle off your back, or getting into the prone position and quickly hooking your sling to your arm band. Just like you should already have a good fitness base developed
before you click into your skis for the first time, so should you be well acquainted with getting into a shooting position before you start visiting the range. In this way you will be able to make the most of your range time.
During the Preparation Phase, you should develop a sense of your base ability. That is, given ideal circumstances, how many targets you can hit. This is a good landmark that you will want to refer to as you begin to add more physical duress to your shooting practice.
What I like to do every time I go to the range in the off season is complete a precision test. I'll fire ten shots in the prone and ten shots in the standing, on two separate targets. I'll take my time and make certain that I am following the principles of good marksmanship. I keep these targets, date them, and refer back to them as the weeks go on. Ideally I'm looking to see a visual of my groups getting tighter (bullet holes becoming closer together). I spend a lot of time looking at these pieces of paper in an attempt to discern why my shoot was particularly good or bad. Shooting, I believe, is more intellectual and psychological than it is physical. If you spend time thinking about why your shots are good or bad, you will only benefit. As I've been known to say: a target without holes in it is just a target, but after it has holes in it then it becomes data. Don't let this data go to waste!
Pre-competition Shooting Phase
The purpose of the Pre-competition Shooting Phase is to develop error-free shooting after submitting your body to an increasing psychological and physical load.
Some training manuals break the pre-competition period into two stages, with the latter stage being more sport-specific. For simplicity I have combined these two stages. Just keep in mind that, as with all sports,
the closer you get to competition the more your training should mimic or re-create actual competition intensity.
A physical load is created by partaking in any kind of cardiovascular movement just prior to shooting. This may involve walking in a short loop, running, cycling, or roller skiing. Fast walking is a good place to start after you have completed three solid months of precision shooting. Practise with a slightly elevated heart rate and note how this changes where your bullets strike the paper target. Aside from the groups being more spaced apart, you might also notice the bullets going to the left or right; up or down. Everyone has an individual reaction to shooting under duress, and it is your job to see how physical duress affects
you.
When you begin shooting under low physical duress, your shooting results will probably get worse. This is okay. With practice, you should get used to shooting in this manner and your results will improve. When they do, this is an indicator that it is time to increase the physical load. This might include faster walking or a slow run.
At the end of all this practice what you want to discover is how much physical duress you can submit yourself to while still shooting accurately. This will be important information for racing, because you will not want to enter the range any more exhausted than this. If you train with a heart rate monitor (which is a very good idea), note the heart rate at which your shooting performance begins to deteriorate. This will be the point you will attempt not to exceed just prior to shooting. Before shooting in a competition, it is possible to bring your heart rate into the ideal zone in one of two ways:
- Slowing down as you enter the range so as to move your heart rate into a manageable margin
- Taking a bit longer to set up on the mat, during which time your heart rate will hopefully come down to a manageable point. The more fit you are, the faster your heart rate will decrease.
When shooting under any kind of physical duress, breathing becomes even more important. That is, while you might be able to get away with holding your breath too long during precision shooting practice, you'll notice that as the physical load increases, you will begin to shake if you hold your breath for longer than two seconds. This shaking is caused when your muscles experience oxygen deprivation.
Your shots need to be fired in less than two seconds. Consequently, it is critical that you practice acquiring your target quickly. During the latter stages of the Preparation Phase, I would highly recommend submitting yourself to some timed shoots. That is,
practice acquiring the target quickly and releasing the shot quickly.
NOTE: "acquiring the target" is a process by which, through natural alignment and breathing, your target is lined up in your sights so as to create concentric rings. When the target, front sight and rear sight have formed these concentric rings, you have acquired the target.
Being able to do this in a timely manner when your body is at rest will enable you to do this more easily when your body is tired from exertion.
During the Preparation Phase, you could start by setting time goals that gradually decrease. For example, your goal might start with trying to make a shot at the target within 10 seconds, and then gradually decreasing this to 5 seconds. From here, practice firing your shots within two breaths:
- Take up position on the mat, taking care to reduce muscular tension by assuming a comfortable, natural alignment
- Aim your rifle at the new target
- Breathe in and breathe out
- Breathe in again but as you begin to breathe out for the second time, your aim should come onto the target
- At this point, the slack should be taken out of the trigger
- Upon acquiring the target during this second exhalation, hold your breath for no longer than 2 seconds
- During this time, more tension should be carefully added to the trigger until your shot is taken. Trigger control is a very important part of shooting, individual to each firearm, and should be practised until you know just how much pressure is required to release the shot. This pressure must be added with minimal movement to the rifle
Practising this before you try to do this under physical exertion will make the latter stages of practice easier. During the Pre-competition Phase, you will hopefully be able to acquire your target within a few seconds, firing off the shot a few seconds after that.
The more tired you are, the more breaths you will have to take. For example, if you come into the range very tired, you might take three or four breaths before finally firing off the shot. This is okay. It is much better to take a few extra seconds to make sure you hit the target rather than spend an extra 25-30 seconds doing a penalty loop!
Psychological stress usually exists in a competition or timed environment. Stress can have a number of physical symptoms, like elevated heart rate or shaking. It can also induce a different emotional response in a particular environment then you would otherwise be used to having. It may cause you to think differently, or cause your thoughts to be jumbled. You can be the best marksman in the range, but if you are not used to the psychological stress that exists in competition, you will not be able to achieve your full potential.
Really the best way to overcome psychological stress is to prepare your mind for it during practice. Partake in timed shoots with friends where you are put under pressure. Participate in fun summer Biathlon races. I think there is a lot of transferable value in other forms of stress as well: public speaking, other kinds of races, etc. The more experience you have dealing with stressful situations, the better you will probably be able to focus at the task at hand when you come in to the range to shoot during a Biathlon competition.
Preparing your mind to focus under psychological duress is also an essential part of Biathlon training.
Different people have different techniques they use to deal with psychological stress. During a competition, the solution can often be more simple than you think. Prevent negative thoughts from entering your head. Engage in positive self talk. If you feel particularly stressed out when you come in to the range, it's OK to take a little bit longer setting up; take an extra few breaths. Remember that you love Biathlon!
The Schedule
For the beginner, a very basic shooting schedule would look like this:
May-July: Precision shooting
August: Low intensity combination shooting
September: Medium intensity combination shooting
October: High intensity combination shooting
November: High intensity combination shooting (race pace)
December-March: Racing
An example of low intensity combination shooting would be fast walking before shooting. By September add something a bit more challenging - easy running, cycling, or, ideally - roller skiing. By October, your fitness should almost be in place and your mind should be focused on racing. Consequently, combination shooting will be more intense. In November, the focus should be on coming into the range as hard as you would during a race.
At The Range
So what exactly should you be doing at the range? To start, you'll arrive, set up paper targets and, if available, metal Biathlon targets. Unpack your rifle and ensure that it is in good working order: things like bedding bolts and other screws are tight. I normally go for an easy 5 minute run and come back in for a stretch. After I've been sitting in the car for 40 minutes to get to the range I usually feel a bit stiff and going for a little run and stretch helps to prepare my body for shooting.
Once the targets are set up and your rifle has been checked over, take at least ten
dry fire prone shots and ten dry fire standing shots. Maybe you have a mental checklist you want to go over? In the prone - check for natural alignment, supporting elbow lined up on Charlie target, arm cuff not too tight, legs spread far enough apart to provide solid base, etc. Don't waste bullets if you can check these important things beforehand.
From here, there really are many exercises one can use. I will make a separate post for these. Ideally you have access to a shooting coach to help you with some. After dry firing, you normally would
zero your rifle. Maybe it was windy the last time you shot, or overcast? Fire five slow, controlled shots on paper. Look through the scope and attempt to discern a group. Make adjustments as necessary
After dry firing and zeroing, I always start with precision shooting to reinforce marksmanship principles and to focus your mind. This is the time you let go of your life - arguments you might be having, stress at school or work, etc. Forget it all. Take your time shooting; be present; focus on your breathing and smooth trigger control.
The more present you are, the better you will shoot.
Depending on the range where you shoot, you will have different options. If you can
roller ski and shoot,
definitely do this! At my range, there really isn't much. What I normally do is run laps around the parking lot if it is not too busy. I won't run super fast - just enough to get my heart rate up to the right target zone. Then I'll come in to the range, fire shots on paper, and repeat. I keep track of how many targets I hit so that I can hopefully see an improvement as the training period goes on.
This is only one example, and your specific needs will dictate what you will be working on.
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Conclusion
I'm a strong believer in watching World Cup Biathlon competitions to see exactly what it is that the professionals do to achieve success. If you have the chance to watch a race on something (like a computer) that can play an athletes range procedures in slow motion, you should do this. Some aspects you might notice:
- The athlete slows down coming into the range
- Wind flags are observed for any possible environmental changes since zeroing
- Stopping at selected firing point
- Removing rifle from the back and getting into position; confirming natural position
- Shooting five rounds in a controlled, conscious manner
- Returning rifle to the back and getting out of position
- Leaving the range
Training should ideally be logical, and previous training stages act as building blocks to prepare you for the next stage. By the Pre-competition Phase, your physical training and precision shooting experience should come together to prepare you for shooting under physical and psychological duress. If at any point you feel that some foundational element needs to be worked on - attend to this element! This is exactly what the pros do between competitions - they work on specific details of technique, and these details are usually more basic than you would think. Happy training and as always, send me your questions at waldverloren@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
