My Offhand Scores Suck!!!

[Mr White]

Fellow high power shooters, I need your help.

I've been shooting high power for about 5 years. My sitting and prone scores are usually pretty good, mid to high 90s for the most part, but my offhand scores SUCK! I shot a Garand/Springfield match Saturday and I shot 74 in the first match and a 70 in the second one. I shot between 92-96 in the prone stages using a service grade Garand.

I'll hit most of the stage offhand stage ok, 10s 9s and 8s but I always seem to have a few M's, 5s and 6s in there that kill me.

If you were to give 1 or 2 pieces of advice to a shooter struggling with offhand, what would they be?

I'm open to any reasonable (and most unreasonable) suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[lamazza]

I won't win camp perry matches anytime soon, but here are soom things that I concentrate on.
1.Nice, tight sling
2.Do not grip forearm, just prop it on your hand.
3.When you breath your front site should rise and fall vertically.
4.work with weights and do your pushups..
Lots of other things, but since you've been doing this awhile i'm sure you know many of them.

 

[ZeSpectre]

What lamazza said, I've also found that the right song in my head helps. No I'm not kidding, it's a rhythm thing along with breathing and heartbeat and if I hum Tom Petty's "breakdown" it seems to sync my heartbeat, breathing, etc all right up.

Yeah I'm weird but it works for me <grin>.

 

[Blackfork]

Shooting offhand

1. Natural point of aim on your target. Check it a couple of times during a 10-point string.

2. Hold the trigger all the way back all the way through the recoil.

3. If a shot doesn't break within 4-6 seconds, take the rifle down and restart your sequence. There is plenty of time.

 

[BobCat]

I'm certainly not qualified to give you any advice - my own offhand scores are so much worse than sitting and prone (which I'm pleased with) that it is a constant embarrassment.

Someone recently said something that resonated; "Don't pull the rifle into your shoulder with your trigger finger." He was telling a guy to "squeeze" the trigger, with the center of the pad of his trigger finger, toward the web of his hand.

When I heard him say that I thought to myself, "Thats where my 12-o'clock 5s and misses are coming from!" Seems that on some shots I'm pulling back on the entire rifle, not just breaking the shot with my fingertip.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Andrew

 

[30Cal]

Dryfire.

Never ever settle for a bad shot. If you've had the rifle up for too long, then stop, take it down, and start over. Same goes for practice and dryfiring. Be picky. Shooting a good score is not supposed to be easy.

 

[Hoser]

Get an air rifle and train in your basement.

My offhand scores are way up from where they were. They only had one way to go actually.

 

[Sunray]

Get some upper body excercise. Upper body tone is important for holding the rifle up and on target.

 

[Pat McCoy]

Adjust your NPA so you are shooting during your natural respiratory pause (lungs and chest naturally relaxed), then if you feel the need to breathe you have held too long. Make sure you are shooting each shot as a "match of it's own, trying to shoot a certain score on that shot only (the total will take care of itself). Remember this is an endurance sport, so keep hydrated and have a piece of fruit available to eat if the match goes long.

In offhand it is your "core" muscles that really get the beating, so do what you can to strengthen your back, lower abs, and laterals.

 

[MutinousDoug]

Call your shot and follow through.

You need to be able to call every shot. If you are able to do that you will know when your sights are in the black and when you have jerked the gun into the white. Then stop pulling the trigger when the sights are in the white. Call your shot while you follow through, as the front sight settles back on the target before you break your position to re-load. This will help your follow through and teach you what an "X" feels/looks like.
Dry firing, rimfire and airgun practice as recommended above is all for naught if you can't call each of your shots. Or, in other words: any shot you can't call is a shot wasted as far as learning how to shoot, even if it's an "X".

HTH

 

[Mr White]

Thanks for all the replies. The ones that stuck out for me the most (mainly because they're things I'm not already doing) are the comments regarding torso and upper body strength, dryfire practice, and bringing the rifle down when the shot doesn't break in 4-6 seconds.

An hour or 2 a week on the weight bench never hurt anyone.
Practicing from position, be it live fire, air rifle, or just dry firing, should be a no brainer, but too often it isn't.
I often find myself trying to force the shot when I feel my arms starting to tire, rather than coming out of position and starting over.

I have another Garand match in a month. I'll focus on these points and see what happens to my scores. Loke Hoser said, "They only ha(d)ve one way to go actually."

Thanks again!

 

[Howard Roark]

http://www.odcmp.org/1007/default.asp?page=USAMU_STANDING

This is the best free article I've seen about shooting offhand. Brandon is a very nice guy and is of course a heck of a shooter.

The things that have helped me the most are:
Learning what a good position feels like from the feet up and recreating it every shot. The upper body must feel like a single unit. NPA

Not accepting bad shots. If the front sight moves off the black after my approach I put the rifle down and start over. Multiple times if needed. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken s***.

Dry firing is a must. It builds muscle memory and trigger control. Be honest about your calling of your shots. Air rifle is good training. I have one.

Exercise is a plus.

 

[Mr White]

Well, after a month of dry firing in the basement and teaching myself to treat every slowfire shot as its own separate little match, along with rereading Tubb's book and making some changes to my position, my offhand scores in the Garand/Springfield match I shot today jumped about 10 points.

I was shooting mid 70s with a service grade Garand. Today I shot an 81 and an 84. The ones I let get out into the white were called to the position that they hit. I still have a ways to go until my name is feared at Perry but I'm improving and that's what its all about.

Thank you all for your help!

 

[Freedomv]

Off Hand Shooting

PM sent.

Vern

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I'll hit most of the stage offhand stage ok, 10s 9s and 8s but I always seem to have a few M's, 5s and 6s in there that kill me.

That's symptomatic of holding too long, then forcing the shot before you run out of breath.

When you get to that point, lower the rifle, then breathe, raise it and re-aim.

 

[mek42]

I agree with the folks saying that you don't have to take a shot every time you take aim. There's nothing at all wrong with taking an aim, not being happy, putting the weapon down and trying again. For any reason - the circle of aim is too big, the mental game is off, whatever.

 

[Slamfire]

Well, after a month of dry firing in the basement and teaching myself to treat every slowfire shot as its own separate little match, along with rereading Tubb's book and making some changes to my position, my offhand scores in the Garand/Springfield match I shot today jumped about 10 points.

I thought the advice given about Natural Point of aim, calling your shots, and practicing with an air rifle were just spot on.

When you get the basics down, success is mostly mental, assuming you are not under physical stress. Even under windy conditions, the best offhand shooters are the ones who do not break mentally.

You have to have a low wobble position for best results. When concentrating on the sight picture, you have to train your brain to pull the trigger. Your eye will see a ten, and your subconscious mind has to recognize it is time to pull the trigger.

Your subconscious mind pulls the trigger. Through repetition, feedback through the call, you are actively training your subconscious to recognize when it is time to pull the trigger.

Keep practicing as you are and you will see continued improvement.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

When you get the basics down, success is mostly mental, assuming you are not under physical stress.

Yep -- if you discipline yourself to lower the rifle when it doesn't loon right and not hurry up and just get the shot off before you die of asphixiation, you'll do well.

Even under windy conditions, the best offhand shooters are the ones who do not break mentally.

SFC Hulett Benner, an Army champion pistol shooter, once won a match in ungodly wind conditions. When asked how he did it, Sergeant Benner replied, "I just remembered the wind was blowing on the other guys, too."