In this issue:
Re: Eating and shooting
Re: Eating and shooting
Re: Using a hook in prone
Use of filters
Want used LH Anschutz stock
Looking for pistol psychology books
Sighting problems
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Gentlemen:
I don't know if this will be of any use to you, but there is a
phenomena known as blood shunting when the parasympathetic nervous system
is activated during the digestive process. The body will divert blood to
the gastrointestinal system in order to help the body to process the food.
While the blood supply is being diverted from the various parts of the
body, that means the brain is being deprived as well as other parts.
Hence, the sluggish or even sleepy tired feeling after a rather satisfying
meal. When deprived of proper nutrition the body can't function up to
speed and when given the fuel too soon, it's priorities aren't on
performing at a peak level. Your observation that you do better with a
small simple snack is a good one. Utilizing food that is not metabolized
too quickly and in small amounts (just enough to stave off the hunger)
prior to shooting can be beneficial. However, it is not a substitute for
proper nutrition at the proper times.
By this I mean nutrition in general, however, the day of the match is often too late for
many shooters, especially those that may have problems with hypoglycemia
and other related disorders where it is important to keep the body working
correctly. Nutritional concerns in the short term, ideally are addressed
as much as a week before. This does not even address those people who
have actually a mild addiction to certain types of "food" in order to keep
them at the peak performance level. Caffeine comes to mind, as there have
been studies where mental performance is handicapped by the lack of the
stimulant when the body as become accustomed to a certain amount of the
stimulant. This response has actually rekindled an interest in some of
the addiction aspects and I'll be researching it a little more when I get
the chance.
Hoped that spread some light versus gas on the question.
David Lee
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This is my ideas on eating for matches. I have a special problem in that
I am diabetic and therefore, I have to keep my sugar at a decent level
all the time, even when I am shooting. Normally, on a tournament day, I
eat my normal breakfast and then I take some low-fat, low-sugar crackers
like wheat-thins, etc, to nibble on and maybe some fruit like apples. I
may stop on the way to the range and buy a turkey sandwich at one of the
quick-stop stores connected with a gas station, etc to eat while
competing. I usually eat part of it between matches, depending on when I
had breakfast. I have to have something to eat at least every 4 hours or
so, unless I have eaten a large breakfast when I can then stretch it to
5 hours. I also take along some of the diabetic granola type food bars
at times.
I agree that you should not have much on your stomach when shooting,
especially prone, but even kneeling is a problem when your stomach is
full. Digestion is also a problem at times. I for sure never have
anything with caffiene the day of a shoot. I also, because of the sugar,
don't drink anything with lots of sugar in it. Diet drinks or water is
my beverage of choice when competing - usually water.
Hope this helps. Don Williams, Oregon
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This is for Usman who asked about using the hook in prone. I used to
have a butt-plate for my older model 54 that was just a hook. I had to
use it all the time even though it was bothersome in prone. I finally
changed the base plate and bought the butt plate with the screw in hook.
I never use the hook in prone because it always seems to jab me in the
ribs when I roll slightly to reload. I use the hook only in standing and
kneeling and in the few matches yearly that I shoot sitting. It is much
better. I think, like the editor says, that it is more habit than
anything else.
Don Williams, Oregon, ISCA
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I do some shooting myself and train some juniors in various forms of rifle shooting, both outdoors and indoors, and have some questions on the use of filters.
Generally, when do you use them? I have tried some yellow and grey when the sun is directly on the targets, but that is about it.
Is there a good available source of information on the subject or do you have any recommendations?
I have found these newsletters very interesting, keep up your good work!
regards
Hans B. Rognerud
[Editor - Center Shot Sports used to have a link to a thesis one of the Raab's did for their UIT lisence of some sort that dealt with filters that I found quite interesting. If you cannot find the link, you could email them and I'm sure they would provide it. IMHO, it comes down to personal preference. Many top shooters don't use filters that I could tell. I have almost always perceived myself to have a poor sight picture so every little bit helps. Which color you decide to use depends upon what your eye perceives to be right. In general, I use yellow or amber when lighting is poor and a shade of grey (perhaps with a polarizer) when it is bright. I think the new Gehmann iris with up to 48 color combinations is overkill. Are you going to spend 10-15 minutes flipping through all those combos or shoot???]
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Does anyone with a beautiful new aluminum stock want to sell me their old,
unwanted, left handed wooden Anschutz standard rifle stock? (Cheaply)
Thanks,
Kurt Ingham
[email protected]
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I am trying to locate some book's on the "Psychology of Pistol shooting", can anyone give me the titles, author's and hopefully the publisher's.
I am looking at the competition aspect in relation to UIT matches, ie Standard pistol, Centre/Fire Sports pistol, etc.
Thank's
[Editor - Aside from Chet Skinner's book, the only other book I'm aware of in print that deals spcifically with shooting psychology is Bassham's With Winning in Mind. Chet has discovered another book that he says has several parallels to his:
Book out of print...
ISBN 0-517-52603-4
Standl, Hans, 1926
Pistol shooting as a sport....(German)
Translated to English 1975 (UK)
If anyone knows where the Editor can get the English version of this book, I would appreciate it.]
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During the setup for the Natural Point of Aim, you may be experiencing a common problem of incorrect sighting procedures. See if the following may be your problem.
1. If you focus your eye on the target, you loose control of the position and the rear sight.
2. If you focus on the space between the target and front sight, or your point of focus moves in this area, you again have lost control over the position and sighting procedure.
3. If the front sight and target is found blurry then see the doctor...
The perfect physical sighting procedure is the front sight in clear focus with the target in the background and out of focus. Add to this the mental technique and you have the perfect sighting procedure.
Therefore, you may be loosing control of the position and sighting sequences because you are focusing upon every thing but the front sight......
If you are holding until you find a good sight picture, you will find that you lack enough oxygen and diminishing stamina because of the reduced blood flow. This always results in major errors with the position becoming unsteady because of the cumulative lactic acid in the blood flow and muscle tissue. Holding also causes the firing of panic shots, which always results in missed shots or major errors in technique.
Lastly, small amounts of lactic acid will affect the working of the brain and prevent the muscle functioning including the eye during focusing and sighting.
Chet Skinner, Coach
[email protected]
http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/dome/4512/index.html
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End of UIT Mailing List #26
Michael Ray - Systems Engineer
Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. Rifle Coach
UIT Shooting Page -
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/1190/index.htm
