If you’ve been following either my Twitter feed or Sebastian’s, you’ll know that I’ve recently taken up air pistol silhouette with him. I have to admit, it’s fun. I’m concentrating more on the fundamentals than I have with other types of shooting, and that’s always a good thing. The fact is that the targets are so small, there’s really no room for error. And boy, do I ever make errors. (That is, I miss a lot. But even long time competitors miss quite a few, so I’m not too far behind.)
At one of the competitions, a fellow shooter who could probably shoot a pea at 50 feet mentioned the idea of breaking records. How could I, as a new shooter in this sport who was just recently ranked as AA, break a record? Easy, the women’s records are really low. (Now I see the benefit in shooting having been traditionally a male sport! Makes me wonder if I really should have spent those years introducing women to shooting. They might be my competition now. I kid.)
For example, in long run records, the women’s open sight record for turkeys is only 10. Granted, I can’t fathom shooting 10 of them right now, but I hope to one day. Then I just need to hit 1 more to break a record that was only fairly recently set (2008). For pigs, the record is just 13 (also set in 2008). While in chickens and rams the numbers are 15 and 17, respectively (set in 1993 and 1994). Compare those to the non-senior men’s titles: turkeys 45 (set in 2007 by @slowstdy who we shoot with), pigs 45 (also set in 2007 by @slowstdy), chickens 29 (set in 1993), and rams 29 (another by @slowstdy in in 2008).
Sebastian’s club has multiple national record holders, and maybe I can help add to that if I actually give this a serious try. (As in, I don’t wuss out on a competition opportunity just because it’s 90+ degrees with humidity to match after helping someone move big furniture the day before…)
I think you should start an online pool as to when you break your first record and which on it’s in.
Heh, that could be unfair for some. I’ve thought about concentrating on one animal at a time until I get close enough or actually break a record. I suspect if I picked one to really focus on that I will generally improve with the others.
But if there was demand for a pool, then I would go along with it. I just doubt there would be since outdoor air pistol won’t last that much longer this year. We’ll be heading indoor sometime soon.
Holy crap! Amend that last comment. I just looked at the indoor air pistol records for open sights and most of them simply do not exist. The only record that exists for women is in rams with 10. The rest are empty.
Maybe we should start classes. But first you have to something about your shoes, or lack of. http://www.amazon.com/Cactus-Landscaping-Classic-Boots-830/dp/B000EA0PZG if 8″ is too much they do them in 6″
Indoor Air Pistol starts October 5th.
Training for records is a very intents activity, we will start slow, with only 2hrs a day in the gym plus 2 X 30 mile bikes rides per week. Start tonight with 2 X 1 hr spin classes, see you at the gym at 6pm (YMCA)
Haha! Okay, maybe I’m not that dedicated. :)