TargetTalk

I do 8 hour long class to explain:
Position
Grip control
Breath control
Trigger squeeze
Sight alignment
Follow through
Learn fundamentals first, and don’t talk with me in this way any more.
My last student who took this class was much older then you are. With his IZH 46M, his average performance over 560.

Ah, specifics. I love specific information. Not terribly informative, but at least indicating some structure in you approach. Thanks for that. Your initial post and many subsequent comments from you had led me to believe that you did not believe in structure, more in abuse. I am gratified to be proven mistaken on this count.

Structure, System, Strategy, Support this is what I’m teaching in advance level. But you must at least perform 560 at AP

If you can check some of my posts you will see more information…. But at this time you need learn about Basic Pistol. I have no clue about sources how to get this book for you in Canada. Problem is you learned pointless ad useless information if you can’t perform 520-530 at AP.

For the point to help you I have to convince you to open your mind for fundamentals as a backbone of performance and fulfill it with specific details for each element of fundamentals. And make it simple and useful for the reason not overloads your brain. This is my approach.

... and 560 is a good standard for you I'm sure. Simple arithmetic. If one cannot score at least a 560, there is little point in pursuing formal competition. Do you think someone can get there with a $150 springer pistol? You've already said that you have scored quite well with a 46m. This is encouraging. And I agree with you in principle, that buying fancier gear is not essential to making higher scores. But again, what harm?

I prefer discussion of technique, of method, over gear talk, but both have their place do they not? How many world class shooters, defined I suppose by averages of 580 or better, are using a $500 pistol today? I doubt it's more than 1% at that level. Most are gearheads to some extent, choosing pistols with rather richer pedigrees. They're not winning competitions strictly because of these fancy tools, considering that the IZH gun is easily capable of hitting the 10 every single shot, but there is something to be said for using a tool which can be adapted to your every need, and which is made beautifully, not just functionally sufficient.

Russ wrote:If you can check some of my posts you will see more information…. But at this time you need learn about Basic Pistol. I have no clue about sources how to get this book for you in Canada. Problem is you learned pointless ad useless information if you can’t perform 520-530 at AP.

If 'Basic Pistol' is a book title I will seek it out, though without an author's name that might be difficult. It seems there's the NRA 'Basic Pistol Shooting' and quite a few other titles of similar names...

So you are impressed, supposedly, with my 'sophistication' and advancement after only 3 months... and yet you are saying the information I have been reading and applying is 'pointless and useless' because I don't yet have a sufficiently high score, disregarding the peculiar nature of the pistol I have at hand, which jumps substantially before the pellet has left the barrel. Interesting.

You are not alone who think in this way. Yes my knowledge and experience helping me to deliver this sophisticated material in usable way….as many students mentioned in testimonials…I did not making up a any stories
NRA Basic Pistol is OK

Only way to improve your hold, is start to hold some object with similar weight of your pistol every day. There are no other exercises to improve your hold.

For the reason to help you to improve your performance I have to change your perception value of current information. If I will do it in traditional way it takes years to convince you to change value and start learn new information and forget old one. It is complicated process. But today you learned more then you read for last three month.
I’m result oriented :)

That's good. You demonstrate excellently one of the cardinal rules of positive thinking and affirmation by your confidence in your own skills. Of course I learned nothing at all about shooting from this discussion thread, but that's not really why I joined it. I will of course follow the discussions here elsewhere, in case something useful and usable crops up. Seems a relatively slow forum however, with only rare new topics and rather limited participation in existing threads.

I think in Canada you can find someone skilled coach who can help you to develop fundamentals. This is very important lesson you learned today, also it will make you to start improve quickly. Your experience with previous information was unstructured and confusing making troubles to process it and perform. Today you learned it in not on really pleasant way but I may assume you will remember it forever!
I wish you success!

The internet is a great place- every guy with a keyboard is an expert. Every guy that once shot in a foreign country for a club team is ready willing and able to spew wisdom to all the unwashed masses and proclaim himself our savior.

The world is full of folks who almost made it, and spend the rest of their life telling the world how they can make it, for a fee.

I see lots of self masturbation going on in this thread with little pay off. If Russ or whatever his real name is is trying to drum up some business or respect for that matter, it's not working.

Those who can, do.
Those who can't, teach.
Those who can't teach, teach gym(shooting)

Woody Allen.

Greg Derr wrote:The internet is a great place- every guy with a keyboard is an expert. Every guy that once shot in a foreign country for a club team is ready willing and able to spew wisdom to all the unwashed masses and proclaim himself our savior.

The world is full of folks who almost made it, and spend the rest of their life telling the world how they can make it, for a fee.

I see lots of self masturbation going on in this thread with little pay off. If Russ or whatever his real name is is trying to drum up some business or respect for that matter, it's not working.

Those who can, do.
Those who can't, teach.
Those who can't teach, teach gym(shooting)

Woody Allen.

I stopped reading this thread long ago. Today I saw your name, Greg, and thought it must have gotten better. . . apparently not, from what you wrote.
I will stay away again.
Ben

[quote="Greg Derr"]The internet is a great place- every guy with a keyboard is an expert. Every guy that once shot in a foreign country for a club team is ready willing and able to spew wisdom to all the unwashed masses and proclaim himself our savior.

The world is full of folks who almost made it, and spend the rest of their life telling the world how they can make it, for a fee.

I see lots of self masturbation going on in this thread with little pay off. If Russ or whatever his real name is is trying to drum up some business or respect for that matter, it's not working.

Those who can, do.
Those who can't, teach.
Those who can't teach, teach gym(shooting)

Woody Allen.[/quote]

If the status of someone who” teach gym (shooting)” is stupid
What the status who is practicing “gym (shooting)”, and reading “gym (shooting)”?

Thank you for enlightenment Greg Derr.
I agree with you ;)
I have to take off!

Running to catch the wisdom train no doubt.

After reading page one its hard for me to see why this has become so hostile. Russ was polite and expressing his opinion. Russ and John Bickar are the 2 best pistol shooters on TT. Both would coach (express themselves) differently. I believe both would be teaching the same thing but with different words and actions. (Like a winning mello football coach and a winning loud overbearing football coach) You may not like the loud coach but when he wins the superbowl he wins respect. Same goes with the soft spoken mello coach. Russ says it his way and not in perfect english (sort of like me) some of you turn it upside down .I guess in an attempt to make him look bad. When Russ shot in the 2007 national championships and filled in the entry form with the name of the college he was attending he had no idea that that would put him in as a college shooter. He won best college shooter and a FEW of you made such a stink about it he returned the award. I spoke with a few top shooters about this and they thought it was nuts. I think most of us thought it was nuts.This thread reminds me of that incident. Name calling had ended on TT I thought (it was getting rather boring) . So lets agree to disagree, Russ please keep posting I wish John would more. We have lost alot of great posters lately. I miss the ones I disagree with the most. PS> I am sorry this is one big paragraph but I have no idea how to use a keyboard.

Thank you David. I would like to apologize again for the misunderstanding of what happened about this medal. At the time when I submitted a forum of the USA National Championship, I marked the status as a college student. I was studying in Oakland Community College at this time, and I thought that if I would introduce some victory to college, it may somehow endorse and bring some attention to Olympic Style Target Shooting in the college educational system. Also, it was not clear in this forum about the age requirements. Anyways, the problem was solved and I returned the medal. I'm sorry if someone had a bad feeling toward that. I was not aware about the age requirement.
Also, I have a strong feeling to stop any activities related to Olympic Style Target Shooting. Thank you all.

Well, I have "noticed" something lately. Maybe it will turn out to be a lesson of value. Yes it is with bullseye guns, but the fundamentals are the same aren't they?

With a 22 pistol at 25 yards I have been recently calling most of the shots to 1" or less from the hit on target. It has never been this easy to call before. What is different now is I am sensing to mentally and a bit physically, to be "projecting" the sight to the target, rather than "placing" the sight on or in the aiming area. Kind of like I am working on the line "to" the target, and not just trying to superimpose the sight on the target.

Russ,

If I were the best pistol shot I would want to share what I knew to help others and I would start on TT. I would respond to posts from people looking for advise. This sport is a community about sharing equipment and ideas to help each other get better. The only way we are all going to improve is by sharing the collective knowledge we have with each other.

You have to realize there is NO MONEY in this sport. If there were we would have a coach at every gun club and it would be a paid position like a golf pro. The population of people who shoot Free and Air are very small even for fun much less with the drive or capability to be a national champion.

I would recommend to you if you want to have a chance of getting any one to coach and pay for it you need to show some good faith and starting participating in positive way to conversions on TT. Respond to posts trying to help people in a positive way. I do not recommend trying to sell your services but share your knowledge with others. This could lead you to getting more students.

Advertise in the USA Shooting magazine and or contribute some articles. I would even start a blog (you can have google ads) or a podcast and ask for donations that are not expected. I listen to several podcast which do this and they make some money to cover costs of having a web site and it seems to work. If you keep it broad enough you could pull in a huge base of listeners (Rifle, shotgun, Bullseye and there are more). There are a lot of basic concepts that are needed to to excel in any target shooting and they carry over to other sports besides Free and Air.

If I had the knowledge you have I would try all of the above if I wanted to make some money. My first goal would be to share what I know and then I would try and make some money with it coaching.

The only way you are going to prove you are worth getting paid is you start sharing here and changing peoples opinions of you. This is how you market your abilities. Shooting at the National Championships every year would also be a good way to show people you have the abilities and while you are there you talk to others and share ideas and help others.

Not sure if you know who Brian Zins is but he holds a few clinics a year at various clubs in the US and gets paid some for holding them.

Posting on TT and giving some advise at a match will not eliminate the need for your services to get paid to coach a student but it will show people if they want more you do have a class then can take and get some focused coaching. We all know it is hard to coach someone by way of a keyboard and will not replace the need to have range time.

Thank you Chris for the positive feedback. You are one out of the few who is ready and able to see and discuss some constructive solution for the existing problems. First, my actual goal is not to make money here. At the same time, the financial part provides incentive toward the preparation of top level target shooting athletes and cannot be dismissed. What am I exactly talking about? Let us image that I spent a definite amount of time working with athletes to achieve a certain level of performance. At the time, when the competition is coming, we find out that we are out of financial luck, and cannot participate. What are we suppose to do besides being sorry? What I am trying to accomplish here is if we have a highly motivated athlete who does not have financial problems to participate in the competition, to pay for Olympic Pistols (& Gunsmith Service), and to pay for associated medical services (Chiropractor, Massage Therapist), there should not be any issues related to the coaching fees, mine or somebody else’s; I really don’t care. If there aren’t sufficient financial sources, most likely; this plan will be a disaster and I do not want to be part of it.

[quote="jackh"]Well, I have "noticed" something lately. Maybe it will turn out to be a lesson of value. Yes it is with bullseye guns, but the fundamentals are the same aren't they?

With a 22 pistol at 25 yards I have been recently calling most of the shots to 1" or less from the hit on target. It has never been this easy to call before. What is different now is I am sensing to mentally and a bit physically, to be "projecting" the sight to the target, rather than "placing" the sight on or in the aiming area. Kind of like I am working on the line "to" the target, and not just trying to superimpose the sight on the target.[/quote]

I have a different vision in lessons of value here. First, someone who stated that he needed help with concentration. Few experts accused me with the lack of coaching and teaching skills who supported his initial statement and turned out that his problems were not with concentration, but with the lack of basic fundamental structure knowledge, which I discovered in 15 minutes. It's hard for me to understand what you guys are talking about here.

Second, the most important coaching skills is to discover hidden athlete problems and to accomplish this task, you must have access of unseen information of your student and to know his personality.