TargetTalk

Recently I came across a, well, interesting video on Youtube in which Olena Kostevych features in the introduction to an "Olympic Battle" against a TV presenter, apparently a novice (?) shooter:

https://youtu.be/qTbqvFyq4Fc?si=_VnbL5Jv4BNsNmoC

Only want to comment on one aspect of it: at @1:46 into the video, Olena starts some warmup exercises which her co-host of the show repeats.

- Does anybody use a similar routine prior to shooting? Or is this common practice even?
- Is it considered helpful, in general, to 'loosen' your joints this way?
- Any other recommendation for physical warmup exercises? Or should these be strongly discouraged?

Thoughts?

You should be warming up before any physical activity. Shooting is a physical activity. At the very least, it’s a set of 60+ slow shoulder raises with an isometric hold.

I have found warming up like that (arm circles, trunk twists, ankle rolls, neck rolls, toe touches) helps me prepare physically and mentally for the task of finding my NPOA and maintaining it over the course of a match. It minimizes discomfort and twitching. It helps get my brain into “athletic activity” mode.

Good question. No idea. When I train I just go to the range and shoot. And I score better than in matches.

Have you tried your usual pole dancing to warm up before a match?

William tells me it works well for him.

I think its important to put your joints through full range of movement, but not those sort of swivelling moves apparently.
Stretching is supposedly better than those sort of flapping moves, but what do I know.

Many times I would have a long drive to a match and would stiffen up. When I arrived, I would take a fast walk, bending and stretching.

By the time I was signed in, unpacked, took a potty break, etc., I was "settled" and relaxed for the match.

Yes! I’ve always noticed that ‘warming up’ with a few stretches makes it easier for me to get into the groove easily. I feel more relaxed with my stance and hold if I limber up a little. But the real issues start after 3 to 4 rounds I start shaking and things take a turn for the worse!

Whatever you do, warm up or not, be consistent with training and matches (Personally, I think warming up helps).
I've seen shooters arrive at matches to see other competitors warming up and then they, too, will mimic them even though they don't train that way. Usually, their match results will suffer.

Be consistent.

Interesting that in the video clip, Olena was apparently advocating a six o'clock hold (where she sketched out the sight picture), not sub-six and she did not tell the presenter what to do with his non-shooting hand: he kept putting it up behind his back which is generally not recommended as it's an unusual thing to do anyway and it is not relaxed. Otherwise a fun video in the Zelenskyy mould.

Bob

Realistically in that short amount of time you are already overloading new people with the really required aspects of the technique. My experience with teaching first time shooters is that telling them to hold sub-six causes them to obsess over "how much white exactly" there should be etc. instead of focusing on the way more important trigger technique.
Similarly I usually don't correct all the details like the left hand thing since that's not realistically what causes a beginners shots to be off and we tend to overemphasize these easily observable things disproportionally to how important they are.