TargetTalk

I have a shooter on our high school rifle team that has a problem with his kneeling position. His position looks very solid, but he has a small horizontal quiver that has become very annnoying. He is a very disiplined shooter and can consistently shoot mid 90's in standing, but kneeling is in the upper 80's to low 90's. Does anyone have any advice on how to correct or at least minimize this movement?
Thanks
Jim Holtman

have him try altering his position so his weight is a little more the the left of his body....once he gets over the "I falling over" sensation he may be more locked into place. doesnt work with everyone but its just a suggestion. Also, see if he can figure out where the movement is comming from....the base of his position? elbow/knee?

Dave Johnson wrote a short article on diagnosing kneeling in USAS News a few issues ago (within the past year). There will likely be some wobble since that's the equivalent of the "bounce" in prone from pulse, but it can be minimized to where it's hard to see. Clearly your shooter must have a big wobble for scores that low. My guess would be improper sling placement. Try below or above where he's got it and make sure it's not pulling from the inside of his arm.

Assuming the rifle is supported on the left knee, have him point his toes, i.e. turn left foot inward or outward to varying degrees. Keep good notes as to position vs scores while doing this so it can be repeated if it works for you.

Check that he is not shooting "across" his position, but "straight out" of the position. Left slbow (for right handed shooter) should be about 2" to left of the gun (very similar to the prone position). Generally facing the target more helps. You also have to wathc how tight the sling is. Kids tend to crank it tighter to get more stability, but that just twists the upper part of the body. Try loosening the sling a litte whe facing more toward the target.

I suffered from a similar problem. A big help was to use the same handstop position in kneeling as I do in prone and move the sling 2-3 positions tighter. Give it a try!

[quote="Guest"]I suffered from a similar problem. A big help was to use the same handstop position in kneeling as I do in prone and move the sling 2-3 positions tighter. Give it a try![/quote]

Everyone is different, for kneeling by handstop is about 2 inches farther out and my sling is a good 6 inches tighter. I had the same problem in kneeling and I just had to turn my left foot to match the angle of my right thigh.

Question:
Is the horizontal movement fast and irregular or slow and regular?
The first indicates the use of (fibrating) muscles, the second a shortage of pressure in the shoulder (the rifle moves with the pulse of the hartbeat, balancing only on the left elbow).
Or is there a distortion in balance of the body? (This can be caused by a number of things).
???

jholtman wrote:I have a shooter on our high school rifle team that has a problem with his kneeling position. His position looks very solid, but he has a small horizontal quiver that has become very annnoying. He is a very disiplined shooter and can consistently shoot mid 90's in standing, but kneeling is in the upper 80's to low 90's. Does anyone have any advice on how to correct or at least minimize this movement?
Thanks
Jim Holtman

A solution is to turn the left foot to the right, forming 45° with regard to the rifle.

Most movement problems, at least in part, almost always result from some form of natural point error. Try very small changes in your front foot position, both side to side, front to back and the angle to the line of fire. This experiment is made a lot easier if using either a Noptel, Scatt or Rika system to monitor and record the movement. You might also want to assure that your pants are not binding in anyway the might provide a side to side force.

In adition to PaulB,
Horizontal movement occurs also when the trousers around the upper left leg is to tight or when the trouser is closed to tight around the waist.