Good Article on Standing Position

The May 2008 issue of On The Mark, the CMP’s newsletter for junior shooters, has a feature by Gary Anderson on building the proper standing position. Though focused primarily on juniors, all 3P High Power, Service Rifle, and Silhouette shooters can benefit from this article.

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Tips on Hand Position
Here is sample of Gary’s advice: “It is critical not to force the rifle up or down to get the sights pointing at the target. The correct way to do this is to select a left hand-wrist position that fills the support gap between the left hip and the rifle fore-end. A good mid-range starting position is to keep the wrist straight and either set the rifle on top of a closed fit or support the rifle between the thumb and the first knuckle.

Either of these options will work well for most shooters. However, shooters with proportionately longer arms and shorter torsos will have rifle sights pointing high with either of these hand positions. By breaking the wrist and resting the rifle in the flat of the hand or by keeping the wrist straight and dropping the rifle down into the fork of the hand they should be able to comfortably bring the sights down to the target.

Conversely, shooters with proportionately shorter arms and longer torsos need a wrist-hand position that adds more length to the support column. They can achieve this by resting the rifle between the spit fingers and thumb, up on the second knuckles or, highest of all, on the thumb and fingertips.”

In his article, Anderson also explains how to correct the most common mistakes in the standing position:

“1. Incorrect body turn—too little or too much body turn makes it impossible to have a straight column of support under the rifle and upper body and difficult to balance[.]
2. Left elbow not under rifle—incorrect elbow positioning misaligns the column of support.
3. Left hip not under rifle—incorrect hip position misaligns the support column and makes good balance more difficult.
4. Butt too low in shoulder—when the head is tipped down too far to see through the sights comfortably, the butt must be raised in the shoulder and a higher left hand-wrist position must be selected.
5. Left arm not relaxed down onto side or hip—this means the rifle is being supported with muscles instead of bones—relax the arm down onto the side or hip and, if necessary, select a higher hand position.”

The May Issue of On The Mark contains many other useful articles, including a feature on Aerobic Fitness by 2003 Smallbore (3P) National Champion Amber Darland.

(Photos © Copyright 2008 CMP, used by permission.)