subject, ranging from club and individual to national team levels. I would rate follow-through problems to be the biggest cause of point loss in all shooting sports - where it remains unknown to the shooter.


So what does this mean? Or - how can I fix this? Well, I am going to address both smallbore and fullbore shooters and, as you read on, you will understand where I am coming from.


Correct follow-through for smallbore is dependent on your position to a large extent and how well your performance is executed. You must understand that in prone shooting there are three main areas - hold dimensions, sighting and shot release, then follow- through. Each of these elements contain a number of processes and your level of training dictates how well they are developed.


Without entering into a long techniques discussion and basically isolating the problems associated with following the shot through, what are we looking for?


The operative word in that sentence is looking, as correct follow-through is hugely dependent on watching the sights as the shot is released.


Smallbore has a big advantage over fullbore prone - lack of recoil as the shot is released. (I will examine the fullbore recoil later in this article, as there is a vast difference between the two disciplines).


Watching the sight-picture as the smallbore shot is released is crucial, as contained within


follow-through is the ‘shot nomination’ process as well. You MUST know where the shot was aimed in order to correctly follow the placement and position of the shot on the target. There is nothing worse in not knowing where the shot should be according to your wind prediction as this affects the decision you make for the next shot you are about to take. You see, the shot you have just fired is down there and essentially complete. BUT, what did you learn from it?


Do you see now why follow-through is assuming major proportions?


In terms of aiming and following through, a correct shot for smallbore has three areas of analysis to consider - the accuracy and position of the final aim, the absorption and direction of the recoil and the return to the aiming point when the movement subsides.


This SMALLBORE Business


With the aiming, you may have decided that to combat a wind-condition out there on the range, you may have shaded the aiming picture (aimed off) to register your shot in the ten ring. This means that the aim could be anywhere from inside the ten ring to well outside and the recoil movement dictates just how well the shot was executed in terms of techniques.


Even though this is advanced smallbore technique, you must understand that the recoil movement and where it finishes, is the very last indication that the shot you fired was correct. Was the movement exactly the same as all previous shots? Ask yourself this first…


Learning to follow a shot through in the early stages of your performance development is best done indoors, where the wind and weather has little effect. I did a great deal of my early training over a 25 yard range where I was able to develop a hold like an ‘engineers vice’ and a follow-through process that simply returned to final aim, when what recoil there was, resettled onto that aim. This way, I knew that my techniques were going along fine.


It was also just as obvious that if that shot-release did not return to correct aiming then something was wrong! It is crucial to have faith in your mind, to assess where the problem lay and correct it immediately. Otherwise the next shot will be affected. Contained within the recoil-movement, I very carefully watched the direction and height of the recoil- movement as well.


A well aimed and fired smallbore shot should retain the ten-ring under recoil, (in terms of aiming) and resettle onto aiming perfection that came from milliseconds prior to shot-release. It is that simple! However, what if you noticed that the recoil movement was different? Where did your analysis determine what the problem was? What needs to be done about it?


Well nearly always the problem comes from somewhere in the position, either in natural aiming point, or the forward geometry. The thought is to do something about it, even if you cannot determine where it is! Just by considering this problem you are already opening your mind and I have said many times in these articles that shooting is a mind sport…..


So, you simply come back to square one, remove the rifle from position and just rebuild the position


51


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