Coaching Balance — Rees Pee Column By Mark McKean pip. T (HPE/Sc), CSCS, ASCA Level 2SandC Coach, MAAESS There are many sports that require dynamic postural transfer in their movements, but target pistol shooting is generally considered to require a static postural position. Yet on closer inspection you will see that it is quite dynamic given the significant relationship between maintaining the static postural position of the body as a whole and the sway dynamics of the muscles controling the position of the joints and limbs involved in achieving the shooting position (On one hand, there is 2 complex number of movements associated with the coottination of the whole body through cooperation ofthe legs, hips, unk and shoulders to maintain as static @ position as possible, Whilst controling ths post, the shooter is also attematng t dinate the sight ofthe fream, which alloys for slight sway ofthe body that is alms imposible to minimise to zr. The athlete shooter wil lays ty ta bring total body consol its absolute best and minimise the sway, but he/she wil also work towards understanding this sway inorder to achieve ‘he best position fra perfoct shot. | have writen extensivaly in the past about the physical condition and fitness required for shooting and many readers may find it hard to aooeot that, to be an elite shooter one must alsa be an elite athlete in the physical sense and nt just with respoct to shooting sks. This balance thatthe shoot seeks needs to be developed in both the sil of shoting and in the environment away from specific shooting sks Finding this balance wil require a diferent approach to taining and wl also require the shoots mitment improve tis aspect of thor performance The sls of balance can be broken int the following sections The shooter's body orientation or position A filter for proprioceptive fodback and > Spatial a faness ofthe sounding erironent The shooter must also be consious ofthe flowing: > Factors that influence proprioceptive fouback and spacial 1 Changen awareness or demands treughoutthe movement 1 shating action; and Changing environmental factors that may occur dung the shooting action och shooter wil havea unique pasture and eventhough many shooters may look the same, each individual wil utilise adorostem of cves and feedback 19 maintain and contol this posture Having an awareness of your own body and its orientation © positions factor of your understanding of how you move and get into each position requied. Sone shooters will have an excellent understanding of ther own body and howto get it nto the best, positions whilst thers will nod coaching to asist them achiowe the required poston Shooters who have problems with achieving the necessary shooting postion may require intevention from a finess trainer ‘or health professional to doting the reasons behind this. Some. causes may be a lack of flexbty or range of movements) of 2 joints), lack of strength in specific muscles, impaired muscle function or restricted movements} due to prior injury. Many theta will hve inherent genetic ‘tod’ traits that make them good at their sport and they wil therefore not even be aware of what they do Increasing body awareness can be achieved wit simple ils ‘that requ the shooter to place ll or part of his/her body in a specific poston or posture with his/her eyes closed so that he/she rales purely on his/her own feedback and contol and not on what histher eyes or the extemal envionment reports. Pin the tail an ‘the donkey is on old kid's party game that relies on this quality Doveloping this quality in shooters will exhance their shooting posture and improve basic body contain specfc postures required for shooting, Eater | mentioned proprocentive feedback and by way of ‘explanation, a propioeaptor is a sensory receptor found mainly in muscles, tendons, joints andthe inner ear that detects the mation or positon of the body ora limb by responding to stimuli inthe body. To improve the quality of elvng purely on one's own feedback and control, the shooter will nd to also loan how to fer proprioceptive feedback thats @ constant source of information to the brain andthe key to this information isto be selective, Many athletes take this feedback or granted or may nt even be aware of ‘to tat thoy fall to make use of tho information when t counts. You may ask how this would help @ shooter. We use this feedback everday. We use it to tell us when we may be over balancing as we walk, climb, stand, jump, twist and move, to determine when we pull beck fom @ poston because we ‘understand tha ie ry to go futher we wl ose contol and so on, Its therefore used daly o tll us when ou safety is tisk, bt it is also used to tell us when we ae ted of standing on one leg and 0 we shift or when we need to sit down because wo ae starting to sway more than normal ‘As we do these actions or hold these postures, our brain callcts information, which includes patterns, complet and speed ‘of movement, the numberof planes invohd inthe movernent the umber of joints invted, the accuracy required and the sie ofthe muscle groups involved. nthe shooting poston this feedback tells us when we are swaying, in which direction and to what extent so, ‘we can switch on opposing muscles and regain contol. The more ‘we conv the sway the ess adjustment we would need to mzke inthe shooting action ‘Simple games and drills canbe used to heighten awarness of this feck and lam howto filter what we need to be aware of and what we don. Ty balancing on ene leg with your ees closed, standing on a wobble board or siting on a swisbal, All these ‘activites wil ain this sytem and increase your ably to contro sway and detemine best posture for a controled position. Tho final feature of these three aspects of balance is for shooters to develop sense oftheir envionment. When athletes perform a specific sil such as shooting, thay can make the mistake cof tying to blok out he environment instead of understanding what it contains the shooter gains bette sense ofthe environment during competition, background noses oer athletes or unexpected intrusion wil not cause ther to alter ther posture and lose contol, let alone their concetaticn. This may sound obvious, but | have seen many athletes lose focus at an inappropriate tine during competition because thoy id not have full avereness oftheir surounds, climate, weatho, venue, or cow condtions, Shooters must tran themselves to got 2 foe or their emvronment with eyes open and eyes closed. Thay should prepare for the conditions and allow themsehes time to evel sls to fiter what is required to understand and what is rot important Regardoss of the lvel of the shooter, follow these simple uidolies: > Start witha saris of simp dls > Dotemine the shooters level of kil Develop conto and stability and eam the right to progress ‘rom ilo dil, ensuring your abilities match the ificulty ofthe dil Develop those skis in line with strength ad conditioning Programs > Dorit overcompiicat the movement to match the sport as the simplest ils wil always work best. Reinforce sound practices even i you are an experienced alte. > Allocate 5% of your total week taining time to these Gill 24 include them with al taining sessions. A ile often is far better than a lot ess frequently. ©