USAShootingNews
Contents
volume 17, No. 5
FEATURES
24
World Cup 2009 Update
By Mary Beth Vorwerk
14
DISCIPLINES
15
Rifle By Launi Meili
16
6
Shotgun
By Bret Erickson & Mark Weeks
7
Aim with AMU
By SFC Richard Merrill
8
Inside the Blue
By Sr. Master Sgt. Jeffrey J. Julig
10
On the Firing Line
By J.P. O’Connor
12
Coaches’ Corner
By Rifle Coach Dave Johnson
AROUND THE RANGE
ON THE COMPLEX
33
NEWS & EVENTS
18
28
18
Sept/oct 2009
30
2009 Nationals Wrap-
Up
By Mary Beth Vorwerk
Pistol
By Keith Sanderson
COLUMNS
From the Editor
By Mary Beth Vorwerk
Shotgun Junior Olympic Wrap-Up
Thoughts from:
The Executive Director
Paralympics
Marketing
Competitions
Operations
USA Shooting News is published six times a year. USA Shooting is the national governing body for Olympic Shooting sports in the United States. USA Shooting News is produced
as a service to international shooters, coaches, officials and media who cover Olympic-style shooting. Shooters featured in USA Shooting News magazine may be photographed
without eye protection. These are posed photographs using unloaded guns and do not represent actual competiton. USA Shooting encourages all shooters to use proper eye
and ear protection when shooting. Inclusion of advertisements in USA Shooting does not constitiute endorsement of advertised products or services by USA Shooting, its staff
or its sponsors.
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3
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Karie Wright
Controller
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Editor: Mary Beth Vorwerk
Designer: Claire Landis-Tyson
Printing: Sport Graphics
Contributors:
Contributors:
Lindsay Brooke
Buddy DuVall
Bret Erickson
Bob Foth
Senior Master Sgt. Jeffrey J. Julig
Launi Meili
SFC Richard Merrill
Robert Mitchell
JP O’Connor
Marcus Raab
Bill Roy
Keith Sanderson
Wolfgang Schreiber
Cover Photo: Wolfgang Schreiber, issf-sports.org
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Columns
From the Editor
Aim with AMU
Inside the Blue
On the Firing Line
Coaches’ Corner
Coolest Picture I’ve Ever Taken!
By Mary Beth Vorwerk, Media and Public Relations Manager
When I discovered this picture two days after I actually took it during the Men’s Double Trap Final
at the 2009 USA Shooting Shotgun National Championships, I quickly emailed it off to my fellow staff,
as well as family and friends with the subject heading, “Coolest picture I’ve ever taken.” I must say, this
is definitely by far the best photo I have snapped in my eight years of working in Media Relations for the
Olympic movement. I am by no means an accomplished photographer, in fact, I got pretty lucky with
this picture, but I do enjoy taking photos and getting a shot like this doesn’t happen too often. Standing in back of the bunker, I was taking pictures behind the shooters hoping to get a puff of orange from
the target breaking in the sky in some of my photos. I literally had no idea until two days later when I
finally had a chance to go through all my pictures that I got the perfect shot: lightening flashing in the
background as well as a puff target, another target breaking and two shooters at the line. I guess the
photo was the perfect way to showcase what a great match we had this year at Ft. Carson’s International
Shooting Park, by bringing out the “electrifying” nature of this shotgun event in general!
I can’t imagine ever being able to take a better picture if I tried! It was definitely luck, but I am
certainly happy with the result, and especially since so many others seemed to love it as well. I heard
several people talking about the infamous “lightening photo” throughout the course of the nationals.
The picture seemed to spread like wildfire on email as I had numerous shooters, referees and others come up to me and tell me what a great shot
it was. I was a little embarrassed and even a little reluctant to publish it in the magazine, but knowing how many people enjoyed seeing it, I really
did want to share it with all of our USA Shooting News readers.
I would like to point out, however, that the lightening is MUCH farther away than it appears in the photo. National Shotgun Coach Mark
Weeks and his staff are constantly watching out for threatening weather and checking the lightening detector at the range and would never keep
our shooters on the field if they were in any sort of danger. So, the lightening that appeared in the picture was definitely not a threat to our
shooters. With that being said, I really hope you all enjoy seeing the “coolest picture I’ve ever taken”!
Columns
From the Editor
Aim with AMU
Inside the Blue
On the Firing Line
Coaches’ Corner
Grip Fitting 104
By SFC Richard Merrill and the USAMU International Pistol Team
In our previous discussions on grip fitting, we have moved from the
logic of properly fitting a grip, to tools and shaping, to important terminology. Now we will conclude the series with a focus on fine tuning
your grip from the rear forward.
Working from the rear of the grip around to the fingers brings us to
the palm ridge line and the ball of the grip. If you look at your hand,
the palm ridge line is the line that extends from your wrist towards
your fingers. The ball is at the end of this line. In your hand the ball is
a concave depression, but on the grip it is the round protrusion that fits
into our palm. Most commercial grips already have this line and you
only need a minor adjustment to fit it to your hand. The easiest way to
fit this part is to add filler to the grip and grab the grip starting from
the back with the hand getting as high and into the grip as possible,
then reaching around with the fingers. From now on, this is how you
should grip your pistol to guarantee consistency.
If filled correctly, you will form a knuckle-looking feature on top of
the ball. This forms from the tendon for the middle finger, which also
happens to be the deepest part of the ball. To know if you have added
enough filler, you should not feel high points on your palm from the
ball. The ball is on the side of the grip. If the ball is too large then you
will feel it push into your hand and this push will cause sight misalignment. If you feel a gap in your palm, then you need more filler to
provide a proper index to ensure you have a proper grip. You can test
if the ball is in the right spot by holding the pistol for at least an hour
without taking your hand out of the grip. When you release the grip
there should be a red mark in the deepest part of the ball on your hand.
If this red mark is not in the deepest part then you need to move the
ball to the deepest spot.
The next index is the finger ridgeline. The valley under your fingers
goes along with the finger ridgeline. The finger ridgeline is easy to
set, and next to the ball, is the best index to make sure your hand is in
the same place on the grip every time. To form the ridge line simply
add filler in a line between the middle finger shelf and the palm shelf.
After filler is added grab the pistol from the rear going forward again.
The filler should be where your fingers and palm meet. Do not make
this ridge too pronounced. This ridge is on the side of the grip, and if
you make it large, then it will push your hand to the side causing sight
misalignment. Again, you should not feel this ridge. If you feel it, then
you have used too much filler. If you feel a gap, add more filler.
After the finger ridgeline has set, adjust the valley. The valley is the
area between the finger ridge line and the ball. Simply remove enough
wood so that your hand is not squished into the grip. Avoid making
this valley too deep because this will produce the same problem as
having a finger ridgeline that is too pronounced.
Last on the grip are the fingers. To keep the grip pressure aligned
from front to rear, the fingers must be placed so that the middle segment of the middle finger and ring finger are perpendicular to the axis
of the barrel. Form a grip feature that allows fingertips to lie, but not a
place to push into. If the middle segments of the fingers are incorrectly
placed, the fingertips will be pushing from the side causing sight misalignment. So, like the thumb, the finger tips just lie there, but do not
add pressure. The pinky finger hardly ever fits because on most people, it is too short. In order to remove enough wood to fit the pinky,
you would be grinding the frame. Just give the pinky a good natural
place to lie that will not place any unwanted pressures to the grip.
Some grips have ridgelines between every segment and every finger, such as a Steyr air pistol. These ridgelines are fine to have, but
not necessary. Since our hands expand and contract every day, these
ridgelines will usually be in a different place every day. For example,
if your hand expands one millimeter every day, then each finger will
expand one millimeter giving your fingers an overall expansion of four
millimeters compared to the one millimeter of your hand. If you think
your grip feels different from day to day, your fingers definitely will. If
you have finger ridgelines, keep them rounded so you can barely feel
them.
The middle finger shelf hardly ever has to be adjusted, but some
people need to move their middle finger closer to the trigger. This
means you need to make this shelf thinner. The middle finger shelf
should also extend all the way over the top of the middle finger since
this is one of the two spots supporting the weight of the pistol.
After you have adjusted the grip to fit your hand, then adjust your
trigger. The tip segment of your trigger finger should be placed on
the trigger shoe so that the segment is perpendicular to the barrel axis
when taking up the second stage of the trigger. This will allow you to
pull the trigger straight back. If you have inconsistent trigger squeeze,
it will effect your sights less if the trigger comes straight back. Some
people like none of their trigger finger touching the grip and some
like the bottom segment of the trigger finger touching the grip. This is
personal preference.
Fitting a grip does not need to be a daunting task. If you know what
to look for, you can personalize all your grips. Be patient and stick
to the basic principles we’ve discussed, and you will be shooting a lot
more tens. My hope is that this series has helped you progress in your
shooting career. Until next time STAY ARMY STRONG!
www.usashooting.org
7
Columns
From the Editor
Aim with AMU
Inside the Blue
On the Firing Line
Coaches’ Corner
Inside the Blue: Second Opinion
By: Senior Master Sgt. Jeffrey J. Julig, Air Force Shooting Team
Success is an inside job. It is a leadership
and self-improvement maxim that transcends
many aspects of business, sport and personal
life. Successful individuals sow the seeds of improvement within and nurture them to reach
their goals. It is internal drive and determination that motivates and inspires people to reach
their goals. The tangible reward or recognition
at the end of the match is the product of high
performance, but true satisfaction is held deep
within knowing you reached your goal. The
passion to compete and the reasons for accepting the challenge are found inside each athlete.
Athletes often focus improvement efforts
externally to address performance equipment,
physical fitness, performance techniques and
match plans. However, an athlete must also
direct attention inward because the catalyst
for success lies within. In this article, we will
explore how looking within may help improve
your performance.
What is Success?
Webster’s Dictionary defines success as: “a
degree or measure of succeeding” or “a favorable or desired outcome.” For an athlete, it is
a subjective standard based on an individual or
group’s evaluation of performance. But who defines success: the group or the individual athlete?
Success is a subjective evaluation of performance and should be based on an athlete’s goals
and self-image. For some athletes, success is
winning a medal during an international competition. For others, it is recognition as one of
the greatest all-time competitors in his or her
sport. Others believe it is achieving peak performance within time and resource constraints.
Still others feel it is a measure of their ability to
set a goal and achieve it. Your standard may differ. As a subjective standard, athletes should apply their own criteria to evaluate the results of
their performance. It is an inside job. However,
without a destination, success is an elusive, everchanging target.
Choose Your Destination
As an athlete, you must have a vision, a destination and a timetable to get there. Without
it, success is difficult to measure. Where do you
see yourself at the end of the season or in five
years? What is the difference between your current performance, your expected performance
and your final destination? Is your timeframe
realistic? Choosing a destination allows you to
8 USA Shooting News
form a plan to get there, set waypoints and make
course corrections along the way. Look inside
to determine the level of commitment you will
need to reach your destination.
A destination should incorporate factors
within an athlete’s span of control and not just
focus on an outcome. Outcomes (e.g., taking
home a medal, winning a club championship)
may influence the perception of success but are
not conclusive evidence of success. For example, if an athlete sets a goal to win the National
Championship in his or her sport and fails, was
he or she successful? What if the athlete posted
his or her top score in the final, set a National
record during the qualification rounds and still
lost? Is success tied to the medal? Because success is a subjective standard, athletes must carefully choose a destination to avoid setting themselves up for failure.
Choose a destination linked to performance
– something you can control – and let the match
director rank the performance of a group of
competitors. An athlete must define success by
choosing his or her own destination. Experience will help you make an informed decision.
Value Experience
Success comes from taking advantage of opportunities to gain experience before they are
lost forever. It goes without saying, but athletes
will never go undefeated. Even the best are
overcome at some point, but their experience
– even in defeat – is invaluable for the athlete’s
development. Greatness is not only a measure
of actions in victory but also actions shown
in defeat. Disappointment over a loss or poor
performance is understandable, but the actions
following the event are the most important for
long-term improvement.
Each athlete’s background includes a unique
set of experiences to build upon. The challenge
is to relate a past experience to a present opportunity and reach your peak performance. When
you reflect upon your earliest experiences in
your sport, what is different now? What did you
learn? Did you have to learn the same lesson
more than once? What did you learn from your
most recent match or training session? Comparing and contrasting past experiences against
present opportunities is an important step to developing as an athlete – it can only happen when
you look inside and reflect.
The athlete who stands ready to compete
when it really counts and is able to apply his or
her skills under pressure is usually the one who
took advantage of his or her unique set of opportunities. Training is over when the match
begins. Scores are counted and head-to-head
competition begins. What you bring to the line
is the sum of your experiences, good or bad.
Your opportunity to learn is over because you
now must perform. Experience is gained this
way, by embracing the opportunity to act and
learn even when the conditions are not perfect.
After the match your opportunity to improve
begins again. If you failed, you must learn from
it.
Leverage Failure
Failure is not the enemy of success; it is the
teacher of success. Failure to reach a goal does
not mean an athlete is a failure. It may reveal
shortcomings in training, equipment or performance but it is not an indictment on the individual. Athletes must balance growth in all areas of
life (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, recreational and professional) and integrate within
a larger society. In the end, far more athletes
“fail to post the highest score” than actually lose
in life. Failure to reach a goal in a one area of life
does not paint the individual as a failure. This
attitude is more than just an academic concept.
It allows an athlete to use a setback as an improvement opportunity in order to learn from
his or her failures and not internalize it as an attack on his or her character.
A fundamental aspect of improvement is
acknowledging the opportunity to fail. Avoiding failure and focusing only on areas an athlete
does well is the surest way to perpetuate mediocrity. Athletes should seek new challenges as
opportunities to learn rather than chances to
fail. Embrace the chance to compete in a final
with your heart trying to escape your body – at
least you will know you are alive. Unfortunately,
fear of failure prevents many otherwise capable
athletes from reaching peak performance. If a
setback is the result of a failed attempt, reflect
on the opportunity and dissect the experience
to learn what went wrong and what you did well.
An athlete’s dedication to learn from his or her
failure is the one of the most valuable elements
of improvement and sustained performance.
A trusted advisor and mentor may help an
athlete put a setback in perspective. Athletes
should seek and value the advice, experience
and knowledge of strong, match-tested marksman when dealing with setbacks. There is no
substitute for hearing, “I’ve been there before
and know what you are feeling. Let me tell you
Columns
what I did to overcome the challenge. Reflecting back on my experience, here is what I believe
will help you succeed in the future.” Positive
feedback and focusing on improvement allows
an athlete to use failure to his or her advantage.
Learn to evaluate your own performance and
try not to make the same mistake twice.
Be the Judge
Competing to meet another’s standards or
expectations is an impossible task and a perilous
journey. An athlete must set his or her own criteria for success and resist the pressure to reach
someone else’s goals. The athlete must judge
his or her own success and failure and set the
conditions for improvement and flame the passion within to succeed. External inspiration or
motivation may influence an athlete but only he
or she can internalize and take ownership of a
goal. Passion, drive and determination are internal forces.
Consider the following: Is an athlete who
fails to win a championship during his or her career unsuccessful? What if he or she sustains a
high level of performance for years but performs
poorly during a championship match when it
matters the most? What if the athlete consistently performs above his or her peers but never
becomes a champion? Which circumstance(s),
if any, is a measure of success? Who gets to
judge? The answer depends on an athlete’s aspi-
From the Editor
Aim with AMU
Inside the Blue
On the Firing Line
Coaches’ Corner
rations and whether he or she reached his or her
full potential. Only the athlete knows if he or
she can pass the mirror test. Only he or she can
judge his or her own performance.
Society judges athletes on the number of
championships and the tangible results they
produce in competition. Anything less appears
to invite someone to conclude the athlete is unsuccessful. This standard assumes that championships are the sole indicators of success.
Athletes may be lured into this flawed logic and
believe the only path to success is whether he or
she is a champion in his or her sport. Success is
based on an athlete’s ability to achieve his or her
own goals as only they understand the totality of
the circumstances that influence his or her ability to accomplish the goals.
Championships and other awards are useful
to stratify the accomplishments among athletes
with comparable records but are not the exclusive indicators of success. If so, organizations
like the Major League Baseball and National
Football League Halls of Fame would only include athlete’s who won a championship in their
respective sport. Objectively evaluate your own
performance using the high standards you set
for yourself.
One Final Shot
While success is often difficult to quantify,
choosing a destination, using your experience
to your advantage, leveraging failure to improve
and judging your own performance helps an
athlete define success. The ability to produce a
desired outcome is the reason we compete. Successful athletes make informed choices, use experience, learn from their mistakes and evaluate
their performance to reach their full potential.
Define success and achieve it. If all else fails, an
athlete may always follow the advice of American satirist and comedian Stephen Colbert who
once said, “If at first you don’t succeed, redefine
what you did as success.”
Until the next competition, the Air Force
Shooting Team challenges each of you to seek
improvement from within to discover your own
path to success and pursue excellence in all
you do. If you have any questions about the Air
Force in general, please visit www.airforce.com
for more information.
“Inside the Blue” is a running series that looks
at international shooting sports from an Airman’s
perspective. Senior Master Sgt. Julig is a member
of the Air Force International Trap Team and he is
presently assigned to Bolling Air Force Base in Washington D.C. The views expressed in this article, unless otherwise indicated, are that of the individual
author. They do not purport to express the views of
the Department of the Air Force or any other department or agency of the U.S. Government.
Columns
From the Editor
Aim with AMU
Inside the Blue
On the Firing Line
Coaches’ Corner
The Conflicted Athlete
By JP O’Connor
“I am so
frustrated
I want to quit!
Yet I love this so much that I
It is human nature to enjoy doing the things we are good at doing, and
to avoid doing the things we are not good at doing. How many athletes
practice their favorite event or activity, even though they are already perfect at doing so, and avoid working on the aspects of their game that are
the weakest? No wonder they never get better!
This same effect influences whether we stick with a sport or leave. Once
frustration and disappointment overcome enjoyment, the athlete is likely
to leave. Yet, too many athletes quit in the face of a plateau or other obstacle without appropriately changing their approach, mindset, coaching or
other aspect of their activity in order to remove the obstacle. Others leave
after making many random changes, which made the departure more likely, rather than solving the problem with well thought out changes.
Is this always the case? Is there anything one can do? No and yes, in
that order!
The Plateau
“I am so frustrated that sometimes I just hate to shoot. I always seemed
to get better, and now I have been stuck with the same scores and performances for the past two years. I should just quit but for some reason I
can’t bring myself to make the decision.” The athlete’s frustration and pain
were obvious in her words and facial expressions. A coach at the clinic
responded, “Let me guess; despite being so frustrated that you want to
quit, you cannot quit because you remember how much you used to love
to shoot, cannot bear the thought of leaving that behind and wish you
could recapture that feeling?” Her eyes grew wide in amazement and she
said, “Oh, yes! That is it exactly!” The coach continued, “What if we could
identify the reasons for the plateau and for your frustrations, identify the
causes and work to resolve them, and make shooting fun again?” Her face
lit up as she excitedly asked, “We can do that?!”
For the next few months, the athlete and coach worked together to
stock her toolkit with sharp tools using robust techniques that can withstand the pressure of competition (many techniques that seem to work
well in training are “fragile” and break down in competition). She was already very well trained in her technical aspects of shooting, so she and the
coach decided on only a few smaller adjustments. Their primary technical
focus was on building a robust shot process.
The major changes they worked on together were in her outlook and
mental approach to the game. Soon, she could not wait to get to the range
again, and went on to a very successful college shooting career.
In this case, the shooter truly appeared to be on the verge of leaving
the sport. Because someone was able to help her discover that this did not
have to be the case, and then traveled on the journey with her and helped
her discover the skills she needed, she was able to rekindle her joy of the
sport and improve her performances and scores. Different athletes have
different needs. The coach must be attuned to the athlete in order to be
effective. Luckily, that was the case in this instance.
Dark Moments and Hard Work
Our culture is results driven and we like to do well. When faced with
repeated “failures” in competition, our internal motivation diminishes.
Coaches and athletes alike must be aware and monitor the “fun factor” as
10 USA Shooting News
Forty-sixth in a series
cannot
quit!”
part of the athlete’s development. At the same time, we must also realize
that it is not always going to be fun and that there will be many “dark moments” when the athlete suffers through a long plateau or other downturn.
Sometimes, these “dark moments” can last a very long time.
While interviewing Jason Turner a few weeks after his medal winning
performance in Beijing, when the topic of “dark moments” came up, it was
obvious in his voice that he, like all great athletes had experienced times
of deep frustration and doubt. Indeed, he indicated that the “moments”
sometimes lasted much longer! Yet he found a way to keep going. Article
40 “On Stepping Up” discusses his story and this topic in greater detail.
Doing well at something certainly is fun and motivating. The danger
is that when one is a “natural” at first, they often may not develop the
mental toughness to work “hard” when their learning curve starts to level
off. Those who do not start as a “natural” have to work at their game before they ever gain the excitement of doing really well. Their expectation
about the effort required is higher. Later, when the going gets tough, they
have already developed the skills needed to keep going through the tough
times. This is the “hard” part of the hard work of becoming a champion.
As a result of these dynamics, the young J3 shooter with the top scores
may not necessarily be the one with the top scores in high school, college
or beyond. There are exceptions of course, among the truly motivated.
The athlete who is struggling along with “average” skills, if able to tough
it out and remain motivated, is actually a bit more likely to be on top in
later years.
Many years ago, a 13-year-old set a national J3 record at the National
Junior Olympics after only a short time in the sport. Many predictions
were made at the time about what this athlete would accomplish… and
sadly, none came true.
There is hope for athletes who stick it out, even through the “dark moments” of self-doubt and frustrating results. Certainly, Jason Turner provides an example of how the medal goes to the one with perseverance.
Another example is Nancy Johnson. She worked and worked, made the
National Team, worked more and… could not win the big matches. She
worked harder than most… and still could not win the biggest matches.
She became frustrated, and her coach Dan Durben assured her that if she
would just keep going despite the frustrations, that she would prevail over
those who were not working as hard. Sure enough, Nancy’s hard work
paid off, she started winning the biggest matches, and then she moved up
several spots in the biggest air rifle final of her life to claim the Olympic
gold medal in Sydney.
Goals and Real Goals
Another cause of internal conflict is a difference between the athlete’s
stated goals and the real goals they wish to achieve. One need not be an
aspiring junior or elite athlete to experience this effect.
At the USA Shooting Nationals, the old man came to enjoy the competition and camaraderie. Although he knew how to train well, his responsibilities had prevented him from doing any serious training for over
two years. Still, he wanted to support the event, see his friends and enjoy
shooting. Accordingly, he adjusted his goals and expectations – or so he
thought!
Columns
From the Editor
Aim with AMU
Inside the Blue
On the Firing Line
Coaches’ Corner
After each event concluded, a young man who is working hard and is
making a name for himself came to see the old guy. They compared notes
and encouragement about their shooting. The young man quickly realized
that old guy was struggling with something. They talked each day through
the week, and the younger shooter helped the older shooter discover
something… while he had told himself that he had adjusted his goals and
expectations… he still wished he shot at the higher levels he had achieved
earlier when training regularly. Outcome-based expectations cause a lot of
conflict if out of tune! After that, their conversations were even more enjoyable than they already were, as were the rest of the many competitions
that week. The student had become the teacher!
Expectations, the dreaded “E” word, are often too high and often based
on wishes rather than realities. Be honest with yourself. Happy is the athlete who understands and applies this insight. Otherwise, another conflicted athlete suffers.
Coach-Dad-Itis
Sometimes the internal conflict has external roots. One of the most
common examples of this is “Coach-Dad-Itis.” When a parent, whether
actually coaching their child or not, aggressively drives their child concerning outcome, the child develops a great deal of internal conflict.
This topic was explored in article 21 of this series using the example of a
father and his daughter, along with the daughter’s ideas on the topic. However, the concept applies universally to moms as well, to all sports parents
even though they are not the child’s actual coach, and – even though the
article was about a daughter – it applies equally if the athlete is a son.
After the article was published, a younger friend of mine who coached
a junior program at the time told me how in their club the worst parent
in this regard noticed that the article mentioned a daughter and said the
article didn’t apply to him because his athlete child was a son. Sorry, dad,
that article should have been about you!
When a parent is overbearing on their child or is “merely” overenthusiastic, the child may eventually wonder if they are shooting for themselves
or for their parent. Or they will become frustrated at their parent’s constant “disappointment” in them. This is debilitating to the athlete’s performance. Either way, the athlete becomes de-motivated, just as surely as if
they had hit a long plateau.
Clearing Conflict
Ultimately, the conflicted athlete is the one who must clear the conflict. Certainly a coach, friend, fellow athlete or other person may lend
perspective, as in some of the examples above. Regardless, it is then in the
athlete’s hands. Understand the sources of the conflict, and then address
them. Yes, it sounds so simple – too simple. Learning to work with the
difficulties of conflict strengthens and empowers the athlete to meet even
larger challenges.
The important thing is to start – and keep going.
Based in the Atlanta, Ga., area, JP O’Connor ([email protected] and http://
www.america.net/~jpoc/) is involved in shooting as a competitor, is a former
Assistant National Coach – USA Paralympics Shooting Team, serves on the National Coach Development Staff in both rifle & pistol, coaches the rifle and pistol
teams at North Georgia College & State University, and coaches a junior club.
He enjoys working with a number of pistol and rifle athletes from around the
country, ranging from beginners to the highly advanced, in clinics and one-onone private coaching. Previous installments of this series may be found at www.
pilkguns.com.
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Aim with AMU
Inside the Blue
On the Firing Line
Coaches’ Corner
A “Ticket to Train”
By Major David Johnson, National Rifle Coach
The purpose of this article is to help maximize what is perhaps our most precious resource: time. I will give you a way to efficiently
plan your own time on the range in training,
but even more importantly, to take advantage
of (and honor!) the time your coaches and
club leaders have given to you and your team
for training.
Creating a calendar-based training schedule is the first step in building a training plan
that leads to skill improvement. The first step
is also the easiest…the harder challenge is integrating your goals into the plan so that your
daily work leads to progress on your goals.
Use the following “Ticket to Train” approach to create goal and skill based training
on a daily basis.
1. Set and write down your goals (see
the Resources/Downloads section of USA
Shooting’s website, http://www.usashooting.org/downloads.php, under Coaching
to find a previous article written by Johnson on “Setting and Sorting Goals”). List
your outcome and their associated performance goals that lead to the outcome goal
achievement. Prioritize the goals that you
want to achieve in the next year or training
period.
2. Download and/or print the “Ticket
to Train” Excel spreadsheet (see the Resources/Downloads section of USA Shooting’s website, http://www.usashooting.org/
downloads.php, under Coaching to print
your spreadsheet).
3. Start at the top, fill in the date and
then fill in Part I: “Performance Goals I am
going to work on today.”
a. Example--Outcome Goal: Shoot
above 380/400 standing by December
2009 Winter Airgun Championship.
Performance Goal related to this LongTerm outcome goal: Learn exactly
where to place support elbow on hip so
that I can have my best skeletal based
position and know how to find it every
time.
4. From this example, the “Ticket to
Train” may have in block one, “Performance goals I am working on today”:
“Learn exactly where I should place my
support elbow in standing to give me my
best support.”
5. In the next section of the “Ticket to
Train,” put after “I Will”: “do a holding
exercise without my jacket for my first 20
minutes on the range today to help me
learn where my support elbow should be
for my steadiest position.”.
Do this with your most important performance goals and you will generate a list of
things to do in that day’s training.
At the end of your training session, take
five minutes and fill in the last part of the ticket. Did you work on the things you set out to
do that day? What is left to carry to the next
session? File it in your journal and read it before filling out the next day’s ticket to train.
Trainers/Coaches/Club Leaders/Parents:
Help your athlete fill in the ticket—make it
a requirement to get on the firing line each
session. Help them manage their time so that
they learn how many goals and tasks they can
effectively work on in a typical training session.
Athletes: This exercise only takes about
five minutes before you start and five minutes at the end of the session. The benefit is
attained instantly through more focused and
productive training—which yields skill improvement: shooting better!
Disciplines
Pistol
By Keith Sanderson, 2008 Olympian
Pistol Dry Fire Training
The key to success in competitive pistol
shooting, as with any sport, is training. An athlete’s training determines the rate and degree of
improvement. Too often shooters believe the
only way to improve is to spend more time at
the range shooting bullets. Unfortunately, unlimited range time is a luxury that most of us
cannot afford, and live firing alone seldom results in maximum improvement.
It’s common at training sessions and major
competitions to see elite pistol shooters performing holding drills and dry fire exercises, often a dozen athletes sequestered in a designated
hallway pointing at a wall.
So if live shooting is not the key to improvement, then what is? The answer is dry fire training.
Training with real bullets, on a real target,
and at the full distance is an absolute necessity
for successful pistol shooting, but those elements are just small pieces of the puzzle. Dry
fire is a pistol shooter’s primary training tool. In
dry fire training there is no recoil to hide your
mistakes, which allows you to find them and
correct them.
There are several types of dry fire training
and each type helps you focus on perfecting particular fundamentals. Let’s discuss four types of
dry-fire training:
14
USA Shooting News
1) Holding Drills: Holding drills help
build your position and grip, critically important to the physical aspect of pistol shooting. Holding drills help you develop a consistent natural point of aim by building muscle
memory. Effective holding drills occur when
you dry fire, then hold your follow-through
for 30 to 130 seconds. During this time
your primary goal is to maintain consistency
in your position and grip. Your sight alignment and the feel of your hand indicates your
grip consistency. Your sight picture indicates
your position consistency. It is helpful, if
not completely necessary, to have someone
watch you to ensure that your body remains
in the same position as you become fatigued.
You can also use smaller targets to help you
develop a smaller hold. Here is a holding drill
routine that I use to build my position:
Dry fire on a target, blank face, or a vertical and horizontal line. Hold your followthrough for 60 seconds. During that time
keep your sights aligned and pointed at the
same spot. Keep every joint at exactly the
same angle. Don’t allow your position to
change at all as you tire. Hold for 60 seconds
then relax for 120 seconds. Do this six to
eight times, three to five times a week.
2) Eyes Closed: Dry firing with your eyes
closed allows you to work on your trigger
control without visual distractions. For your
trigger control to be truly uninterrupted, it
must be completely independent of sight
alignment and sight picture. Dry firing with
your eyes closed is the best way to work on
your trigger control because it isolates what
you see from what you feel and do. This
exercise also allows you to zero in on your
grip, ensuring that it is absolutely consistent
throughout your shot-process.
3) Blank Target: Dry firing on a blank target is firing on a light colored background,
and not on an actual target. A white wall is
a great example of a blank target. This exercise forces you to focus on your sights. Sight
alignment is the primary goal. Make sure
that when you release the trigger there is no
movement in the front sight or its relationship to the rear sight notch.
4) Reduced Target and Match Target: Dry
firing on a match target is firing on a real target at the appropriate distance for the event
for which you are training. If you are unable
to train at the full distance, you can use a reduced target at a reduced distance. Training
on a target allows you work on and perfect
your shot process, fundamentals and sight
picture. In Men’s Rapid Fire, target training
helps develop the muscle memory to move
to each target.
Follow-through is incredibly important for
both live fire and dry fire training. Dry fire
training allows you to concentrate on followthrough without the distraction and masking
effect of recoil. Exaggerate your follow-though
in training and maintain focus and continue the
application of the fundamentals for an extended
period of time after the dry fire shot. The goal
is to keep your position exactly the same, your
grip perfectly constant and to continue aligning
the sights without interruption. This will polish
your technique and correct most mistakes. This
“polishing action” makes dry fire extremely important for pre-match warm-up.
There are times that high volume training is
necessary to elevate your performance or to prepare for a long match. There is a certain point
in training when shooting more bullets will just
damage your technique because recoil will cover
up your mistakes, effectively turning your training into negative training. Before you reach this
point, you should replace actual shooting with
dry fire. Dry fire allows you to continue to train
without developing bad habits as long as you
maintain your mental intensity and stay focused
on the fundamentals. With this type of smart
training you can have both quantity and quality
training.
Disciplines
Rifle
By Launi Meili, Olympic Gold Medalist
Adding Imagery to Your Training Plan
In the first part of our
discussion on motivation
and imagery, I offered some
suggestions and insights on
the drive of a champion.
Clearly, you’ve got what it
takes to be a champion, and
you are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your
goals. But like so many
shooters, you might be neglecting an important tool
that can really make the
difference in competition:
Imagery. In my own competitive shootings and with
many of the athletes I have
Picture courtesy of the U.S. Air Force Academy
coached, imagery—or imaging—has played a critical role in the path to success.
There are numerous imagery techniques you can adopt, and I suggest you try several. The tactics I explain here can be a good starting
point, but the most important concept is this: You can control your
thoughts and their positive outcomes; do not let negative thoughts
control you.
Here are some imagery concepts for you to consider and try:
1. Use relaxation in conjunction with mental training and imagery. Relaxation techniques train your body to respond to cues
when facing tense situations and help you feel more in control.
They also set the stage for imagery to have a greater impact because
you are calm and open for ideas.
2. Rifle and pistol shooters should primarily use “internal”
imagery. This is where you are imagining what you want to see
through the perspective of your own eyes, like looking through a
camera at your hold and sight picture. The other type is called external imagery. This where the “camera” or view is turned on you,
where you see your whole body performing the task. This is effective for shotgun shooters to imprint the perfect body movements
from stance, mount, timing and follow-through. Rifle and pistol
shooters can imagine a perfect position, but since there is no physical movement to perfect (except for some pistol events) there really
is not enough information in looking at your position to really help
become a better shooter under pressure. Information used to shoot
a good shot revolves around the sight picture, which means using
internal imagery.
3. Practice imagery before you go to sleep, but do not hesitate to
practice it any time you can fit it in. Right before you sleep, however, your mind is open to suggestions and ideas, and it is a good
time to explore a wide variety of competition situations. It is also a
good time to reinforce that personal belief that you have something
special inside. Feed the drive.
4. Make imagery part of your shot plan. A shot plan is a list of
items you need to accomplish in order to shoot one successful shot.
It covers the physical aspects of mounting the gun properly and
feeling balanced, as well as correct head position and sight picture.
Advanced shooters have developed a fairly “automatic” shot plan.
In fact, things may not come to their attention unless an element is
off, like cheek placement or tension somewhere in their body. Once
the element is corrected, the plan falls back into place and they
produce what it takes to shoot a good shot almost automatically.
What helps this become automatic is the use of imagery. If the last
thing “loaded” into a shooter’s mind is anticipating or reacting to
the perfect sight picture, there is nothing in the way of “letting” the
perfect shot happen. They have controlled all the elements going
into the shot, and the last part is mentally getting and staying in the
“10 ring” with imagery. Beginning and intermediate shooters will
probably think about what the perfect sight picture should be, and
then squeeze the trigger once they see it. They are still in a stage
where they need to “make” the correct things happen, and that is
perfectly fine. Advanced shooters have developed a better sense of
timing and realize their hold is establishing the perfect sight picture
earlier due to all the thousands of rounds down range.
5. Imagine the task and the outcome. There is no doubt that it
is a great feeling to be a champion. Thinking about accomplishing that feat can be the fuel to your motivation and drive for as
long as you are in the sport. Do not let it be so addicting, however,
that you let go of what it takes to get you there. Shooting in tough
matches and situations can be challenging and uncomfortable, but
it is managing and getting through those situations that will make
you a champion and allow you to achieve the long-term goal you
seek. So yes, it is nice to see yourself up there on the podium, but
before you revel in all the glory, don’t forget to image yourself facing all the challenges that will come, how you are going to handle
them, and pay the dues that need to be paid so the championship
feels earned and deserved.
Shooting is a great road to find out what you are made of. Just be
sure to fuel the belief in yourself with the right words, thoughts, actions and images of the shooter you want to become. When words or
thoughts are continuously negative and destructive, they will have an
impact on your motivation. It is up to you to turn them around so they
are a positive force on your belief, drive and destiny.
www.usashooting.org
15
Disciplines
Shotgun
By Bret Erickson, Four-time Olympian
Finding a Good Coach
With the changing of the guard and Mark Weeks taking over the USA Shooting National Shotgun
Coach position and appointing a new regime of assistant coaches under him, I thought I would talk a
little bit about coaching in this article. There are an increasing number of coaches in our sport, which
shows that our sport as a whole is growing, with more and more people wanting to get involved. This
is a great time to be involved in international shooting with ample opportunity for coaching, sponsorships and media attention. When I started 25 years ago, none of these things were available.
I strongly urge you to check into the background of any coaches you may want to use or hire. I
have commented many times that a person does not have to be an Olympic or world champion to be
a great coach, but I believe that any good coach must have some experience in his or her sport. It is
tough to teach fundamentals if you have never shot the game. For instance, it is virtually impossible to
explain to a student about the pressure you feel in international competitions if you have never been
there. The assistant coaching staff Mark has chosen all have different experiences and a great amount
of knowledge to bring to the sport. I tell all my students that no one person has all the answers, it is up
to you to decide who the best person is to give you that piece of the puzzle to become the best shooter
that you can be. As coaches we need to realize our limitations so that if we take a student to the highest level we are capable of, we should all leave our egos behind and try to get that shooter to someone
who can further their ability to excel.
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Disciplines
By Mark Weeks, National Shotgun Coach
Tips for Selecting a Coach
As National Coach I can’t be everywhere
at once, so I rely on assistant coaches to help
pick up the slack. As Bret mentioned in his
article, I have chosen a group of assistant
coaches who offer all different types of coaching styles and experience. Because not everyone can readily adapt to one particular
coach or coaching style, I feel that it is crucial
to have a variety of coaching choices for my
shooters. Even though the experience and
coaching styles differ among each of my assistant coaches, one thing we all agree upon
is the importance of fundamentals. With every great shooter in the world comes great
fundamentals; it is the foundation of a good
shooting career. If you do not know the basics
and are unable to consistently repeat them,
then there is no reason for us to teach you advanced shooting techniques.
One of the things that has excited me most
since I started coaching is the number of new
shooters entering the sport. While there is no
secret to reaching Olympic gold except for
lots of hard work, time, and dedication, good
coaching can be a big boost to a beginning
shooter. A few pointers for selecting a coach
include:
1. Make sure that you check the background of the coach you are looking to
hire. For example, verify their experience
in the sport. It is imperative that a coach
has experience in actually competing in
the sport in order to understand what they
are teaching.
2. Find out who else the coach works with
and ask those people for their opinion on
how well your coach teaches.
3. Make sure you are comfortable with the
price the coach plans to charge you.
4. Meet the coach before you take a lesson. the NSSA, ATA, NSCA, SCA, USSCA AllIf you do not click with the coach, then American teams and is the only person to win
you will not be happy. You will not trust back-to-back national championships in trap
a coach if you don’t mesh well with them. and International Skeet. On the international
Trust is the key to any coach/shooter rela- scene, Dan holds an Olympic medal from the
tionship.
1984 Olympic Games, won the gold medal
5. Don’t expect your coach to work mir- at the Pan American Games in International
acles! While a good coach can help im- Trap and is an International Trap Team World
prove your skills, there is no replacement Champion. He is also the personal coach to
for hard work, dedication and shots down Glenn Eller, 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist in
range.
Double Trap. Website: www.shootsportingIn addition, I am always available to an- clays.com.
swer questions and give advice. Please do
Dwayne Weger – Dwayne has 20 years of
not hesitate to contact me at mark.weeks@ competition experience. He was a National
usashooting.org. You can also contact my as- Team member and is a USAS certified coach,
sistant coaches, listed below. I wish you good He was also the Team Leader for the 2008 U.S.
shooting and hope to see you on the competi- Olympic team for Shooting. Email: dweger@
tion field in the future!
coppellconst.com
Bret Erickson – Bret has been on 25 NaJoe Bernoflo – Joe also has 20 plus years of
tional teams, 14 World Championship teams experience in shooting. He is a USAS certified
and four Olympic teams. He was assistant coach and has taught many Junior Olympic
coach and trap team leader for 22 years at Team camps.
the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit in Fort
Benning,Ga. He is currently the manger of Willawalla Creek Shooting
Center, Saint Jo, Texas (a
regional training center
for USA Shooting). Contact information: (706)
577-1963, www.breterickson.com.
Dan Carlisle - Dan is
the only person to win
the USSCA, SCA and
NSCA National Championships, the only person to earn a position on Skeet shooter Caitlin Connor and Mark Weeks at the 2009 World Cup in
Minsk.
By Mary Beth Vorwerk
Nationals
Features
Rifle/Pistol
Intense heat and humidity at the 2009 USA Shooting National Championships for Rifle and Pistol June 13-20 made for very harsh shooting
conditions, but that did not stop the 300 plus athletes from shooting high
scores and performing at an elite level in an exciting match at Ft. Benning’s
International Shooting Complex, home of the U.S. Army Marksmanship
Unit (USAMU). This week-long event featured competition in all ten rifle
and pistol Olympic events, as well as four non-Olympic shooting events.
Men’s 50m Free Pistol was the first final contested at the 2009 Rifle/Pistol Nationals and three-time Olympian Daryl Szarenski (Saginaw, Mich.)
won the title for the second consecutive year.
USAMU member Szarenski finished with a match score of 1098, a final
of 96.3 for a total score of 1194.3 points. James Henderson (Columbus,
Ga.), a USAMU Service Pistol shooter, took second place after firing a
score of 1096 in the qualification, a final score of 97.4 for an overall score
of 1193.4. John Zurek (Chandler, Ariz.) grabbed third place with a total
score of 1184.6 (1091+93.6) points.
The National Championship title in Junior Men’s Free Pistol went to
Air Force shooter Alex Callage (Columbia, Md.) with 1033 points. Gary
Reburn (Kensington, Md.) took second with 1026 and Jack Dutoit (Arlington, Texas) finished in third place with 1000 points.
Jamie Beyerle (Lebanon, Pa.), a 2008 Olympian, claimed the national
title for the second year in a row in Women’s 50m 3 Position Rifle the
following day after firing a match score of 1152, a final of 97.8 for an overall score of 1249.8. Beyerle’s 2008 Olympic teammate Sandra Fong (New
York, N.Y.) took second place with a total of 1247.5 points. Emily Holsopple (Wilcox, Pa.) finished right behind Fong in third place with 1246.4
points. Fong and Holsopple also grabbed the first and second spots respectively in Junior Women’s 3 Position and Caitlin Morrissey (Topeka,
Kan.) claimed third place with 1243.1.
In Men’s Air Rifle, West Virginia University rifle shooter Wallizer
claimed his first USA Shooting National Championship title with a match
score of 1185, a final of 103.4 for an overall score of 1288.4 points. Jonathan Hall (Carrollton, Ga) finished second with 1285.6 and Matthew Wallace (Fairbanks, Alaska) took third place with 1284.8 points. For the juniors, 2008 Olympian Stephen Scherer (Billerica, Mass.) finished on top
with 1275.9, while Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, S.D.) took second
place with 1267.9 and Zachary Wells (Sharpsburg, Ga.) finished third with
an overall score of 1267.0.
Szarenski won his second title of the match on June 17 when he took
first place in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol event and four-time Olympian Libby
Callahan (Columbia, S.C.) captured the title in Women’s 25m Sport Pistol.
Szarenski fired a match score of 1147 and a final of 101.1 for a total
of 1248.1 points to finish in first place in Men’s Air Pistol. Szarenski’s
USAMU teammate Thomas Rose (Columbus, Ga.) was tied with two-time
Olympian and 2008 bronze medalist Jason Turner at 1244.8 after the final,
but then shot a 10.0 to Turner’s 9.9 in the shoot-off, taking second place,
while Turner finished third.
Callage won his second national title of the 2009 National Championships, taking first place in the Junior Men’s 10m Air Pistol event with a
total score of 1228.0. DuToit grabbed second place with 1210.4 points,
while Reburn finished in third with an overall score of 1189.4.
20
USA Shooting News
Fifty-seven-year-old Callahan won the national title in Sport Pistol after shooting 1144 points in the qualification, 200.4 in the final for a total
score of 1344.4. Teresa Meyer (Dearborn, Mich.) finished second with
an overall score of 1329.6 and 2008 Olympian Brenda Shinn (Riverside,
Calif.) took third with 1326.9 points. Hannah Lewis (Colorado Springs,
Colo.) grabbed the national title for the junior women with 1086 points,
while Courtney Anthony (Lexington, Neb.) finished second with 1084
and Kelsey Imig (Westminster, Mass.) claimed the third spot with 1081.
Beyerle earned the top spot on the podium for the second time at the
2009 nationals when she finished first in Women’s 10m Air Rifle on the
fifth day of the match. Beyerle fired a qualification score of 791, a final
of 103.4 for an overall score of 894.4. Amy Sowash (Richmond, Ky.) took
second place with 889.4 points, while two-time Olympian Emily Caruso
(Fairfield, Conn.) finished right behind Sowash in third place with 888.9.
Denise Martin (Chewelah, Wash.) won the title for the junior women with
an overall score of 886.7. Samantha Trisdale (Aurora, Colo.) grabbed second place with 885.2 and Alivia Yeager (Louisville, Ky.) took third with
881.4 points.
In the Men’s 50m 3 Position Rifle event, the shooters had to battle
extremely hot weather conditions as well as a delay in shooting, but the
USAMU came out and dominated, winning all three spots on the podium. Three-time Olympian Jason Parker (Omaha, Neb.) shot a qualification score of 2344, a final of 96.2 for an overall score of 2440.2 to win the
match easily by 16.4 points. Parker’s USAMU teammates Michael McPhail
(Darlington, Wis.) and 1996 Olympian Eric Uptagrafft (Spokane, Wash)
took the second and third spots with overall scores of 2423.8 and 2416.5
respectively.
For the junior men, Brian Carstensen (Hoover, Ala.) claimed the title
with a total score of 2390.2 points, while Scherer captured second place
with 2388.1 points. Ethan Settlemires (Walnut, Miss.) grabbed the third
spot with 2378.4 points. Shinn won the national title in Women’s 10m Air Pistol by 20 points
on the second to last day of competition, finishing with an overall score of
855.1. Kylie Gagnon (Bozeman, Mont.) took second place with 835.1 and
Callahan earned another spot on the podium finishing in third place with
832.9. Gagnon also took the junior national title, while Lewis finished
second with 827.5 and Anthony took third place with an overall score of
825.1.
In the Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event, Emil Milev (Tampa, Fla.)
won his first ever USA Shooting National Championship title with a total score of 1349.0 points. USAMU members Brad Balsley (Uniontown,
Pa.) and Sean Ragay (Buena Park, Calif.) finished in the second and third
spots with 1338.4 and 1315.6 points respectively. Christopher Nona
(Richmond, Texas) finished first for the juniors with a score of 933, while
Alexander Chichkov (Temple Terrace, Fla.) took second with 919 points.
The USAMU dominated the podium once again on the final day of
competition at the 2009 USA Shooting Rifle/Pistol National Championships with team members McPhail, Uptagrafft and Parker taking the top
three spots in Men’s 50m Prone Rifle. McPhail finished in first place after
firing 1194 points in the qualification and 104.5 points in the final to end
with 1298.5 points. In a tight race for the second and third spots, Upta-
Features
grafft ended up in second place with 1295.2 points and three-time Olympian Parker finished right behind him in third with 1295.1
Christenson claimed the national title in the Junior Men’s Prone Rifle
event after finishing with a total score of 1284.3 points. Samuel Muegge
(Boling, Texas) took second place with 1283.3 and Michael Liuzza (New
Orleans, La.) finished third with 1282.8.
For complete results from all of the events at the 2009 Rifle/Pistol National Championships, please visit the Competitions/Match Results page
of USA Shooting’s website at www.usashooting.org.
ELEY is a Proud Sponsor of the USA Shooting Rifle and Pistol Teams:
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Sponsor and Official Supplier of .22 rimfire ammunition of the USA Shooting rifle and pistol teams since 2000. For
more information on ELEY and their products, please visit http://www.eley.co.uk/.
Shotgun
The 16th Annual USA Shooting National
Championships for Shotgun were held July 1118 at Ft. Carson’s International Shooting Park
where two hundred and fifty shooters from
around the U.S. gathered to compete in the five
Olympic shotgun events.
Kicking off the competition was the Men’s
Double Trap event with Josh Richmond earning
the national title.
U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU)
member Richmond (Hillsgrove, Pa.), who is the
2009 Munich World Cup gold medalist and San
Marino World Cup bronze medalist, won the
title in an exciting three-way shoot-off with his
USAMU teammate Jeff Holguin (Yorba Linda,
Calif.), a 2008 Olympian, and Billy Crawford
(Johnstown, Ohio). The three shooters were
tied at 341 out of 350 targets after the final and
in the shoot-off, Crawford missed the second
target on his second pair, taking third place
overall. Richmond and Holguin battled it out
until the 15th pair when Holguin missed his first
target, ending in second place with a total of 29
hits in the shoot-off, while Richmond hit 30 targets to take the top spot.
USAMU member and 2008 Olympic gold
medalist Glenn Eller (Katy, Texas) took fourth
place with 336 targets, while Derek Haldeman
(Sunbury, Ohio) finished fifth with 330 targets
and 2000 Olympian and USAMU member Bill
Keever (Rutherfordton, N.C.) claimed sixth
place with 324 targets.
Crawford captured the top spot for the juniors with 337 total targets. Haldeman took
second place with 327 targets, while Ian Rupert
(Muncy, Pa.) grabbed third place with 300 hits.
Abel Spire (Cushing, Okla.) finished fourth with
283 hits, while Lindenwood University’s Kyle
Umgelder and Kelcey DePatis (Donovan, Ill.)
took the fifth and sixth spots with 269 and 261
targets respectively.
Two Olympic medalists, Kim Rhode, the
2008 Olympic silver medalist, and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Vincent Hancock, earned the
national titles in the Skeet event on July 14.
Rhode (El Monte, Calif.) won her third consecutive national title in Women’s Skeet finishing
the event with a total of 267 targets after shooting a perfect 25 targets in the final. Haley Dunn
(Eddyville, Iowa), who shot a perfect 100 on the
first day of the match finished in second place
overall with 263 total targets. Dunn is the first
woman to shoot 100 straight targets in a skeet
event at a USA Shooting national competition.
Taking the third spot for the women was
2009 Minsk World Cup silver medalist Caitlin
Connor (Winnfield, La.), who also shot a perfect
final score of 25 targets to end with 261 total targets. Amber English (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
finished fourth with 258 targets, while Emily
Blount (Tucson, Ariz.) took fifth with 252 hits
and two-time Olympian Connie Smotek (Bryan,
Texas) grabbed the sixth spot with 251 hits.
Connor earned the national title for the Junior Skeet Women with a total of 260 hits. English took second with 259, and in a shoot-off
for third place, Jaiden Grinnell (Port Angeles,
Wash.) defeated Ali Chiang (Redwood Shores,
Calif.) two targets to one. Brandy Drozd (Bryan, Texas) grabbed fifth place with 242 hits and
Morgan Craft (Hughesville, Pa.) took sixth place
with 222.
U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU)
member Hancock (Eatonton, Ga.), who like
Dunn, also shot a perfect 100 on the first day of
Features
the match, finished in first place overall in Men’s
Skeet after a shoot-off with his USAMU teammate Shawn Dulohery (Lee’s Summit, Mo.).
Both shooters ended the final tied at 268 targets
and in the shoot-off, Hancock hit six targets to
Dulohery’s five to take the top spot, while Dulohery, who was shooting his last National Championship as a member of the USAMU finished
second.
Frank Thompson (Alliance, Neb.) grabbed
third place with 266 total hits. Sean McLelland
(Mission, Texas), a 2008 Olympian, finished
fourth with 265 targets, while Jon Michael McGrath (Tulsa, Okla.) and BJ Blanchard (Vidor,
Texas) took the fifth and sixth spots with 264
and 263 targets respectively.
In the Junior Men’s Skeet event, McGrath
captured the top spot in a shoot-off against
Blanchard. At the conclusion of the final, McGrath and Blanchard were tied at 263 targets
and in the shoot-off, McGrath shot 12 targets,
taking first place, while Blanchard shot 11 targets to finish second. Thomas Bayer (College
Station, Texas) grabbed third place with 261 hits
and Nick Kimbrough (Atlanta, Ga.) finished
fourth with 257 hits. Chris Haver (Clinton,
Mich.) finished in the fifth spot with 252 targets
and Granger DeWitt (Bryan, Texas) finished
right behind him in sixth place with 251.
The 2009 USA Shooting National Shotgun
Championships came to a close on July 18 with
John Mullins and 2008 Olympic bronze medal-
ist Corey Cogdell earning national titles in the
Trap event.
Mullins (Bremerton, Wash.) took the top
spot for the men with 265 total targets. Jacob
Turner (Richland, Wash) finished right behind
Mullins in second place with 264 targets and in
a shoot-off for third place, three-time Olympian
and 1996 bronze medalist Lance Bade (Colorado Springs, Colo.) shot five targets defeating
Richard Valdez (Canon City, Colo.), who shot
four targets. Both shooters ended the final with
263 targets. U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit
(USAMU) member Ryan Hadden (Pendleton,
Ore.), the 2009 World Cup Cairo and San Marino gold medalist, ended in fifth place with 262
hits, while Max Jolliff (Fredericksburg, Texas)
took the sixth spot with 259.
For the second year in a row, Turner also
finished in first place for the junior men with a
total of 263 hits. Jake Wallace (Castaic, Calif.)
took second place with 258 after a two to one
shoot-off with Morgan Harbison (Farmersville,
Texas), who finished third. Shane Herman
(Peyton, Colo.) ended in fourth place with 255
hits, while Matthew Gossett (Springville, Ala.)
earned fifth place after a shoot-off with Garrett
Walters (Burr Oak, Mich.).
In the women’s competition Cogdell (Eagle
River, Alaska) took home the National Championship after shooting a total of 250 targets. Kayle Browning (Wooster, Ark.) finished second
with 247 targets and Tamara Desso (Castaic,
Calif.) grabbed the third spot with 245 total hits.
Last year’s National Champion Miranda Wilder
(Diana, Texas) earned fourth place with 243 hits
and 1996 Olympian and USAMU member Theresa DeWitt (Cincinnati, Ohio) defeated Caitlin
Barney-Weinheimer (Ingram, Texas) in a shootoff to finish in fifth place with 241 targets.
Browning grabbed first place for the junior
women with 247 hits, while Wilder finished
second with 246 and Desso took third with 244.
Stacey Schroeder (Washington, Mo.) earned
fourth place in a shoot-off with Barney-Weinheimer, who took the fifth spot, and 2009 Cairo
World Cup bronze medalist Rachael Heiden
(Clinton, Mich.) took sixth place with 240 targets.
New to the Shotgun National Championships program this year was the first ever final
held in the senior category of the Trap event.
Dominic Grazioli (San Antonio, Texas), a 2008
Olympian, took home the title with 256 hits.
Mike Herman (Peyton, Colo.) finished right
behind Grazioli in second place with 255 total
targets and DeWitt took third with 250. Guy
Avedisian (Ocala, Fla.) grabbed fourth place
with 248, while Maxey Brantley (New Braunfels,
Texas) and Dick Lichtenberg (Bellevue, Wash.)
finished fifth and sixth with 244 and 236 targets
respectively.
To view all of the results from the 2009 USA
Shooting National Championships for Shotgun,
please visit www.usashooting.org.
World
Cup
Update
By Mary Beth Vorwerk
The U.S. Secures Four More Medals on
the 2009 World Cup Circuit
Photos by Wolfgang Schreiber, issf-sports.org
Ryan Hadden loads
ammo into his shotgun
as he prepares to shoot
for the World Cup gold
in San Marino
Features
Caitlin Connor Wins Silver in Skeet at Minsk World Cup,
Richmond Finishes Fifth in Double Trap
Caitlin Connor (Winnfield, La.) took
home her first ever ISSF World Cup medal
on June 8 when she claimed the silver in the
Women’s Skeet event in Minsk, Belarus.
Eighteen-year-old Connor, who was the
youngest of the Skeet finalists, earned the silver in very windy conditions after a three-way
shoot-off at the conclusion of the final round.
Connor, Katiuscia Spada of Italy and Cristina
Vitali, also of Italy, were all tied for second
place with a total of 95 hits at the end of the
final. Connor secured the silver by shooting
both the targets of her first shoot-off double,
ending up on the podium with a total score of
95 (71+24) + 2 targets. Connor’s best finish in
an international competition prior to Minsk
was at the World Cup Cairo in May when she
finished in sixth place.
“I was feeling very confident in spite of
the weather conditions and I am very happy
about my first ISSF medal,” said Connor after
winning the silver.
Russian shooter Svetlana Demina shot a
perfect 25-target final in spite of the windy
conditions and won the gold medal with a
total score of 96 targets (71+25). The bronze
medal went to Spada, who won the duel for
the podium against her teammate Vitali, finishing third with a total score of 95 +1+2 targets.
Josh Richmond (Hillsgrove, Pa.) finished
in fifth place in the Men’s Double Trap event
on June 10, which was the highest finish for
the U.S. in Double Trap.
U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU)
member Richmond, who won the gold in
Double Trap at the 2009 World Cup in Munich, went into the final in fourth place with
141 out of 150 targets. Richmond shot 47 targets in the final to end with 188 targets, which
tied him with Hakan Dahlby of Sweden and
Saif Alshamsy of the UAE. In the shoot-off,
Alshamsy was the first to miss, ending in sixth
place with 188+3 targets. Richmond kept on
shooting right to his fourth pair, when he
dropped a target, finishing in fifth with 188+7
targets. Dahlby took fourth place with 188+8
targets.
China’s Hu Binyuan won the gold in Double Trap and set a new World Record Final of
196 targets, shattering the previous record of
194, which was in existence since 1999. Ronjan Sodhi of India finished in second place
claiming the silver with a total score of 194
hits. Russia’s Vitaly Fokeev took home the
bronze with 190 hits.
Richmond’s USAMU teammates Glenn
Eller (Katy, Texas), the 2008 Olympic gold
medalist, and 2008 Olympian Jeff Holguin
(Yorba Linda, Calif.) finished in the eighth
and 13th spots with 139 and 137 targets respectively.
Josh Richmond, Minsk
Caitlin Connor, Minsk
Caitlin Connor, Minsk
Combined Federal Campaign
USA Shooting is proud to once again be a part of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) program for the next year. Our
campaign number is 11094 and we would ask that you consider
USAS when making contributions or payroll deductions. We
sincerely appreciate your donations to USA Shooting!
Features
Josh Richmond, San Marino
Ryan Hadden, San Mariino
Kim Rhode, San Marino
U.S. Captures Three Medals in San Marino - Hadden Claims 2nd World Cup Gold
The final leg of the 2009 ISSF World Cup Series for shotgun was
held in San Marino June 16-23 with the U.S. adding three more pieces
of hardware to their 2009 World Cup medal tally. USAMU member Ryan Hadden (Pendleton, Ore.) won his second gold medal of the
2009 ISSF World Cup series in the Men’s Trap event in a rainy San
Marino on June 23. Hadden previously claimed the gold at the 2009
Cairo World Cup.
Hadden entered the final tied with three other shooters for first
place with 121 out of 125 targets. Hadden and 2008 Olympic gold
medalist David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic each shot 23 targets
in the final and ended the match with 144 total hits. In the shoot-off,
Hadden hit three targets to Kostelecky’s two targets to finish first and
take home the gold, leaving Kostelecky with the silver.
“The qualification round was a little bit difficult because of the visibility, but I entered the final very confident and I felt confident going into the shoot-off.” said Hadden right after receiving the last gold
medal of the San Marino World Cup.
Sergio Pinero of the Dominican Republic finished in third place
with 143 targets to take home the bronze.
Four-time Olympian Kim Rhode (El Monte, Calif.) won her second
medal of the 2009 ISSF World Cup Series when she claimed the silver
in Women’s Skeet in San Marino.
Rhode, who is the 2008 Olympic silver medalist in Women’s Skeet,
shot a qualification score of 65 out of 75 targets to enter the final in
third place. At the end of the final, Rhode was tied with 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Christine Brinker of Germany at 88 targets and
won the shoot-off to claim the silver, while Brinker took the bronze.
The gold medal went to Italy’s Chiara Cainero, the 2008 Olympic gold
medalist, who finished with a total of 95 hits.
“It was great to be back on the podium with Brinker and Cainero
like at the Games,” Rhode said following her match. “The qualification
rounds were kind of difficult because of the rain, but I tried to focus on
each target. The final finished in a shoot-off, and shoot-offs are always
unnerving, but I shot the best I could.”
Rhode’s U.S. teammates Haley Dunn and Ali Chiang finished in
seventh and eighth places with 64 and 63 targets respectively.
Like Hadden and Rhode, Josh Richmond also won his second medal of the 2009 ISSF World Cup Series in San Marino. Richmond fought
through rainy and windy weather conditions in San Marino to earn
the bronze in Double Trap.
Richmond entered the final in third place with a match score of
142 out of 150 targets, but then missed both targets of his first pair
in the final and ended up with 48 out of 50 hits. Richmond finished
with a total of 190 hits, taking third place overall. Junjie Mo of China
captured the gold with 193 hits and Sweden’s Hakan Dahlby grabbed
the silver with 191 hits.
Next up on the ISSF World Cup circuit will be the World Cup Final
for Rifle and Pistol October 24 – 29 in Wuxi, China, followed by the
Shotgun World Cup Final October 29 - November 3 in Beijing, China.
For complete ISSF World Cup results, please visit ISSF’s website at
www.issf-sports.org
KIm Rhode, San Marino
Josh Richmond, San Marino
Ryan Hadden, San Marino
Winchester Ammunition is a Proud Sponsor of the USA Shooting Shotgun Team:
Winchester® Ammunition has been the exclusive ammunition sponsor and supplier of the USA Shooting Shotgun Team since 1999. Members of the 2008 shotgun team brought home four medals from Beijing using
Winchester AA International Target loads. Winchester is an industry leader in advancing and supporting conservation, hunter education and our country’s proud shooting sports heritage. For more information about
Winchester and its complete line of products, visit www.winchester.com.
www.usashooting.org
27
Around the Range
2009 Shotgun National Junior Olympic Championships
By Mary Beth Vorwerk
Approximately 200 junior shooters participated in the International Skeet, Double Trap and Trap events at the 2009 Shotgun National
Junior Olympic Championships July 25-August 1 at Ft. Carson’s International Shooting Park. Juniors qualified for the event by winning
their State Junior Olympic Championships, or by shooting a
qualifying score.
For the third consecutive year, USA Shooting and the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) teamed up to host the National Junior Olympic Championships,
giving many more young shooters the
opportunity to compete in the event.
Junior Women
J2 First Place – Brandy Drozd, 106
J2 Second Place – Gayla Gregory, 88
J2 Third Place – Olivia Ornouski, 84
J3 First Place – Kaycee McNutt, 39
The top SCTP individual finishers in Skeet include:
High Male Overall
Tanner Brooks, 113
SKEET
Men’s Senior Varsity
First Place – Brandon
Belanger, 136
Second Place – Jimmy
Gibson, 131
Third Place - Luis (Taz)
Gloria, 131
The competition kicked off with the
Skeet event with Olympic Training Center Resident Athletes BJ Blanchard (Vidor, Texas) and Amber English (Colorado Springs, Colo.) claiming the titles.
Blanchard finished in first place for
the men, dropping only three targets
in the match and earning a qualification score of 122 out of 125 targets.
In the final, Blanchard hit a perfect
25 targets to end with a total of 147
hits. Rob Horton (Eatonton,
Ga.), who also shot 25 straight
in the final, took second place
with 144 targets and Jon Michael McGrath (Tulsa, Okla.)
finished third with 143.
English earned the top spot
for the women after an exciting shoot-off with Ali Chiang (Redwood Shores, Calif.).
Both shooters were tied at 138 targets
at the conclusion of the final and in the
shoot-off, English shot five targets to
Chiang’s four to take home the title.
Chiang took second place and third
place went to Morgan Craft (Hughesville, Pa.) who finished with 133 total
hits.
Other top finishers in the Skeet event include:
Junior Men
J2 First Place – TJ Bayer, 118
J2 Second Place – Granger DeWitt, 118
J2 Third Place – Nash Porter, 116
J3 First Place – Philip Jungman, 114
J3 Second Place – Luis (Taz) Gloria, 112
J3 Third Place – Roy Chavalittlekha, 110
28
USA Shooting News
Men’s Junior Varsity
First Place – Glenn Carl,
110
Second Place – Jakob
Keldsen, 110
Third Place – Richard
Riddle, 108
Men’s Intermediate Advanced
First Place – Ryan Smithart, 88
Men’s Intermediate Entry
First Place – Aaron Vammer,
95
Second Place – Brad Burch,
90
Third Place – Mitchell Robinson, 74
High Female Overall
Morgan Craft, 110
Women’s Senior Varsity
First Place – Nicole Ellis, 45
Women’s Junior Varsity
First Place – Olivia Ornouski, 84
Second Place – Jamie Ommert-English, 66
Women’s Intermediate Entry
First Place – Kaycee McNutt, 39
Around the Range
DOUBLE TRAP
In the Men’s Double Trap event Ian Rupert (Muncy, Pa.), who finished third at the JOs last year, won the top spot easily by 15 targets
this year, finishing with a match score of 137, a final of 42 for a total
of 179 targets. In a shoot-off for second place, Abel Spire (Cushing,
Okla.) faced T.J. Bayer (College Station, Texas), who finished sixth in
the skeet event earlier in the week, and hit two targets to Bayer’s one
target to earn second place, while Bayer took third. Both shooters
ended the final with 164 total hits.
Other top finishers in Double Trap include:
J2 First Place – Trey Jones, 120
J2 Second Place – Robert Perez, 118
J2 Third Place – Chris Landfield, 109
J3 First Place – Roy Chavalitlekha, 106
J3 Second Place – Nathaniel Lundie, 95
J3 Third Place – Braxton Jones, 86
TRAP
The 2009 Shotgun National Junior Olympics came to a close on
August 1 with Collin Wietfeldt (Hemlock, Mich.) and Rachael Heiden
(Clinton, Mich.) earning titles in the Trap event.
Wietfeldt shot 121 out of 125 targets in the match and shot 23 targets in the final to finish in first place with 144 total hits. Jake Turner
(Richland, Wash.), who won the junior event at the 2009 USA Shooting Shotgun National Championships and came in second in the open
category, finished in second place with a total of 142 targets at the JOs.
Kevin Bockerstett (St. Charles, Mo.) finished right behind Turner in
the third spot with 141 hits. Weitfeldt also won the High Male Overall
SCTP honor.
Heiden, who is the bronze medalist from the 2009 ISSF World Cup
in Cairo, won first place for the women easily by nine targets. Heiden
shot a match score of 116, a final of 22 for a total of 138 targets. Janessa Beaman (Elbert, Colo.) and Ashley Carroll (Solvang, Calif.) were
tied with 129 targets at the end of the final and Beaman earned second
place in a shoot-off hitting two targets to Carroll’s one target. Carroll finished in third place and also earned the SCTP’s High Female
Overall award.
Other top finishers in the Trap event include:
Junior Men
J2 First Place – Matthew Gossett, 118
J2 Second Place – Dustin Anderson, 117
J2 Third Place –Garrett Walters, 116
J3 First Place – Austin Odom, 114
J3 Second Place – Roy Chavalitlekha, 100
J3 Third Place – Daniel Mahaney, 98
Junior Women
J2 First Place – Brandi Hobbs, 107
J2 Second Place – Miranda Wilder, 104
J2 Third Place – Rickelle Pimental, 101
J3 First Place – Jeni Clark, 99
J3 Second Place – Holly Hodge, 93
The top SCTP individual finishers in Trap include:
High Male Overall
Collin Wietfeldt, 121
Men’s Senior Varsity
First Place – Kevin Bockerstett, 118
Second Place – Garrett Walters, 116
Third Place – Zack Bollman, 116
Men’s Junior Varsity
First Place – Jess Harless, 111
Second Place – Spencer Ensley, 108
Third Place – Nathan Bassett, 108
Men’s Intermediate Advanced
First Place – Peter Fritz, 107
Second Place – Luis (Taz) Gloria, 95
Men’s Intermediate Entry
First Place – Nate Lundie, 88
High Female Overall
Ashley Carroll, 117
Women’s Senior Varsity
First Place – Rickelle Pimental, 101
Women’s Junior Varsity
First Place – Erin Danhausen, 81
Women’s Intermediate Entry
First Place – Holly Hodge, 93
Complete results from the 2009 Shotgun National Junior Olympic
Championships can be found at www.usashooting.org
On The Complex
Director
2010 Event Calendar
By Robert Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer
We all appreciate events that are scheduled well in advance. Publishing USA Shooting events early allows coaches and parents to plan
time off and allows athletes to develop detailed training plans. Scheduling events with more lead time also allows the allied shooting organizations to plan events with fewer conflicts, which in turn promotes
participation and allows shooters more flexibility in selecting events in
which to compete.
Not long ago, the annual event calendar was not finalized until
spring of that year! Athletes and event organizers alike struggled with
frustrating date changes. The USAS competition schedule is driven by
the ISSF calendar. It has been most helpful that the ISSF has pushed
World Cup organizers to coordinate and establish competition dates
much earlier. World Cup and World Clay Target Championship organizers have been selected for 2011 and have been identified on a
preliminary basis for 2012. Further advanced scheduling at the ISSF
level is headed in the right direction.
Once the ISSF establishes its calendar, USAS can then set dates for
national championships and selection competitions. Our first consideration is to avoid conflicts with the ISSF and allow reasonable time
between international and domestic events. We also attempt to avoid
conflicts with allied organizations at the open and junior levels. It is
extremely difficult to avoid overlaps during the busy summer months;
everyone tries to conduct competitions when school is out. With East
Coast schools holding classes until late June and many West Coast
schools starting early August, the desirable competition window is
short—approximately five weeks.
Unfortunately, we can’t schedule all events during the summer
school break; nor is it desirable since it is important to have a competitive season run through most of the year, thus providing regular
competition opportunities. Additionally, a number of events are dependent upon availability of housing and meals at the Olympic Training Complex. Competition scheduling may also be dependent upon
range availability or seasonal travel cost considerations.
Another scheduling factor is consistency. We would love to establish annual repeating dates for at least all of the national championships. Holding events the same dates each year allows for even more
advance planning and enhances participation. With the varying ISSF
competition calendar, repetitive annual championship dates are not
likely. However, we have been able to consistently hold the Rifle/Pistol
Nationals in the mid-to-late June time frame, Junior Olympics for rifle
and pistol in the later March and earlier April window and Shotgun
Nationals over the span of late June through mid July.
There are many factors to be considered in establishing the annual
event calendar. It is impossible to accommodate everyone’s desires, but
it is our goal to establish a most workable annual event calendar at the
earliest time possible. Events for 2010 have been set and programs will
be available on the USAS website as soon as they are finalized.
Paralympics
Paralympic Summer Recap
By Bob Foth, National Paralympic Coach
This has been an incredible summer for Paralympic shooting sports in the U.S. After the great Europe trip I described last issue, I attended
the Endeavor Games, a multi-sport event at the University of Central Oklahoma, and helped the NRA conduct airgun training sessions for dozens of athletes. Along with enjoying some great shooting, we laughed along with one athlete with a unique tattoo on his leg, just above where it
had been amputated: A small pair scissors and the words, “cut on dotted line” and the dotted line . . . .
I flew from there to the USA Shooting National Championships for Rifle and Pistol. U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) soldier Josh
Olson had a great first day and was in medal contention halfway through the match. Day two didn’t go as well, but he proved to everyone that he
is capable of world-class scores. Flying from Georgia to Washington, D.C., I trained marksmanship instructors from Walter Reed Army Medical
Center and Bethesda Naval Medical Center on using airguns in their rehab programs. Vanessa Warner and Marcus Raab from the NRA both
helped with that training.
Two weeks later, I ran the Progressive Position Air Pistol Junior Olympics for the NRA and USA Shooting at the Civilian Marksmanship
Program’s (CMP) new range at Camp Perry, Ohio. Attendance was up to 100 and numerous shooters had great performances. National Pistol
Coach, Sergey Luzov, was there to award spots on the National Junior Team to men’s and women’s champions Jay Raymond from Mississippi,
and Kelsey Imig from Massachusetts. Complete results are available on CMP’s website at www.odcmp.com. I flew from there to the National
Veterans’ Wheelchair Games in Spokane, Wash. Vanessa Warner directed an airgun match there serving nearly 300 athletes on 10 relays in two
long days. Many of those athletes expressed some interest in getting more involved in competitive shooting sports in the future. Back at the
Olympic Training Complex (OTC), we hosted the State Games of America, including 12 rifle and pistol events for about 80 athletes from all
over the U.S., and American Legion’s National Championships for 30 3-Position Air Rifle junior shooters. Upcoming events for shooters with
disabilities include the Alicante Cup in Spain and the USAS Fall Selection match at Fort Benning. Information about Paralympic Shooting is
available on the International Shooting Committee for the Disabled website at: http://shootonline.org/
The USAMU also has plans to grow their Paralympic program. Josh Olson currently trains there and is also part of the World Class Athlete
Program. Numerous sources also provide training and support for disabled athletes interested in sport. Don’t assume you can’t afford shooting
as you may be pleasantly surprised by the grants and other resources available.
In October, USAS will host the National Coach College and Conference at the OTC in conjunction with NRA and CMP. Level 1 Coach
Schools for rifle, pistol and shotgun, Level 3 schools for rifle and pistol, the American Sport Education Program’s (ASEP) Coaching Principles
Class will all be offered leading up to the conference, which will feature numerous expert guest speakers and chances for coaches to interact.
Registration is available on the USAS website for this event. If you are coaching or have any interest in doing so, this is a “must attend” event.
30
USA Shooting News
On The Complex
Marketing
53rd Annual SAAMI Meeting
Fundraiser generates over $24,000 in team support
By Buddy DuVall, Director of Marketing
The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufactures’ Institute, Inc. (SAAMI®) held its 53rd annual meeting this year in Avon, Conn. SAAMI, established in 1926, is an association of the nation’s leading manufacturers of sporting firearms, ammunition and components. Since it inception, SAAMI
has been actively involved in the publication of industry standards, coordination of technical data and the promotion of safe and responsible firearms
use. SAAMI currently publishes more than 700 voluntary standards related to quality and safety in the manufacturing, transportation and storage of
firearms, ammunition and components. In addition to setting product standards for firearms and ammunition, SAAMI proposes legislative developments at the state and federal level and is an accredited United Nations ECOSOC Non-Government Organization.
At the conclusion of the meeting, SAAMI members participated in the annual “SAAMI Shoot” held at the nearby Hartford Gun Club, followed by
an awards banquet and fundraiser. Event organizers of the 53rd Annual SAAMI Meeting and Shooting Tournament continued the tradition of raising
money for organizations dedicated to promoting the shooting sports. For the ninth consecutive year, SAAMI selected USA Shooting as the beneficiary
of the annual fundraising event. This year’s event raised over $24,000 and exceeded last year’s record
effort of $18,000 which pushed SAAMI’s total amount of team funding over the $100,000 mark!
USA Shooting appreciates the fantastic support from the many companies in the shooting industry
that donated items for the fundraiser and helped make this event so successful. Thank you for your
generous contributions and support! USA Shooting looks forward to welcoming SAAMI to Colorado
Springs for next year’s SAAMI Meeting with the SAAMI Shoot taking place at the Olympic Shooting
Center and Ft. Carson facilities. For more information on SAAMI, please visit www.saami.org.
Pictured left to right: Rick Patterson, SAAMI Managing Director; Jeffrey Reh, SAAMI Chairman of
the Board; Doug Painter, SAAMI Past President; Sean McLelland 2008 Olympian; Corrie West, USAS
Marketing Manager; Buddy DuVall, USAS Marketing Director
Ruger Contributes $10,000 to USA Shooting Team
Ruger presented USA Shooting with a $10,000 check at the Shooting Industry Masters following
the Academy of Excellence awards in Hartford, Conn. on July 24. Proceeds from the sales of a TALO
Distributors exclusive limited edition Ruger Mark III .22 pistol generated this latest contribution to the
shooting team. This is the fourth collaboration between TALO Distributors and Ruger on USA Shooting Team projects. Since 2003, Ruger has produced two USA Shooting Team series Ruger 10/22 rifles
and a Ruger Mark II pistol. Proceeds from these limited edition Ruger firearms have generated over
$300,000 in funding for the USA Shooting Team.
For more information on TALO exclusives please visit www.taloinc.com.
Michel Fifer, CEO of Ruger presented the check to 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Corey Cogdell and
was joined by Chris Killoy, Executive Director of Sales for Ruger and USA Shooting Team members Sean
McLelland and Haley Dunn.
Competitions
By Lindsay Brooke, Competitions Manager
Tweet, Tweet!
USA Shooting is constantly looking for ways to improve services to our
members. Two years ago we introduced online entry for our major competitions, last year we started publishing squadding in advance. This year
we are introducing Twitter to our membership. Sure, you’ve heard about
it, but what can it do for you?
Do you always have your eyes peeled to our website, waiting for the
latest results to be posted? Are you wondering how our team has done
at a World Cup or curious about squadding for one of our events? No
longer do you need to be paranoid about missing the entry deadline for
the Selection Matches or Nationals. Twitter is a social networking and
micro-blogging service that allows you to send and read messages known
as “tweets”. USA Shooting joined Twitter as a way to enhance communi-
cation with our members. Anytime we post newsworthy information to
our website, we update our Twitter mini-feed. The message is instantly
relayed to our followers via cell phone text message or e-mail alerts. These
“tweets” keep you informed without the hassle and headache of locating
information on our website.
In order to follow us on Twitter, you will have to create a simple profile
for yourself at www.twitter.com. From there, you can follow us at www.
twitter.com/usashooting and connect with other shooting enthusiasts,
merchants and clubs. You’ve heard about it, now its time to try it for yourself! Follow us today and we’ll remind you when to sign up for the Winter
Airgun Championship and when the 2010 calendar has been published.
We love this free service and we know you will too!
www.usashooting.org
31
On The Complex
Operations
By Bill Roy, Director of Operations
Hats Off to You, Haley!
Her hat seemed to dance above Cheyenne Mountain; up then down,
back and forth, twirling an enchanting little pirouette with every blast
of the shotguns. I thought it might never hit the ground.
Skeet ace Haley Dunn had smashed 100 straight targets during the
2009 USA Shooting National Championships, a feat never-before accomplished by an American woman in registered International Skeet
competition. It was a huge achievement, and as pure and powerful
as the Colorado thunderstorms that rolled over the range during the
Championships. Talk about a lightning strike—the flash and roar that
Haley caused was as awe-inspiring as any storm.
Of course, we celebrated with the traditional hat shooting; 20-plus
fellow competitors doing their part to change the hat size and ventilation qualities of Haley’s favorite visor. As that funny frisbee defied
gravity for about 20 seconds, I could only think, “Hats off to you, Haley!”
Typically, lightning like that only strikes once during a match, or
even once during a season. But this is where the hat dance gets interesting: Haley’s thunder was just one of a satisfying chorus of rumbling
blasts that resonated against our souls. In fact, Haley wasn’t even the
high woman shooter in the match.
That honor went to four-time
Olympic medalist Kim Rhode, who
lead all shooters—men and women—up until the final qualification
round. When the dust settled after the qualification rounds, only
three targets separated the top four
shooters . . . both men and women.
In fact, 2008 Olympic gold medalist Vinny Hancock also needed to
hammer 100 straight to keep pace
with Haley and Kim, and second
place finisher Shawn Dulohery gutted out a strong 99 to stay in the
race. Lots and lots of great shooting!
Lots and lots of tough shooting
also. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to string together 100
straight? Only about five active International Skeet shooters have
done it, and most of them have only done it once or twice. But talk
about toughness and you have got to talk about Caitlin Connor, who
three days prior to winning the Junior Women’s event spent an evening in the emergency room battling severe migraines. Oh, she also
managed to suppress the pain of a broken finger, but nothing a little
ace bandage and pure grit wouldn’t fix. Just one target behind her
was Amber English, who earlier this year had major surgery on her
cranium. I keep joking with her that she can be great with just half a
brain, and then she just goes out there and gives me twice the effort.
Talk about tough—truth is, I couldn’t hold their hats . . . .
Of course there were many, many courageous stories of shooting
achievement at the Nationals, and the valiant efforts of all the shooters
impressed me at every turn. In my role as High Performance Director for USA Shooting, I could not be more pleased. The scores are up,
morale is up, participation is up and I predict more and more hats will
be . . . up.
Debbie Harry, the 1970’s pop icon and lead vocalist for the rock
group Blondie, used to belt out a
tune called “The Hardest Part.” It
was a song about armored cars,
“twenty-five tons of hardened
steel.” My favorite line of her
song: “The hardest part of the
armored car/ Is the man of steel
behind the steering wheel.” Reminds me of our competitors.
The hardest part of International
shooting isn’t the tempered steel
of the high-grade target guns; the
hardest part is the steely resolve
of the tough-minded athletes
who hit their targets and wear
their hats.
Hard hats, that is.
For a complete schedule of events in your area
visit
www.usashooting.org
Go to the competitions drop down and click on
the
Interactive Map
Click on your state or surrounding states to find
local competitions
32 USA Shooting News
News & Events
1st Annual Mule Deer Foundation Banquet in Georgia
Mule Deer Foundation’s newest chapter – the Dixie Muley Chapter – held its first
chapter banquet in Dawsonville, Ga on June 20. Pete Ward and his wife Gabby, along
with a small group of dedicated committee members made an impressive showing for
this inaugural event generating $10,000 for Mule Deer conservation. Making the trip to
Georgia from MDF headquarters in Salt Lake City for this 1st annual event was MDF’s
Chief Operating Officer Eric Tycksen, Regional Director Mike Laughter, Utah State
Chair Wayne Windsor and Utah Key Volunteer Jeremy Zumwalt. “
The excitement in the room was very contagious, the attendees were there for the
right
reasons, to raise money for the only declining big game species in North America,”
Pictured left to right: Wayne Windsor, Eric Tycksen,
said
Tycksen.
Laughter concluded, “It is refreshing and revitalizing to come to a new
Buddy DuVall, Mike Laughter, Jeremy Zumwalt
place that does not have Mule Deer and feel the excitement they have for what MDF is
accomplishing.”
MDF will hold their 2009 board meeting September 11-12 in Colorado Springs, Colo. and USA Shooting will host the MDF directors and
staff for a day of shooting with rifle, pistol and shotgun resident athletes at our Olympic training facilities. Look for USA Shooting to attend the
MDF annual convention February 11-14, 2010 in Salt Lake City in support of our conservation partnership. For more information about MDF
visit www.muledeer.org.
Shooting Industry Masters and Academy of Excellence Awards
The Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence presented its 2009 awards July 24th
in Windsor, Conn., with J.B Hodgdon receiving the Shooting Industry Award; Smith &
Wesson, Manufacturer of the Year; Ellett Brothers, Distributor of the Year; and Kimber,
the Citizenship Award. Top product awards were also presented in several categories.
Produced by FMG Publications, the Academy of Excellence Awards were held in conjunction with the Shooting Industry Masters. The 7th annual Masters three-gun event
attracted some 200 competitors from more than 30 companies to the Hartford Gun Club
in East Granby, Conn. Representing USA Shooting at the 7th annual “Masters” event
were USA Shooting Team members Sean McLelland, Corey Cogdell and Haley Dunn.
More than just a competition, the event was an opportunity for industry leaders to come
together in support of the NSSF’s First Shots program, the ultra-successful program- Pictured left to right: Sean McLelland, Anne Hodgproviding an introduction to shooting for first timers. The fundraiser coordinated by don, J.B.Hodgdon, Corey Cogdell, CJ Buck (Buck
FMG generated a record $25,000 for the First Shots program. Congratulations to all Knives) and Haley Dunn
of the 2009 Shooting Industry Award winners and winners of the Masters competition.
Next year’s Shooting Industry Masters will be at the Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island, Neb., July 23-24, 2010. Visit www.
shootingindustry.com for more information.
Bunker Club Update
The Bunker Club is a fundraising group that was formed in 1998 to pay for new
trap machines at the USA Shooting shotgun range in Colorado Springs. Presently, the
Bunker Club continues to donate money to help Olympic shooting and gets together
for social gatherings. Members of the Bunker Club posed for a picture in May at the
74 Ranch, which is an hour south of San Antonio, after shooting sporting clays and
attending a banquet for the yearly Bunker Club get together. Bunker Club leader Col.
Dennis Behrens said, “My vision is to have the money to allow the staff and coaches to
provide funds to individual shooters who need help, such as team members, development team members, or other worthy shooters in rifle, pistol or shotgun.”
Bunker Club members pictured left to right: Dr Gene Bishop, Dr Rich Miles,
The Bunker Club has raised over half a million dollars and has a strong commitment
Colonel Loretta Behrens, Judy Trick, Captain Carl Kilhoffer, Colonel Dento
helping
our athletes. There are currently approximately 40 members of the Bunker
nis Behrens, Mike Sloan, Bob Ziegler, Tim McGill (in sling), Dr Larry Trick,
Tom Holland, Mona Robinson, Bob Herold, Russ Arnold, Kinsey Robinson, Club and they are in need of more members to help raise their goal of $3 million for an
Gail Jeffress, Steve Jeffress
Athlete Endowment. The cost to join the Bunker Club is $3,000 and you get a lifetime
membership to USA Shooting and get to be a part of the Bunker Club and their year’s social activities and get togethers to help fund USA Shooting athletes in all three disciplines. You can also donate to the athlete endowment by sending a check for any amount that you are able to give
to USA Shooting at 1 Olympic Plaza, Colorado Springs, CO 80909. Please make checks payable to USA Shooting.
One hundred percent of your donation goes to the Athletes’ Endowment. If you are interested in joining the Bunker Club, please contact
Col. Dennis Behrens at 210-735-2373 or USA Shooting Executive Director Bob Mitchell at [email protected] or 719-866-4899.
www.usashooting.org
33
News & Events
2009 Poland/Czech Junior Trip
By Marcus Raab
Before high school even finished classes for the year, a few of the
country’s top junior shooters were on a plane out of Washington,
D.C. heading to Europe for a training camp and competition. Some
missed the last few days of classes and one even missed their graduation ceremony to spend ten days learning more about rifle shooting.
As part of National Rifle Coach David Johnson’s long-range plan
for junior shooters’ development, these training trips mirror the
camp and competition planned for next years 50th World Shooting
Championships in Munich, Germany.
Those making the trip included Dempster Christenson (Sioux
Falls, S.D.), Thomas Kyanko (Wellsburg, West Virginia), Dustin Chesebro (Laramie, Wyo.), Emily Quiner (Brooklyn Park, Minn.), Emily
Holsopple (Wilcox, Pa.), Sandra Fong (New York, N.Y.) and coaches
Janet and Marcus Raab of Fairfax, Va.
Long-distance travel to countries that do not speak English as a
primary language is a fact of life for American shooters. In addition
to performing well in the competitions, the primary goal of the program is getting the athletes more comfortable in these foreign surroundings where food and accommodations may not be what the
athletes are accustomed to here in the United States.
One of the athletes on the trip, Sandra Fong, is no stranger to international travel having been a veteran of multiple trips, most recently representing the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympic
Games in the Women’s 50m 3 Position Rifle event. Having a highly
experienced athlete, even at the young age of 19, was a distinct asset
for the other shooters.
The team arrived in Wroclaw, Poland (pronounced Vrets-wav) on
May 28 and went directly to the Polish National Shooting Center on
the outskirts of the city. This was the first time an American shooting
team had been to Poland in many years. Coordination for the trip
began last November at a visit to the range complex during a family
trip by the Raab coaches.
The weather was unusually cold and rainy for most of the camp
and like most places in Europe, they turn the heating system off
around the first of May. The rooms were quite chilly at night, but that
did not stop the shooters from working hard on the ranges during the
day. Utilizing the facilities electronic ranges, we had the opportunity
to work on problem areas and do detail work on sights and grips.
It was a real honor to be the first to shoot air rifle on their brand
new indoor finals hall which had been converted from the no longer
used 50 meter running target ranges into a two bay fully electronic
finals hall that looked remarkably like the finals hall in Munich. The
range staff had just completed installing the target systems, so they
needed to test them and the display equipment, and the American
shooters were more than happy to oblige.
It was not all work on the range. Part of becoming comfortable in
34
USA Shooting News
their surrounding is learning how to get around, so on Sunday afternoon we took trip to the city by bus. That required learning where
and how to purchase bus tickets as well as how to read the schedule and route maps. After a lunch of, what else, pizza, we wandered
around the city center square shopping and seeing the most famous
of the city attractions. One of the unique features of Wroc_aw is the
famous collection of gnomes, small bronze figures scattered in various and sometimes unusual locations throughout the square. It became a challenge to find as many as possible.
After the six-day camp, we traveled to Pilsen, in the Czech Republic by bus with the Polish junior squad. It was a great opportunity
to meet new friends on the seven-hour journey. Once in Pilsen for
the 19th Meeting of the Shooting Hopes, it was all business on the
ranges with training on Thursday and competitions in 10, Air Rifle
and 50m Prone and 3 Position Rifle for both men and women over
the next three days.
In the men’s prone match, Thomas Kyanko tied for eighth spot in
the final. Using the new ISSF rules for determining final participants,
he had to fire a 5-shot shoulder-to-shoulder shoot-off with Sebastian
Rabalski of Poland. Kyanko ended up on the short end of that shootoff 51.0 to 51.5 finishing in ninth place but we all learned valuable
lessons that transferred to the rest of the team and coaches. Team
USA finished in third behind the Czech B and A squads.
In the men’s 3-position match Kyanko also was the high scoring
American firing an 1154 in the qualification round, this time easily
qualifying in fifth place. After final shots were recorded, he finished
in eighth. Thomas Mathis of Austria earned the gold medal with an
1168 and 95.9 in the final.
Dustin Chesebro was also involved in a three-way 5-shot shootoff for the eighth position in the men’s air rifle final. He ended up in
tenth firing a 50.0 vs. a 51.2 by Nikola Pudev of Russia and 52.1 by
the eventual finalist from India, Chain Singh, but again learned valuable lessons for the future.
The highlight of the competition came on the last day when Fong
(581) and Holsopple (579) started the final for the women’s 3-position event in first and second respectively. Fong had trouble early
and that let the consistently strong shooting of Holsopple overtake
her. Fong fought back in the end holding off the third place Russian,
Alina Ivacheva, but it was not enough to regain first. It was a 1-2 finish for the United States, continuing a string of success in this event
for the past three years. The U.S. women’s team also took home a
silver medal behind the Czech A team.
After a successful competition, the team had to get on the road
early (3:00 a.m.) the next morning to make a 7:00 a.m. flight from
Prague back to the United States. After a catnap on the overseas leg
of the flight, most were making their final notes on their report to
National Rifle Coach Dave Johnson on what they learned on the trip
and how it will help them in the future.
Left to Right: Kim Rhode, Vincent Hancock, Corey Cogdell & Glenn Eller
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Shooters from the 2009 California State Qualifier posed for a picture before the match on April 25 at Coon Creek
Trap & Skeet in Lincoln, Calif. Over 30 trap and skeet competitors shot the weekend match and the Golden State
turned on perfect weather with warm days, clear skies and light winds.