Watched Rio Olympic 10m finals, humble pie.

[bryan123]

Here is a trick that my AR coach taught me.
Ignore the ring numbers scores, and work in stages.

The idea is to keep ALL (or most) of the shots inside a specific ring.
So your score is +1 for inside the ring, and 0 for outside the ring.

Then when you can, keep all/most of the shots inside the ring.
Go to the next higher ring, and do the same.  +1 or 0.

In my case, stage 1 was to keep all the shots inside the 1 ring. 
- - Yeah, I was that bad.  I sometimes missed the target itself  :-(
Stage 2 was to keep all the shots inside the black. 
- - This was a major accomplishment for me.
Stage 3 and on was to gradually (ring by ring) keep all the shots inside the higher ring.  5, then 6, then 7, then 8, then 9.

The idea here is to consistently shoot a tighter and tighter group, rather than a group that looks like a shotgun pattern.  The tighter your group, the higher your score will be.  Because you will need a lot of 10s to make up for a 3.

That makes a lot of sense.  I tried to keep everything inside the seven ring if not better.

[ac12]

There is some psychology behind that.
When you score by ring, you tend to pay too much attention to the high scoring rings.
By scoring 1/0 based on a single ring, you remove the pressure of the high scoring rings.  Because if your ring is a 7 ring, hitting the 8,9, or 10 rings makes no difference.  You still get 1 point for being inside the 7 ring.  So rather than scoring high, the real goal is to minimize and eliminate the 0s.  That, gets you the tighter group.

[bryan123]

So basically what I did, three times in a row...  A score of at least  510 out of a possible 600.  That sounds kinda difficult but I'll try it.  Thanks

Bryan, i will be 62 in October. i started shooting 10M pistol just over 2 years, and became addicted. after (6) months of shooting, i entered the Camp Perry Open. i shot a dismal 478 or something like that. i was really dejected. i talked to a couple of my mentors - they gave me a couple books to read and were there to help when i needed it. i dedicated about 2 hours a day and 4-5 days a week to practice. i read (3) books and sent over 4000 rounds down range during that next year.

i participated in my second Camp Perry Open this past January and the first day shot my personal best  - a 502. i came back the next day and shot another personal best - a 518 . . . better score than some, not as good as others, but i was very, very pleased.

what i want to say, is, and as you are well aware, as you age your muscles don't always work the way they used to. your eyes don't always see what they used to. BUT, if your attitude . . . your focus . . . your desire . . . your goal . . .  is on shooting the very, very best you can, then go for it! seeing your enthusiasm for air pistol shooting over the past couple of months - GO FOR IT! shoot the very best that you can . . . you can do it - i know you can do it!

Thank you!  For the win!  And thank you for being the one who convinced me to get the 853 in the first place!
My latest shooting,  174/200, 3x

OP here.  In match #14 I was finally able to break 180 with a score of 183 /200 with 5x which is my personal best.  Extrapolated over 60 shots this would be in they 550 range, if I could duplicate and sustain it over 60 shots.  This would be Expert territory.

Big if's, to be sure.  I'm going to try it over the weekend and report back. 

[ac12]

GOOD shooting Bryan.

[bryan123]

GOOD shooting Bryan.

Thanks!  Any advice for shooting 60 in a row?

[chico]

Thanks!  Any advice for shooting 60 in a row?

take your time.

plenty of time between shots to rest your arm.

one bad shot does not constitute a bad string.

i believe you can accomplish this goal - relax and enjoy the journey 

[ac12]

GOOD shooting Bryan.

Thanks!  Any advice for shooting 60 in a row?

Pace yourself.  It is not a race.
In a regulation match you have 1 hour 30 minutes (total 90 minutes) to shoot all 60 record shots.
I plan a short rest break in the middle, and buffer time at the end.
So, this might be a plan:
- 20 minutes, 15 shots
- 40 minutes, 30 shots
- take a 5 minute break
- 65 minutes, 45 shots
- 85 minutes, 60 shots

I would really not want to cut it that close at the end.

If you are shooting for fun, forget the 90 minute timer, and shoot at your own pace.

Rephrasing what Chuck said.  It is not a 60 shot match.  It is 60, ONE shot matches.

There are a couple things to learn.
- When to abort the shot and put the gun down and start over.  This is one of the HARDEST things for many shooters to learn to do.  In my experience, if I try to push through and MAKE the shot, it is usually a BAD shot.  Get the shot off in 5 seconds, or put the gun down.
- When you make a bad shot, FORGET IT.  If you think about the bad shot, the next shot will likely also be bad.  This is negative reinforcement at work.  Yeah, easier said than done, but you have to forget the bad shot.

[chico]

Pace yourself.  It is not a race . . . If you are shooting for fun, forget the 90 minute timer, and shoot at your own pace . . . It is 60, ONE shot matches . . . - When to abort the shot and put the gun down and start over.  This is one of the HARDEST things for many shooters to learn to do.  In my experience, if I try to push through and MAKE the shot, it is usually a BAD shot.  Get the shot off in 5 seconds, or put the gun down.
- When you make a bad shot, FORGET IT.  If you think about the bad shot, the next shot will likely also be bad.  This is negative reinforcement at work.  Yeah, easier said than done, but you have to forget the bad shot.

excellent advice !

after 5 seconds, the "wobble zone" magnifies greatly

the most important shot you will make is . . . . . . the next shot

[ac12]

And keep a good shooter's log.
Date, time , weather, temp, score, any issues you had, etc., etc.
Using my records, I discovered that I shot better in the morning, rather than after dinner when I usually shot.  This was a surprise, because I am NOT a morning person.  But the morning scores were better, and that was proof.

Similarly, if you shoot better, why? 
- Maybe you did not have that 3rd cup of coffee or extra sugar donut. 
- Did the lighting on the target change?
- You were not up till 2am playing video games.

When you make a change, make only ONE change at a time.
If you change more than one thing,
- You won't know which of the several changes improved your shooting.
- A positive change A may be off-set by a negative change B.  And you would have mistakenly written off A as not working.

And give yourself time to adjust to the change.
Whenever I do something new, it usually takes me time to adjust/get used to the new setup.
Example, when I first was taught a new rifle stance, it was difficult, simply because my body never did that before, so I was very uncomfortable.  My muscles needed time to get used to the new position.  Once my muscles got used to the new position, it worked out just fine, and much better than what I did before.