I finished the match in 14th place. Good, considering there were close to 50 male competitors and I was shooting with most of the top 10 back in the early 90's. These guys have been shooting awhile... several of these guys are on the National Team.
One of the BC Team's we entered was for the Air Pistol event. Our team placed 3rd so we got the bronze medal for that. My teammates were Edmond Lee and Mark Johnson.
I'll be shooting two matches in September, one is in Vancouver and the other is in Calgary. I'm hoping that a few more matches will help me get back to my 94% range. Getting all of my firearm paperwork will also be helpful as I'd like to be shooting 50m Free Pistol again.
Long travel day tomorrow. 2 hr drive and two flights... :) It will be good to get back to Vancouver.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
2007 Canadian National Junior Air Pistol Finals
The Air Pistol Junior Finals just wrapped up with both Junior Male and Female shooting Finals at the same time. It was cool to see all 16 competitors shooting. The girls dominated the Finals.
Junior Male 10m Air:
Junior Female 10m Air:
Awards banquet is tonight and then tomorrow I drive south to Saskatoon before flying home to Vancouver tomorrow.
10m Air Pistol Junior Male and Female Finals
Junior Male 10m Air:
| Result | Competitor | Province | Scores | Final | Total |
| 1 | Matthew Hendry | SK | 554, 561 | 94.5 | 1209.5 |
| 2 | Philippe Tousignant | QC | 543, 554 | 91.8 | 1188.8 |
| 3 | Stuart Krantz | SK | 539, 547 | 93.4 | 1179.4 |
| 4 | Ryan Ward | ON | 531, 543 | 94.4 | 1168.4 |
| 5 | Jordan Samoila | SK | 548, 522 | 84.1 | 1154.1 |
| 6 | Matthew Kao | ON | 528, 532 | 92.7 | 1152.7 |
| 7 | Timothy Hildebrand | AB | 525, 531 | 92.4 | 1148.4 |
| 8 | Tuo Su | BC | 523, 537 | 84.2 | 1144.2 |
Junior Female 10m Air:
| Result | Competitor | Province | Score | Final | Total |
| 1 | Danielle Marcotte | YK | 356, 368 | 97.1 | 821.1 |
| 2 | Alix Findlay | ON | 365, 356 | 94.0 | 815.0 |
| 3 | Catherine Thwaites | BC | 365, 357 | 90.1 | 812.1 |
| 4 | Amy Stewart | AB | 360, 358 | 87.5 | 805.5 |
| 5 | Christine King | SK | 362, 338 | 92.8 | 792.8 |
| 6 | Shvawn Christensen | ON | 351, 346 | 91.9 | 788.9 |
| 7 | Bailey Teitge | AB | 341, 341 | 89.9 | 771.9 |
| 8 | Ashley Parker | ON | 334, 332 | 84.0 | 750.0 |
Awards banquet is tonight and then tomorrow I drive south to Saskatoon before flying home to Vancouver tomorrow.
2007 Canadian National Air Pistol Finals
Results for the 2007 Canadian Nationals Air Pistol Finals are in.
Men 10m Air:
Women 10m Air:
Junior Finals will be online shortly.
Men 10m Air:
10m Air Pistol Men's Final
| Result | Competitor | Province | Score | Final | Total |
| 1 | Yuri Movshovich | ON | 564 | 97.9 | 661.9 |
| 2 | Steve Maly | NS | 566 | 94.7 | 660.7 |
| 3 | Scott Illingworth | AB | 562 | 98.7 | 658.7 |
| 4 | Jesse Olsen | SK | 560 | 98.2 | 658.2 |
| 5 | Stan Wills | AB | 562 | 94.9 | 656.9 |
| 6 | JP Huot | PQ | 562 | 94.1 | 656.1 |
| 7 | Oscar DiPilla | PQ | 559 | 93.3 | 652.3 |
| 8 | James Sandall | AB | 560 | 91.1 | 651.1 |
| 9 | Glenn Ohlman | MB | 518 | 91.8 | 609.8 |
Women 10m Air:
10m Air Pistol Women's Final
| Result | Competitor | Province | Score | Final | Total |
| 1 | Dorothy Ludwig | BC | 382 | 93.7 | 475.7 |
| 2 | Kim Eagles | BC | 377 | 97.5 | 474.5 |
| 3 | Charlene Johnson | BC | 376 | 97.0 | 473.0 |
| 4 | Avianna Chao | ON | 372 | 95.7 | 467.7 |
| 5 | Ena Ward | ON | 371 | 94.3 | 465.3 |
| 6 | Lynda Hare | AB | 363 | 96.7 | 459.7 |
| 7 | Jana Stieb | SK | 367 | 90.8 | 457.8 |
| 8 | Filiz Cakmak | ON | 363 | 93.8 | 456.8 |
| 9 | Karen Van Nest | ON | 361 | 94.2 | 455.2 |
Junior Finals will be online shortly.
Monday, August 13, 2007
BC shooters at 2007 Canadian Nationals
I came out to Saskatchewan on my own but several people from British Columbia traveled out here to represent BC at the 2007 Canadian National Pistol Championships.
Kim Eagles
Alison Fox
Curtis Hampton
Allan Harding
Charlene Johnson
Mark Johnson
Edmond Lee
Irene Li
Dorothy Ludwig
Tuo Su
F. Michael Taylor
Christopher Thwaites
Catherine Thwaites
I'll post up results for BC competitors after all of the events have wrapped up. Results are also posted up on the 2007 Nationals website.
Air Pistol Finals are tomorrow morning. The Top 8 will shoot in the Finals, but with quite a few Master level shooters left to compete today I think they'll push me into around 10th - 12th place.
Kim Eagles
Alison Fox
Curtis Hampton
Allan Harding
Charlene Johnson
Mark Johnson
Edmond Lee
Irene Li
Dorothy Ludwig
Tuo Su
F. Michael Taylor
Christopher Thwaites
Catherine Thwaites
I'll post up results for BC competitors after all of the events have wrapped up. Results are also posted up on the 2007 Nationals website.
Air Pistol Finals are tomorrow morning. The Top 8 will shoot in the Finals, but with quite a few Master level shooters left to compete today I think they'll push me into around 10th - 12th place.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Updated photos and shot by shot view of my score
I've got my memory card working again so I've updated some photos on "Arrived at Nationals" and "551 / 600".
This is what my shots looked like from my match yesterday. The scoring is all done by a computer. The targets are scanned in by a reader and then accurately scored.
The software generates reports like this one that shows where every shot hit the target. It also breaks down how many 10's, 9's, 8's etc you shot. I shot 22 10's.
This is what my shots looked like from my match yesterday. The scoring is all done by a computer. The targets are scanned in by a reader and then accurately scored.
This is a print out of all of my shots. Click to view larger version
The software generates reports like this one that shows where every shot hit the target. It also breaks down how many 10's, 9's, 8's etc you shot. I shot 22 10's.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
551 / 600... a good score for my first Nationals in 12 yrs
I finished shooting and finished with a score of 551/600. For my 2nd competition since picking up my gun in May I'm quite pleased. The last time I was at Nationals was in 1995.
I'm happy with this score because it matches my 552/600 I shot in May at Provincials so I'm definitely establishing a solid baseline. Having practiced and trained a couple nights a week for the last couple of months has helped a lot. I know I still need a lot of work to improve on basic fundamentals as that seems to be a key area that will get me more 10's. Working on grip and trigger control will be essential for me to push my scores higher.
One of the key learning's for me at this competition is about all of the rule changes that have occurred since 1995. I had to modify my shooting glasses and reduce my left eye blinder down to 30mm. Also, the range officers here wanted to make sure wrists are always visible and my long sleeves kept sliding down. Time to buy a current rule book! :)
I will be working on getting my gun license so I can shoot other events at these competitions. I'd like to shoot Free Pistol, which is also an Olympic event but it is shot at 50m. I think I'd be more relaxed if I shot a different event before shooting Air Pistol. Air Pistol is my favorite and strongest but having a different event to shoot a day before shooting my Air match will help me get into the right mindset.
I shot on the first Air Pistol relay and most people will be shooting over the next 2 days. I'll post up results as they're made available.
I have some photos I've taken but for some reason my laptop isn't reading my SD card from my camera. I'm here for a few days so hopefully I can get that sorted out.
Time to go explore what this city has to offer... :)
I'm happy with this score because it matches my 552/600 I shot in May at Provincials so I'm definitely establishing a solid baseline. Having practiced and trained a couple nights a week for the last couple of months has helped a lot. I know I still need a lot of work to improve on basic fundamentals as that seems to be a key area that will get me more 10's. Working on grip and trigger control will be essential for me to push my scores higher.
One of the key learning's for me at this competition is about all of the rule changes that have occurred since 1995. I had to modify my shooting glasses and reduce my left eye blinder down to 30mm. Also, the range officers here wanted to make sure wrists are always visible and my long sleeves kept sliding down. Time to buy a current rule book! :)
Old left eye blinder and the new smaller left eye blinder
I will be working on getting my gun license so I can shoot other events at these competitions. I'd like to shoot Free Pistol, which is also an Olympic event but it is shot at 50m. I think I'd be more relaxed if I shot a different event before shooting Air Pistol. Air Pistol is my favorite and strongest but having a different event to shoot a day before shooting my Air match will help me get into the right mindset.
I shot on the first Air Pistol relay and most people will be shooting over the next 2 days. I'll post up results as they're made available.
I have some photos I've taken but for some reason my laptop isn't reading my SD card from my camera. I'm here for a few days so hopefully I can get that sorted out.
Time to go explore what this city has to offer... :)
Friday, August 10, 2007
Arrived at Nationals...
This will be a quick update. I've arrived in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and I'm all registered and checked-in for Nationals.
There was one issue with my shooting glasses not meeting current rules so I needed to change one of the pieces. Not having shot at Nationals since the mid-90s I should have expected some rules would have changed. ;)
Lucky for me Scott from Illingworth Imports was there to help me out. Thanks Scott!
I had a chance to practice a bit in the indoor range and I'm looking forward to shooting tomorrow.
I shoot on the first relay tomorrow at noon. Dinner time. :)
Plane ride to Saskatoon, Canada
There was one issue with my shooting glasses not meeting current rules so I needed to change one of the pieces. Not having shot at Nationals since the mid-90s I should have expected some rules would have changed. ;)
Lucky for me Scott from Illingworth Imports was there to help me out. Thanks Scott!
I had a chance to practice a bit in the indoor range and I'm looking forward to shooting tomorrow.
Taking aim during practice time
I shoot on the first relay tomorrow at noon. Dinner time. :)
Friday, August 3, 2007
Pistol shooting conditioning for peak performance
Going into the final week before I compete at Nationals... it's all about getting all of the training to date to be timed right for a peak performance.
The last few weeks I've been at the gym quite a bit and doing a lot of fast walking between 3.2 - 3.8 mph at a 15.0 incline on the treadmill. This helps for cardiovascular training as well as increasing core strength in leg muscles which will ultimately give you better balance in your shooting stance. I also do a lot of weight training rotating muscle groups to allow for at least 72 hr recovery periods. Every muscle group during a recovery period ends up affecting my shooting performance during practice sessions. This is a result of the muscle building process, extra water in the muscles during this time and overall recovery fatigue. I break up muscle groups into the following categories: chest, back, arms, shoulders, abs, legs.
If I've had an active week at the gym (like this week) and I go to the shooting range, my shot grouping has a larger spread. It is when I'm fully rested and recovered that I'll get the small tight groups on a practice target. There is a lot more to shooting better than just being well rested though. Training and conditioning for a shooting competition requires a lot of mental conditioning as well as physical. Much like other sports, shooting is probably 95% mental.
In order to get all of the training aligned I need to take into account recovery periods, diet, sleep, travel time, and of course mental preparedness. I'll touch on the mental aspects in another post as there is a lot that you can't calculate as easily as something like physical recovery patterns. Any kind of physical training will result in the body needing to recover. If I work out with weights I will have delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) for about 72 hrs, knowing that, I won't be doing any major physical activity for at least 4 days before the match. Sleep is another one you can calculate to some degree -- though I've read no exact research or science into this, I'm going by my own experience with my own body - I know how much rest and sleep I need. I know this because I've done it daily for a few decades. ;)
As serious as all this talk of training sounds I still consider myself an "unlikely athlete". Competitive pistol shooting may not appear to be a very physical sport -- especially since one of the primary goals is really to minimize movement as much as possible to have the most accurate shot. I'd place it in a similar group to golf and archery. Ultimately all of these sports require physical and mental conditioning in order to create repeatable physical routine.
I say "unlikely athlete" because at first glance I don't think anyone would expect to call me that.
I do know that if I want to make my performance better I will need to make my mind and body better.
When I get back from Nationals I am going to find some time to add to this website so it's not quite so generic. I'll be training for an event in September. During that next month I'd like to provide a more detailed view into my training activities so it is easy to browse and monitor progress.
If you have any specific questions you want me to answer please don't hesitate to send me a comment on http://www.allanharding.com/.
The last few weeks I've been at the gym quite a bit and doing a lot of fast walking between 3.2 - 3.8 mph at a 15.0 incline on the treadmill. This helps for cardiovascular training as well as increasing core strength in leg muscles which will ultimately give you better balance in your shooting stance. I also do a lot of weight training rotating muscle groups to allow for at least 72 hr recovery periods. Every muscle group during a recovery period ends up affecting my shooting performance during practice sessions. This is a result of the muscle building process, extra water in the muscles during this time and overall recovery fatigue. I break up muscle groups into the following categories: chest, back, arms, shoulders, abs, legs.
Heart rate data captured of 20 minutes of cardio,
40 minutes of weights, and another 20 minutes of cardio
40 minutes of weights, and another 20 minutes of cardio
If I've had an active week at the gym (like this week) and I go to the shooting range, my shot grouping has a larger spread. It is when I'm fully rested and recovered that I'll get the small tight groups on a practice target. There is a lot more to shooting better than just being well rested though. Training and conditioning for a shooting competition requires a lot of mental conditioning as well as physical. Much like other sports, shooting is probably 95% mental.
In order to get all of the training aligned I need to take into account recovery periods, diet, sleep, travel time, and of course mental preparedness. I'll touch on the mental aspects in another post as there is a lot that you can't calculate as easily as something like physical recovery patterns. Any kind of physical training will result in the body needing to recover. If I work out with weights I will have delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) for about 72 hrs, knowing that, I won't be doing any major physical activity for at least 4 days before the match. Sleep is another one you can calculate to some degree -- though I've read no exact research or science into this, I'm going by my own experience with my own body - I know how much rest and sleep I need. I know this because I've done it daily for a few decades. ;)
As serious as all this talk of training sounds I still consider myself an "unlikely athlete". Competitive pistol shooting may not appear to be a very physical sport -- especially since one of the primary goals is really to minimize movement as much as possible to have the most accurate shot. I'd place it in a similar group to golf and archery. Ultimately all of these sports require physical and mental conditioning in order to create repeatable physical routine.
I say "unlikely athlete" because at first glance I don't think anyone would expect to call me that.
I do know that if I want to make my performance better I will need to make my mind and body better.
When I get back from Nationals I am going to find some time to add to this website so it's not quite so generic. I'll be training for an event in September. During that next month I'd like to provide a more detailed view into my training activities so it is easy to browse and monitor progress.
If you have any specific questions you want me to answer please don't hesitate to send me a comment on http://www.allanharding.com/.
Monday, July 30, 2007
11 days to go... Nationals website updated
11 days remain until I leave for Saskatchewan. I would have liked to have made a few more posts before I left but time is short and well I'm sure you all would rather I was practicing anyway. ;)
What do the next 11 days have in store for me?
The Canadian National Pistol Championships website has been updated with lots of new information. They have also announced that the shooting range will have wireless Internet access so I will definitely be posting updates from there.
What do the next 11 days have in store for me?
- Continuing to practice at the Richmond Rod & Gun club Wednesday and Friday nights.
- Continue cardio and physical training Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights.
- Tighten up my food and beverage consumption. I always shoot better when I've been eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and keeping breads, sugars, and meat down to a minimum. Fish is always good too so I'm going to get some sushi a couple times before I leave. :)
- Cut caffeine out. I'm going to research this some more as I've read caffeine stays in your system for up to 72 hrs. I also don't want a situation where cutting caffeine out completely creates a negative response. I do love my Diet Rockstar sugar free energy drinks. ;)
- Confirm all travel details (again).
The Canadian National Pistol Championships website has been updated with lots of new information. They have also announced that the shooting range will have wireless Internet access so I will definitely be posting updates from there.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Equipment: Shooting Glasses by Knobloch
A few days ago I received the Knobloch Lens Testing kit from Illingworth Imports. here is a photo of the kit along side a pair of Knobloch glasses and my own pair of Knobloch shooting glasses.
The lens kit comes with the test lens holder, 12 test lenses for testing spherical correction, and many accessories such as a centering device, an adjustable iris etc.
Below is what my pair looks like with a left eye side blinder and an adjustable iris.
The left eye blinder lets me keep both eyes open while shooting, the white color helps to control the amount of light going into both eyes. The adjustable iris is just a nice add on, letting me close the amount of area I look through down to the size of a pinhole or as large as 15mm. This lets me control the amount of light I want going into my eye and the amount of sharpness around the gun sights.
Finally, this is what they look like on me. I actually don't see much when I'm shooting. I look at the front and rear sights and don't really focus on the target itself (the target is actually blurry when I shoot at it).
Less than a month until the Canadian National Pistol Championships!
The lens kit comes with the test lens holder, 12 test lenses for testing spherical correction, and many accessories such as a centering device, an adjustable iris etc.
Below is what my pair looks like with a left eye side blinder and an adjustable iris.
The left eye blinder lets me keep both eyes open while shooting, the white color helps to control the amount of light going into both eyes. The adjustable iris is just a nice add on, letting me close the amount of area I look through down to the size of a pinhole or as large as 15mm. This lets me control the amount of light I want going into my eye and the amount of sharpness around the gun sights.
Finally, this is what they look like on me. I actually don't see much when I'm shooting. I look at the front and rear sights and don't really focus on the target itself (the target is actually blurry when I shoot at it).
Less than a month until the Canadian National Pistol Championships!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Travel details for Nationals are all set
I have all of my travel details for Nationals in order. I will be flying out of Vancouver on August 10th and arriving in Saskatoon in the morning. Then a short 2 hr drive to Prince Albert.
I compete the following day on Saturday at 12:00 pm on the first Air Pistol relay of the competition. The current match relays and positions is now posted on the Canadian Nationals website. I will then have a couple of days rest before the Finals and National Team Trials match. It has been awhile since I competed at a Nationals event so I'm not sure yet what the rules or qualification are for the National Team Trial. I believe Finals will be the top 8 shooters in any of the Olympic events (Rapid Fire Pistol, Free Pistol, and Air Pistol).
I check out Wednesday morning and will fly out of Saskatoon in the late afternoon and arrive home to Vancouver in the evening.
One month remains before I leave. I've got a very basic training plan I'm following. I avoided making it unnecessarily complicated and just sticking to basics. Spending time conditioning and strengthening core muscles, cardio, and of course actual practice time at the shooting range.
I'm waiting for the Knobloch Lens Testing kit from Illingworth Imports, as soon as I have it I'll post up info about my shooting glasses. I suspect I'll need a new lens cut for my 12 yr old shooting glasses. Too much time in front of a computer! ;)
I compete the following day on Saturday at 12:00 pm on the first Air Pistol relay of the competition. The current match relays and positions is now posted on the Canadian Nationals website. I will then have a couple of days rest before the Finals and National Team Trials match. It has been awhile since I competed at a Nationals event so I'm not sure yet what the rules or qualification are for the National Team Trial. I believe Finals will be the top 8 shooters in any of the Olympic events (Rapid Fire Pistol, Free Pistol, and Air Pistol).
I check out Wednesday morning and will fly out of Saskatoon in the late afternoon and arrive home to Vancouver in the evening.
One month remains before I leave. I've got a very basic training plan I'm following. I avoided making it unnecessarily complicated and just sticking to basics. Spending time conditioning and strengthening core muscles, cardio, and of course actual practice time at the shooting range.
I'm waiting for the Knobloch Lens Testing kit from Illingworth Imports, as soon as I have it I'll post up info about my shooting glasses. I suspect I'll need a new lens cut for my 12 yr old shooting glasses. Too much time in front of a computer! ;)
Monday, July 2, 2007
The importance of a Competition Journal
One of the great things about having taken such a long break away from competition air pistol shooting is that I forgot a lot of things. Specifically, bad habits. A huge portion of this sport, like any sport for that matter, is the mental aspect of it. I used to spend a lot of time training my mind.
When I was regularly competing before, I would get myself into a lot of trouble with a poorly executed mental performance. The problem with this is that I would finish the competition and leave it at that and not do anything to correct a poor performance. This was made worse if I actually shot a decent score and did nothing afterwards.
Shooting a decent score is like going to a match and staying within your comfort zone and being content with that. Boring. If you want to shoot super scores you need to do more than piggyback on a 'decent performance' to get you there.
The goal of a training / competition journal should be to reinforce positives and modify negatives.
When I went to my first competition this past May I made sure that I kept a journal of everything so that I would have notes to work from later. This became especially important to me when I knew it would probably be the only competition I'd be able to attend before going to Nationals in August. Looking back at my notes now, I know I will always do it for every single competition I attend from now on.
What do I keep track of in my Competition Journal?
My biggest takeaways from that competition were equipment related and in reinforcing the positive benefits of a training AND competition journal.
At Provincials I had 3 key areas all related to equipment that I wanted to improve:
As always... any feedback and comments are hugely appreciated. If you like this blog please tell a friend, let me know, or let's exchange links. Cheers.
When I was regularly competing before, I would get myself into a lot of trouble with a poorly executed mental performance. The problem with this is that I would finish the competition and leave it at that and not do anything to correct a poor performance. This was made worse if I actually shot a decent score and did nothing afterwards.
Shooting a decent score is like going to a match and staying within your comfort zone and being content with that. Boring. If you want to shoot super scores you need to do more than piggyback on a 'decent performance' to get you there.
The goal of a training / competition journal should be to reinforce positives and modify negatives.
When I went to my first competition this past May I made sure that I kept a journal of everything so that I would have notes to work from later. This became especially important to me when I knew it would probably be the only competition I'd be able to attend before going to Nationals in August. Looking back at my notes now, I know I will always do it for every single competition I attend from now on.
What do I keep track of in my Competition Journal?
- Event name, location, results
- Overall thoughts: Were there any themes to how I felt I did?
- Time leading up to match: Travel details... any problems with accommodations? car rental? What went right? Did I forgot to pack anything? Should I have brought anything differently? What did I eat? How did I sleep? Etc.
- During competition: How many sighter targets did I take? What was I wearing? Any problems with my equipment? Any possible improvements to equipment? Range lighting? Other range notables? Competition pace? Mental routine? Physical routine?
- After competition: Immediate thoughts after competition? Who shot next to me? Scoring accuracy by officials and scorers?
- Other thoughts?
My biggest takeaways from that competition were equipment related and in reinforcing the positive benefits of a training AND competition journal.
At Provincials I had 3 key areas all related to equipment that I wanted to improve:
- Sight blackener. When I competed before I used to always take a carbide lighter to my gun sights to make them super black.
- C02 - The precious gas which powers my pellets 10 meters to the target. I had one empty cylinder and another which was nearly empty after having been shipped via air from Cibles Targets. The range was out of C02 and most of the other competitors were either using Compressed Air or a different brand of gun. Knowing that after any shot you might be out of air isn't healthy for your mental program.
- Shooting glasses. The lens in my shooting glasses is 10 yrs old... it was OK but I knew for Nationals I would be better off if I went and got my eyes tested and possibly even got a new lens cut for my glasses. At the very least I would be able to rule out my eyes as any kind of an excuse. ;)
As always... any feedback and comments are hugely appreciated. If you like this blog please tell a friend, let me know, or let's exchange links. Cheers.
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