There is one part of an individual’s body mechanics that affects their shooting that seems to popping up everywhere around me as of late: natural body strength or, for some of us, lack there of. I have been working out religiously since I really started to get into this shooting thing and despite the improvements I’m still not someone who can muscle a gun around. For those of us who are smaller framed body mechanics become that much more important.
One of the best things we can do, besides seeking professional training of course, is to watch the top women shooters. Take as an example this video of Julie Golob shooting the USPSA Mile High Showdown in 2009:
What I pay the closest attention to in such videos is stance and movement. You can see that she has a very aggressive stance but she doesn’t take that stance too far and doesn’t try to change her movement to accommodate it, she is still walking because that’s what we have been doing for thousands of years.
An example of differing body mechanics was actually brought to my attention at the range last night when a couple girls around my age were in shooting. They had been there at least once before shooting a .22 but today had chosen to pick up a 9mm. One of my coworkers who is really great at helping new shooters went out to make sure they were comfortable. He had them hitting an x-ring at 7 yards, nothing to complain about for their first time with the 9mm! However they were still a little overwhelmed by the recoil. They hadn’t been shown to lean forward a little and get into that more aggressive stance because not everyone needs to think about it. I just went out and showed them how I stand, they replicated it, retained the same grouping my fellow range master had taught them and were a little less overwhelmed by the recoil. They still decided to go back to .22 next week but I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to convince them to pick up a 9mm again some day (hopefully in a class!).
When it comes down to it we all need to do the same things: Get training, practice, stay safe and have fun.
Something I noticed out shooting yesterday, shoot a 44 mag and then the other guns seem to not kick at all!
It’s been a while since I shot a 44, my 1911 seemed like nothing after that.