shooting

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	SHOOTING

A RANGE OF TINTS IN SHOOTING SPECTACLES

MICHAEL GAULT AND NICHOLAS BAXTER

GUNDEGMA AOTRYAD WINS SILVER IN BEIJING FOR 50M PISTOL SHOOTING

CHEN YING WINS GOLD IN BEIJING FOR 50M PISTOL SHOOTING

DU LI WINS RIFLE 50M GOLD IN BEIJING OLYMPICS

PRINCE PHILIP OUT SHOOTING

THE ARCHERY TARGET
Aim for the bull's eye

TARGET SHOOTING

At the Olympics and Commonwealth Games target shooting is divided into the separate disciplines of rifle, pistol and shotgun. Rifle shooting can be prone, kneeling or standing. Pistol shooting is performed standing and firing at targets 10, 25 and 50 metres. Shotgun events take place while standing and the body moves to follow a moving clay. Skeet involves a clay being fired from two "houses" high and low using a rifle out of the shoulder. Trap or double trap utilises clays originating from a pit in front of the shooter who has the rifle positioned ready in the shoulder.

ATTRIBUTES

Shooting, like most sports, requires skill and practice to achieve a high level of performance. The expert shooter or archer, apart from requiring steady hands, strength and concentration, will need to have excellent eyesight and be able to control the presence of any glare.

The coaching manuals refer to the sight picture which is the "in sight relationship" and the aim picture which is the relationship of the sight picture to the area of target being aimed at.

As seen in many Western films

THE COLT 45 PISTOL

THE COLT 45

Designed by John Browning and manufactured by Colt, the Colt 45 has been in use for nearly 100 YEARS. This extraordinary heritage is largely due to its exceptional design and outstanding manufacturing quality. Nearly 3 MILLION of these guns have been produced by Colt and have been widely used in military, police and special forces. The Colt 45 gun saw military duty in 2 world wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and up until recently it was STILL the sidearm of choice for the US Armed Forces.

BANNED FOR TREATING EYE CONDITION

In August 2008, the Former Russian Olympic shooting champion Sergei Alifirenko was banned from the Beijing Olympic Games for failing a drug test, after taking medicine for glaucoma. He was expelled from the Russian Olympic squad after he was shown to have taken the banned substance dexametazon as part of a course of treatment for his eye disease. Under international shooting rules, the 39-year-old could face a ban of up to two years.

WINNERS

Michael Gault and Nicholas Baxter are shown (see left) retaining their Commonwealth pistol title to win England's first shooting gold of the Commonwealth Games 2002. It was Gault's sixth Commonwealth gold medal and Baxter's third.

THE RIGHT TINT?

All lenses used outdoors should provide protection from UVA and UVB no matter how dark the tint. Lenses should not be too dark as they enlarge the pupil unnecessarily, reduce depth of field and hence the quality of vision. To decide on the best tint you should consider the brightness of the ambient light, the colour of the target and background and its contrast.

BRONZE is a good all purpose tint for skeet, trap and clays as well as being the tint of choice for hunting.

ORANGE is a good all round tint for orange targets.

RED and PINK are effective tints for hunting and highlighting orange, green and black targets. They also reduce the effect of a green background, such as grass, trees and shrubs. Red tints can improve colour differentiation for people with a colour vision problem.

ANTI-REFLECTION COATINGS

Anti-reflection coatings can be applied to all lenses to reduce annoying reflections from the lens surfaces and they allow better light transmission on dull days.

ZEISS SHOOTING SPECS

Top quality brand name Zeiss shooting spectacles with special height adjustable bridge, large lenses to any tint and curl sides with special gripping rubber covering all for £199.00 to most prescriptions. Out of range prescriptions may be available for an extra charge. Click here to view the shooting spectacles in more detail.

ARCHERY

Archery is the art of toxophily and is a separate sport from shooting although optically the two have similarities. Archers project arrows at a distance which is about the length of three tennis courts into something which is the size of a grapefruit. There are various disciplines of archery including target, field, clout, flight and popinjay.

Target Archery is the current Olympic form of the sport and takes place on flat terrain with archers shooting a certain number of arrows at targets over known distances of up to 90 metres for men and 70 metres for women.

Field archery is derived from hunting and takes place on a course of targets set out in rough terrain such as woodland.

Clout Archery is similar to target, except that the archer attempts to drop arrows at long range (180 yards for the men and 140 yards for women) into a series of circular scoring zones on the ground surrounding a marker flag (the clout).

Flight Archery is a form of archery that can only take place where space permits since archers compete by shooting for sheer distance.

Popinjay (meaning parrot) is derived from shooting birds on church steeples. Popinjay archers stand near the bottom of a 90 foot mast and shoot almost vertically upwards using arrows with rubber caps known as 'blunts'. The object is to dislodge wooden birds on a set of cross-pieces at the top of the mast.

WHAT VISUAL ABILITIES ARE REQUIRED FOR SHOOTING?

ACCURACY OF VISION
A refractive vision assessment will determine if any optical correction is required. Best vision is often achieved using contact lenses but some shooters prefer the stability of special spectacles. Contact lenses are better in the rain but spectacles can incorporate an enhancing tint and can protect the eyes against strong breezes.

DEPTH PERCEPTION
Also known as stereoscopic vision. Depth perception is the ability of the eyes to judge distances such as that between the gun and the target. This is a visual ability which may be able to be improved if it is found to be below normal. An assessment can be carried out in the Practice to determine the stereoscopic acuity and exercises advised for its improvement.

HAND-EYE CO-ORDINATION
Although not purely visual, this skill is essential if you are to be able to make a hit on the target. The visual imput has to be translated into spatial location by the brain which informs the various muscles of the body to move in such a way as to enable you to aim accurately and fire precisely.

EYE MOVEMENT
Your eyes need to be able to focus on a moving clay and the accuracy of this focusing ability may be affected by tiredness especially if there is a problem using the two eyes together. This ability can be measured in the Practice and you can do exercises at home if it is found to be deficient.

PERIPHERAL VISION
Peripheral awareness is important with moving targets such as clays. Increasing your peripheral awareness can improve concentration and balance. Peripheral awareness can be often be improved by the use of simple exercises which can be done at home.

CONTRAST SENSITIVITY
Contrast between objects affects the ability to see them clearly. The ability to pick out the target or clay pigeon in dull or hazy conditions can usually be improved by the use of coloured filters. The colour which is best for you will need to be determined during a sports vision assessment although there are general principles as detailed to the left.

OTHER FACTORS

Shooters use vernier and centration acuities as well as biofeedback, proprioperception and visualisation.

Shooting with both eyes open is becoming more common as it is often found to be more comfortable than closing one eye.

In rifle shooting the target is seen as a blurred out of focus image while the eye is focused on the front sight of the rifle.

There are special shooting spectacles available now.

VISION REQUIREMENTS AND CORRECTION

The vision requirements for shooting may depend on the type of shooting being undertaken for example whether viewing a stationary or moving target such as a clay pigeon or grouse.

In rifle shooting, the eye will be about 15-20 mm from the front sight whereas in pistol shooting the front sight is at arm's length and vision needs to be corrected for these distances although the target will be blurred. Pistol shooters often prefer to have the non-shooting eye covered or occluded.

Generally, spectacle lenses are the preferred method of eye correction as contact lenses can move on the eye and disturb the quality of vision and can cause a break up of the tear film also resulting in blurred vision. If contact lenses are preferred, the best type to go for are large soft lenses to increase stability and made of low water content or silicon htdrogel material to minimise evaporation. Rewetting eye drops can be to hand if the lenses do dry out. Orthokeratology (using contact lenses for sleeping with only) causes a variation in vision during the course of the day and surgery results in a reduced contrast sensitivity as well as other possible complications.