Coaching Young Rifle Shooters is a substantial, 200-page softback book written by Gary Anderson. It concentrates on Three Position (3P) shooting, the most popular type of airgun competition in the USA. For many young rifle shooters, 3P is their first introduction to shooting. It’s the beginning of a potential lifetime of interest in shooting and mostly it’s shot with airguns.
Gary is an Olympic Gold Medallist and multiple world champion in shooting sports. He was the Director of Civilian Marksmanship for the CMP from 1999 to 2009 and continues to be actively involved teaching, coaching and mentoring young shooters and their coaches.
What Gary Anderson doesn’t know about competitive target shooting with airguns is clearly not worth knowing! This book is a comprehensive guide to his vast fund of knowledge. It’s written for beginning and intermediate junior rifle shooters, their parents and coaches.
Coaching Young Rifle Shooters is written in a deceptively simple style. It’s very easy to read and extensively illustrated with photographs and drawings prepared by the author. Topics are presented in a clear step-by-step fashion.
While it’s probably intended to be read from start to finish, Coaching Young Rifle Shooters is the wonderful sort of book that can be opened with benefit at almost any page. Gary’s nuggets of shooting wisdom are everywhere throughout the book. Many of them are equally applicable to any air rifle shooter. Even those of us who think we know it all!
Of course you will find chapters specific to 3P competitive air rifle shooting- that’s what the book is about, after all. But there are also hugely instructive chapters that will benefit hunters, Field Target shooters and even plinkers. And not only young ones…
For example, the chapters on Mental Performance and Sports Psychology and Coaching Shooter Improvement cover aspects of shooting that are of interest to everyone who wants to hit the target consistently and successfully with their air rifle. And there’s much to be learned by all of us from a thoughtful read of the chapter on Correcting Shooter errors.
Coaching Young Rifle Shooters costs $19.95 – something like the cost of just two tins of pellets. That makes it a great value for the incredible amount of knowledge contained in the book. It’s clearly essential reading for all new 3P competitive shooters, their parents and coaches.
Many air rifle shooters enjoy their sport alone, so they have to coach themselves. Much content in Coaching Young Rifle Shooters can be adapted and used by the lone air rifle shooter, even if he/she is not trying to learn 3P shooting, but is interested in hunting or Field Target competition. In the end, we all want to shoot accurately and that’s what Gary Anderson’s book is all about.
Coaching Young Rifle Shooters is available direct from the Civilian Marksmanship Program at https://estore.thecmp.org/Catalog/Item/758
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