Have you ever done rifle shooting, of course as a sport. There’s something awe inspiring and Zen-like about the sport. The sum total experience you have in handling a gun is the fun fair kind. Even for a child all those balloons set in concentric circles that you puncture from 5 feet with a toy pistol gives him a high. But when you boil it down to its bare bones, what is rifle shooting about, after all, if not simply aiming with accuracy.

Aiming is the essence that’s all the skill the sport calls for. At one end of the shooting range a long, bench straddled the breadth of the room. It is from here pulleys are manipulated to set the target a 7 cm x 7 cm square of white board at the desired distance, the max being 10 metres. Hitting bull’s eye which is the black dot at the centre of the target earns you the highest points a 10. A hit on the concentric circle closest to it gets you 9. The further you go from the center, the fewer points you notch up.

AIMING IT RIGHT
Stand at ease, relax your shoulders. Get a firm grip of the pistol with your right hand. Use the left (hand) to cut the tail of the pistol for extra support. Look for the target through the lens. Take aim and then fire. Relax your shoulders and breathe easily. You need a calm mind and body to concentrate and aim.
The first step is to get your body alignment correct. Keep shoulders relaxed and level, back straight, feet hip width apart, belly tucked in. Stay absolutely still. Even the slightest movement can put you off the mark by several feet. And don’t shift, don’t breathe, even after you pull the trigger. It takes only microseconds for the pellet to travel through the barrel, but a minute shift in that time space can distort the gun-to-target alignment. So stay still till you see the pellet hit the mark.

RIGHT APPROACH
It’s not a good idea to grip the gun too long to get your focus right. The arms can quiver from the effort and mess up your aim. Relax your grip. Grip the barrel with your right hand and rest forefinger on the trigger. Support the neck of the rifle with your left hand and let the butt end rest at your clavicle. To look into the telescope, rest your cheek against the butt of the rifle. Keep your back erect. Any tension in the body (muscular or spinal) will transfer to the rifle, hamper your focus and adversely affect your alignment. Although heavier, the air rifle is easier to balance, as you’re using both hands and your whole body to support it.

Precision can only come about with practice. Precision comes in tandem with the amount of serious application you put into the sport. You can't just aim at the target and get it right. You need to follow the rules, stay tuned to your body and mind. Ironical as it may seem, hitting bull’s eye is just a part of the sport.