The Belly Shot

I have been training a young lad, age 6, who for anonymity I will call the Jack' s Canyon Kid since that is where he first drew from a holster.  He has been shooting off the table for about a year and at his last competition hit 24 out of 25 shots finishing 25th out of 50 shooters. He is ready to move on. We moved him to the holster with the requirement that he shoot from the hip.  We intentionally were going to skip "the point and shoot stage,"  so that he never would learn the "point and shoot" since so many struggle unlearning that technique.

He did well drawing from the holster. After 150 rounds he was hitting about 60% from the holster, although slow.  Hitting has always been important to him.  Unfortunately, the powers that be have read the rule book which says that a competitor under the age of 8 can not shoot out of the holster.  So now it is back to the table.

So as not to lose what we have accomplished he is now shooting the "belly shot" from the table.  He starts with the gun on the table or at low ready position. Upon the light he draws the gun back to the locked elbow position while cocking the hammer.  When the off hand wrist reaches the belly he pulls the trigger.  Therefore the gun is fired from a stable position with no forward or upward movement.  THERE IS NO POINT AND SHOOT involved.  Why learn something you have to unlearn later on. This method mimics the draw out of the holster.  When he turns 8, the draw will be already firmly established.

His first seventy rounds were good but he was consistently high.  It will not take long to fix that because in Jack's Canyon we don't practice missing and to the Jack's Canyon Kid the most important thing is to be able to brag he beat Grandpa. He is the only novice I have ever seen who adjusts his stance naturally upon a miss.  He broke into the six s today and I foresee he will be a force to be reckoned with.

Others that help new shooters age 6 to 86 may want to consider the belly shot for their new shooters.  Start them from the low ready position and have them draw back to a hip fire position,  I have good friends that can consistently shoot into the low fours until they get into competition and the target draws them back to their "point and shoot" roots.  Why learn something that you have to unlearn later on.

"We don't practice missing on the mountain or in Jack's Canyon"