Shirur wants Indian shooters to work on physical aspects of the game

Restricted to the confines of their house due to a nation-wide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Indian shooters are busy figuring out ways to keep themselves fit and ready for the season.

While pistol ace Manu Bhaker is aided with a manual range in her house, rifle shooter Divyansh Singh Panwar has taken recourse to dry firing, as well as feeding his mind with mythological tales like Mahabharata.

Given that it’s difficult to simulate a range-like feel inside the house, India’s junior national coach Suma Shirur wants the nation’s Olympic hopefuls to make the most of the time at hand to work on the physical aspect of the game.

Time to hit the ‘Wall drill’

Speaking to Sportstar, the Athens 2004 Olympian said that she wanted her wards to work on things like the posture and muscle memory so that they will be prepared to hit the range once the situation is back to normal.

"I feel that when the shooters are able to do it at home, they are in touch with the muscle memory required in actual shooting," she reasoned.

Suma Shirur said that the shooters should spend more time on exercises like the wall drill, a helpful technique is building core strength and helps in perfecting one's posture. 

The technique sees a shooter keep the weapon close to a wall and point to a spot on it, slowly bringing it closer to the wall before releasing the pressure. Shooters across the globe resort to this method to perfect their stance and build a steady hand. 

“Even in normal days, we do 45-minute wall holding… this is a useful tool to strengthen the core,” she said.

While nothing can compare to training at the range to perfect one’s skills, desperate times could call for desperate measures. 

"Once we are able to sail through this period, the ranges are open and shooting actually starts, it will need eight to 10 days to get things back," she reckoned. 

"The skills come back to us, it is very important to keep the body ready,” she added.