Coach's Corner: the PPE Method for Secure Shooting: Problem solving, Practice, Execute

By GRP Biathlon Coach Raleigh Goessling

Credit: Phil Belena

Every biathlete wants to improve their shooting, but the path to increased shooting efficiency is often unclear. More rounds? Fewer rounds? Different coach? Maybe I should just do what Jeanne Richard is doing?

Any of the solutions listed above could be wrong or correct, depending on your level and the constraints you are training under. The purpose of this article is not to advocate for a dogmatic approach, instead it’s to introduce the process I use with biathletes of every level to address areas of opportunity on the range.

It is possible to work through this process on your own; however, I highly recommend that athletes work with a coach or training partner when making changes to their shooting process. In my opinion, it’s basically impossible to review your own shooting with the level of objectivity needed to make real progress.

Step 1 - Problem Solving

Identify your area of opportunity, it could be anything: shooting speed, standing position stability, aiming ability, trigger control (the list goes on). Next, work with your coach or training partner to assess your current way of performing the skill you’re looking to adjust, then experiment with possible solutions.

The naked eye and an honest discussion are often enough to solve most shooting problems. If you need to get more granular or need quantitative data, this is the phase in which to heavily employ SCATT and video review. You may find that all parties’ perceptions of the current reality is not in line with what is happening in practice. Many athletes, especially masters, get stuck in this phase, which leads to stagnation and frustration. The IBU Academy has a wealth of free information on shooting technique. There are many schools of thought on how to shoot successfully. I encourage everyone I work with to use the resources linked above as their primary reference. 

Step 2 - Practice

Once you and the person you are working with have identified an area of opportunity and settled on a new process, it’s time to practice! This is the hardest and most often omitted step in the shooting improvement progression. For me, the most effective practice methods are shooting on paper and dryfire.

During practice sessions, athletes should focus only on the aspect that they have changed in step 1, or a part of their process that needs rehearsal. Success or failure in this phase should be primarily governed by the athlete’s ability to engrain the change that has been made. Direct observation by a coach or training partner, drills that focus on a specific skill, video review, shooting precision (how close the shots are to one another) and SCATT are all good means of quality control during practice time. The shooting result (hit/miss) should be secondary. Yes, read that last sentence again…

Too often practice for many athletes is shooting a ton of rounds on metal targets and experimenting with their process as they go. They let the hits and misses be their guide to what is the best way forward. This is a seductive and ineffective method. A metal target hit does not mean that you have made a positive change, or executed your objective correctly, it just means you did enough of your process right to hit the target or got lucky!

The greater the margin for improvement, the faster effective changes will make a positive impact on shooting efficiency. When biathletes are starting out, any amount of practice leads to progress, and positive changes yield almost immediate benefits. As athletes improve, the margins get smaller. Consequently, the quality and quantity of practice needed to improve goes up, and the time it takes to see tangible results Increases.

Strive to complete as much high quality practice as you can within your training constraints. If you are pressed for time, money, or range access (and even if you aren’t!) consistent high quality dryfire is the fastest, cheapest, and most effective way to improve, especially for beginner (50% or below) to intermediate (50-70%) shooters.

Step 3 - Execute

Training sessions focused on execution are easy to design and fun. Set a cap for number of shots, ideally between 10 and 60, and execute your shooting process with the sole objective of hitting all the targets at or below your goal shooting time. These sessions can be done as hard combo, easy combo, or metal target sessions. During execution focused training, you may need to think about a specific part of your process, focus on your arousal (mental or physical) level, or try to think nothing at all. Assess these sessions by analyzing hit rate, shooting speed, and whether you executed the shooting process you have been practicing. After your analysis determine with your coach or training partner if you need to do some problem solving, or if you just need more practice.

Finally, be kind to yourself and bring lots of patience and determination to the table as you continue your biathlon journey. Consider the following excerpts from an interview with noted outstanding shooter Julia Simon. Keep in mind her training background, what she means by “good” shooting, and the level that is possible!

Biathlonworld: You said that your improved shooting was a 2-year process, what was the hardest thing about that?

Julia Simon: The hardest thing about improving my shooting was to accept that I needed two years to become a good shooter. Especially in prone, it takes time. I had to start over with my prone shooting so it was a long time to do this. Now I am really happy because it is stable.

BW: How cool was it to shoot clean in a four-stage race? How long has that been a goal?

JS: Shooting in the Kontiolahti pursuit was just amazing. Before that, my shooting was good but always one mistake.