I re qualified my rifleman a few weeks ago talking with the shoot boos steck she told me I had an original method for obtaining npoa and that I should join the forum and share my experience. Finally after 4 years I have joined the forum and am checking in daily to see what is going on here.
back to my unusual NPOA my previous problem was in prone at 400 yrds reduced size shooting at the end of my exhale I would never be in the same spot and my aim was constantly changing. This year I had a Revelation. I take a good 30 seconds to position my belly closer to my elbows or closer to my knees(depends where my crosshairs end up) every time I move I take 3 breaths untill I am returning to npoa.
Once I have achived the correct form I can fire... to shift npoa to a new target my rifle, torso and legs will rotate around my belly allowing me to maintain npoa at the end of my breath.
this changed my shooting score remarkably I had to fight for a 210+ after I discovered this method I was shooting 220-230 repeatedly and I felt good while doing it, as opposed to feeling pressured as I have in the past.
I'm not overweight if you are wondering however from a lifetime of skindiving I do have abnormally large lungs which I think has something to do with my unique shooting method. I'm passing this on in hopes that somewhere someday it will help somebody else shoot rifleman who is having just as much frustration as I was.
Turtle
Do you move your support elbow? What do you mean, by rotating "around your belly?"
If your support elbow remains fixed, you are basically doing what most people do. The difference is that you are taking the time to get a repeatable, stable position and only then firing. Many people discount the importance of a truly stable slow fire prone position.
As I have written in the past, there is no "one" position that works for all shooters. Depending on body configuration each shooter must adjust his position to develop the most stable platform. Some will bring the firing elbow in tighter, some looser. Some will pull the rifle into the shoulder, others will use a thumb on fist firing hand position. Some will pull the knee almost to their armpit and others will barely raise the firing knee. Then of course we have the olympic X.
See this video, you may see some familiar things in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UE8RDSyrJY
rotating around my belly means everything else can move but my belly is anchored or else it will take too long to get my npoa back.
best way to explain my shift from target 1-4 , first my elbow moves then my legs move. my elbow and legs rotate around my belly. mainlining my correct vertical hold on the target.
my support arm will move ..if I change my belly I will not have npoa I will be aiming all over the place top middle bottom who knows
hope this explained it a bit better
If it works for you it works for you, but it is relatively unconventional.
Essentially, it sounds as if you are rebuilding your position from ground up with every shift. Functional? I believe it would be... But I would think speed might suffer. Especially, if you're trying to adjust on two planes(elevation & windage) simultaneously.
I believe the issues you are experiencing do happen to a lot of people, especially those with extra flesh.
What's happening, when you shift is likely one of two things.
Either the abdominal region is not fully lifted off the ground during the shift, causing the elasticity of flesh to return back towards the original POA. Or, the middle section is coming down canted during the shift causing a sorta roll to one direction or the other.
This is why we teach to shift one's hips, and emphasize that they actually need to be lifted off of the ground. Generally, this solves the issues for most people, as their abdomen leaves the ground with their hips. But some folks' abdominal region remains on the ground as the hips are lifted.
Another issue that arises when the belly/ribs are not raised sufficiently is that the act of breathing can shift natural point of aim. The solution to this generally consists of pulling the knee up higher and perhaps closer in. And taking lighter breaths. A mistake that many people tend to do at first is to take long, exaggerated breaths. This isn't necessary and often can be counter productive. If one is trying to maintain their natural point of aim, it only makes sense that they would take natural breaths. Which are generally shorter and lighter, than one thinks they are.
But in the end, actually having NPOA doesn't have anything to do with shifting it on target. A person always has NPOA. They just need to find it, and get it on target. It appears you've discovered how to find it and utilize a unique way to shift it on to target.
Thanks for sharing.
So that works fine for a left to right shift on a lateral plane, does it also work for your vertical shifts? How about a diagonal?
In thinking it through in my head it makes sense that you could "pivot" or "rotate" around whatever anchored part of your body you wanted but in my personal experience in the field shooting at targets of varying distance and position during the same course of fire does not work unless that support elbow is the pivot point. That's where the quick acquisition and rapid transitions come from. That's also why a sling is better than a bipod for multiple target engagements at various distances.
Looks like I have a little dry fire practice on the menu for tonight... Thanks!
left and right is almost as easy as if my elbow was my pivot point.
verticle is as easy as a fine adjustment with my knee. belly is the coarse adjustment which comes first, knee is the final and fine adjustment
the most important thing about my npoa is it works. 3 prior appleseeds this is my 4th one and this is the only thing that works for me.
I understand what works for most people but it doesn't work for me. simply raising my knee does not dampen my breaths enough. my method does
it would have been great if the norm worked for me, I would have had npoa 4 yrs ago and made things much simpler
While it is NPOA shifts, it is not unusual NPOA...NPOA can be attained in any position, just 90% of the time you are aiming at Something you don't want to aim at and are not as steady.
NPOA is where the rifle is pointed when you are relaxed. Then adjust or NPOA Shift your bones to get it on target. Traditionally done below the waist. With Pivot point being the most forward part of the body making contact with the ground.
You are adjusting the NPOA Shifts and they are unorthodox for Appleseed.
Short answer, if it works...it works.
Long answer, don't teach it until someone has a level of proficiency with the standard shifts and gets why they work.
Once you have the fundamentals you can add or change them, as long as when you are very astray, you go back to the fundamentals and build from there.
Appleseed marksmanship is not the best high end, we are the best foundation builders. That is not a bad thing. in fact it is a very important thing that many are not wiling or knowledgeable to do.