The Rifle Issue
North Kolkata Rifle Club competition was held in April month of year 2024. It was second competition for Akshara. Just before the match Feinwerkbau 800X Rifle cheek piece came out. As a guardian I was clueless to what just happened. Probably it was not fit correctly. The cheek was fixed somehow.
I did not have much knowledge about Rifles that time. It was all new to me as well as her. The cheek piece was adjusted minutes before the match. As soon as the cheek piece was fixed sighter started. In all competition players are given 15 minutes time before actual match start.
Shooters can practice in those 15 minutes. The scores are not considered. They can adjust the Rifle and practice in those times. This is called Sighter. After the sighter actual match starts.
During the entire match Akshara was not comfortable. I could see her struggling. She completed the match and came out in tears. As a father this was hurting. I somehow consoled her and we left for home.
At that very moment I realized it is important for me to know basics of Shooting. My journey to gather information about Shooting started. That was the trigger point for me.
The Performance
Below are the series score she had in the competition. The match was in cards.
- Series 1: 85
- Series 2: 87
- Series 3: 88
- Series 4: 90
- Total: 350/400
There was gradual progression in the series score. The reason being she was getting used to the Cheek adjustment made. As mentioned above this was below our expectation. First match the score was 369. It was steep 19 points decline from first performance.
Her Thoughts
As soon as match was over she came out in tears. This was very hurting for me as a father. She was unable to control her tears. Somehow, I consoled her and tried to divert attention. She was struggling with Cheek piece. The comfort was not there. The shots were going in the upwards direction. There was irritation as the shots were going not as per her expectation.
In practice she was hitting series of 95. Series means total 10 cards. 10 cards each cards with 10 points. She was able to hit 10 in 5 cards and 9 in 5 cards. Same was her expectation in match also. At least any series below 90 she knew it was bad. In practice also she was regularly hitting shots above 90.
This played in her mind and due to expectation mismatch She was very upset. The Rifle issue played during the match. Irritation crept in due to the problem in start. This caused negative and irritating mindset. With each bad shot this increased further.
My Thoughts
After good performance in last match we both had higher expectation. The practice scores were in range of 380. But with big fall we were upset. First because of Rifle failure and second due to score. Third tears in eyes of daughter is painful for any father. I was not sure what to say and how to react.
Every parent it is important to console your child and teach them that failure is part of game. There are few things you cannot control in life and sports. Sports is very ruthless you will win one day and one day you will lose.
You need to support them through ups and downs be it in life or sports. Even Sachin Tendulkar the God of Cricket has not scored 100 in each innings. Every sports person has seen more failure than success. It is more important to prepare your child to face the failure. It is important to bounce back with more vigor than be sorry.
The game taught me as a Parent. I realized the importance of learning more about Shooting. I realized importance of standing along with your child and motivating them for better. Hope the article helps you as well.
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