GOOD SPORT FOR LIFE
Q
Give me some tips as to how to best improve at pistol shooting – what do you need to be good at?
A
The beauty of our sport is that anyone can enjoy it, starting from a 12-year-old to as long as you can see at the distance of your stretched arm ... men, women, indoor, outdoor. I would say it’s an easy sport. It’s not gymnastics or figure skating where you need to learn a new routine every now and then. We just need to coordinate three elements: steady arm, clear sights picture and smooth trigger. The only difficulty is to be able to do it 60 times. And that takes sometimes decades to master.
Q
What is your history with sponsors? Is there much money in pistol shooting?
A
It is not very common to have sponsors in shooting but I know some lucky ones. As for me, I would like to thank the management of Belmont Shooting Complex who just recently gave me some monetary incentive for representing Australia on international competitions such as the World Cup and world championship this year. It was the only support I’ve got ever since I came back from Singapore and resumed training. But generally, Shooting Australia – the national body for the sport of Olympic shooting which also includes rifle and shotgun disciplines – supports only the top-tier of the national team and pays for the trips to competitions and training camps and some athletes’ support.