Develop and Improve Important Life Skills

The Sport of Target Pistol Shooting helps develop some of the most important skills that individuals rely on for success in their personal and business lives. As athletes keep training and trying to increase their competitive level in the sport, they improve their ability to concentrate, increase self-esteem, and develop self-discipline and organization while training. Successful sportsmen also have a very developed ability to set and achieve goals by creating solid plans, making sure that each day of training counts. Consequently, their time management and goal-setting skills improve along with their shooting performance.

Safe Sport

Safety Counts! Safe habits are trained into participants of the shooting sports. A study of college sports found that this sport is one of the least potentially dangerous. Lack of physical contact between competitors and safety oriented treatment of equipment keep accidents to a minimum. Participation in shooting sports at an early age helps build a safety-minded society and helps prevent gun accidents, just as learning how to swim helps prevent drowning.

Psychological Knowledge

Professional Pistol Target Shooters are known to possess strong stress control skills and mind management techniques. They pay thorough attention to details. Such traits, along with other important psychological skills, help shooting athletes to manage their time more efficiently, and obtain success in business and family life faster.

High Level of Confidence and Proficiency in Pistol Shooting

A professional shooting athlete always strives to improve his level of performance to advance to more prestigious competitions, such as the Olympic Games. There are always records to beat and tournaments to win. Consistent improvement brings confidence in one’s skills and abilities, assuring stability and strong performance no matter the external conditions, thus increasing self-reliance.

Business Opportunity

Many Target Pistol Shooting professionals possess exclusive knowledge of the sport as well as important psychological assets that are applicable to all areas in life. You can begin teaching shooting classes as a private coach, become an NRA Certified Pistol Instructor, join an athletic department at a high school or a university as a target shooting coach, or even become a self-help guru!

Scholarships for College

A number of U.S. colleges and universities offer scholarship opportunities to outstanding shooting athletes. Schools know that great shooters make great students and they are willing to provide financial assistance to such individuals.
For more information on college shooting, visit:
http://usashooting.com/CollegeCoaches/CollegeCoaches.cfm
http://www.nrahq.org/compete/coldir.asp

Publicity

Be proud of your accomplishments by seeing your name printed in local newspapers, U.S.A. Shooting publications. High performing athletes are interviewed by news media for TV sports channels and newspapers published in the U.S. as well as other countries. Your name will be known throughout your community as well as among target shooting professionals all around the world.

Educational Advantage

Grade point averages of shooters are some of the highest among athletes. The target shooting sport has consistently attracted academically strong students. A strong Pistol Target Shooting team is a great selling point for promoting a university as a great academic as well as recreational institution. This sport is a favorite on many outstanding college campuses. Elite schools such as MIT, Cornell, Yale, and West Point, among others, maintain intramural shooting teams and provide classes. Target shooting has been known to elevate classroom performance along with shooting level.

Financial Advantage

Target shooting is a growing sport, especially in the United States. Many tournaments offer large cash prizes for winning performers.
o Olympic Gold Medal in Pistol Shooting comes with a $25,000 top prize in cash for the winning athlete.
o The Infinity U.S. Open held in June 2005 offered up to $30,000 cash in prizes. It is one of the largest Pistol events in the nation, open to people from all 50 states, civilian, service, and law enforcement.
o USA Shooting Championship held in 2005 at Fort Benning was sponsored by PilkGuns, offering $5,000 cash to the winning shooter.
o The Bianchi Cup Pistol Tournament draws one of the largest shooting sports crowds to the range. This is also where some of the largest cash prizes are awarded. The winning athletes at the Bianchi Cup have won up to $10,000 cash plus merchandise.
Numerous other competitions are held all around the country throughout the year. Participate, win money, and qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team!

Be Proud of Representing your Country on the World Stage

By being a nationally ranked athlete and participating in the Olympic Games, you have the immense honor of representing your country and your community at competitions throughout the world, such as National Tournaments, World Championships, and the Olympic Games. By being a part of the U.S. Olympic Team and wearing your team uniform, a competitor instills pride in his community as the home of an outstanding athlete. This is a very rare and priceless honor, available only to a select few who are willing to work hard and practice to reach this commendable level.

Travel

By making the U.S. National Team, you can travel around the world with no monetary expenses, meeting new and remarkable athletes and people from many different countries. Throughout the year, U.S. target shooters travel to famous cultural centers in Europe and Asia such as Munich (Germany), Milan and Rome (Italy), Bangkok (Thailand), Colorado Springs (USA), and Beijing (China). Broaden your horizons and take part in this internationally popular sport.

The Perfect Sport for All Ages

Target Pistol Shooting is a fun, inexpensive, and rewarding pastime for the whole family! There are no limiting age requirements in target shooting. Unlike most other sports, it is never too early or too late to begin Target Pistol Shooting. For example, 17 year old Konstantin Lukashyk won the gold medal in Men’s 50m Pistol event at the 1992 Olympics. A very close runner-up was Ragnar Skanaker, who was 58 at the time. Target shooting allows and encourages vast age differences.
Also, the oldest Olympic medalist (72), as well as the oldest Olympic Gold medalist (64) titles are both held by the same target shooting athlete, Oscar Schwan.

The Perfect Sport for All People

Gender and level of physical fitness are not as important in shooting sports, as compared to other common athletic activities. By its nature, this sport allows participants to compete on an equal level. International level shooters all agree that their sport is only 10% technical and 90% mental.
o Hungarian shooter Karoly Takacs was part of a world-champion pistol shooting team in 1938 when he lost his right hand in an army grenade explosion. A decade later, after teaching himself to fire left-handed, he won two consecutive gold medals in rapid-fire pistol at the 1948 and 1952 Games.
o At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, a Chinese female competitor Zhang Shan won the gold in a mixed-sex skeet event, the last Olympics before women were barred from competing against men.

Less Expensive and Easier to Begin than Rifle or Shotgun

Target Pistol Shooting requires much less start-up capital and equipment than rifle or shotgun shooting. An international level rifleman has to spend more than $15,000 on his equipment and clothing to compete on a high level. Pistols, however, are light and compact, which allows this specific shooting discipline to attract and accommodate a wide range of participants.
Target Pistol Shooting requires less equipment than rifle or shotgun disciplines, as well as most other traditional college sports. There are fewer expenses associated with starting a pistol club or organizing an intramural team at a college or university. At some campuses, students have been known to successfully start clubs with little or no help from the administration or official college sports coordinators.

Contact us today to sign up for classes:

Prices & Tips
Midwest Academy of Target Shooting
Phone: (248) 935-3257
Email: rdiatlov@hotmail.com
Mail: Attn: Ruslan Dyatlov
Midwest Academy of Target Shooting
P.O. Box 2017 Royal Oak, MI 48068-2017