FORT BENNING, GA --(Ammoland.com)- Progressive Position Pistol (PPP) appears to be a well-kept secret or a misunderstood opportunity for coaches to prepare junior athletes for Olympic pistol sports.

The USAS National Pistol Coach, Sergey Luzov is on the hunt for junior pistol shooters who aspire to make the US National Pistol Team and compete in the Olympic Games and other world championships. The future pipeline of high potential Olympic pistol athletes (especially women/girls) is down to a trickle which jeopardizes our ability to dominate the Olympic pistol events and win medals for the US in the future.

The PPP program is intended to introduce young pistol shooters to competitive pistol shooting and give them a natural progression into the Junior Olympic pistol competitions sponsored by USA Shooting (USAS) and the conventional pistol competitions sponsored by the National Rifle Association of America (NRA).

USA Shooting recognizes the need to get youth involved in competitive shooting at a younger age. One of the problems is that most air guns are too heavy for smaller, younger shooters. The PPP program creates an opportunity for youth to begin at an earlier age. There is no minimum age limit. How early a youth starts shooting pistol depends on the youth’s ability to hold and shoot an air pistol safely as determined by an experienced pistol coach. Also, any person may compete in Progressive Position Pistol until 31 December of the year of his or her 20th birthday.

The Progressive Position Pistol Program is designed to ‘progressively’ develop junior pistol athletes from supported positions to the Olympic one handed unsupported shooting. PPP gives the junior athlete the opportunity to focus on and learn the foundational pistol skills with the opportunity to participate in competitions. This develops confidence, skills and knowledge at an early age.

The PPP match competition is a precision pistol event. Multi-shot pistols may be used, but only a single pellet may be loaded at any given moment. The pistols must be .177 caliber (4.5 mm), and use compressed air or compressed, non-flammable gas (such as CO2) for propellant.

The PPP program allows juniors to participate with minimal expense for equipment and ammunition. Similarly ranges can be set up in any large room that has a minimum of 43 feet in length (33 feet from firing point to target and approximately 10 feet behind the firing point for shooters and range officers/coaches). Conference rooms, some school rooms, gymnasiums, student activity centers, some climate controlled warehouses, etc. make excellent starting ranges.

There are three categories of competitors in the Progressive Position Pistol Program. They are defined by the shooting position used by the competitor.

They are:

• • Basic Supported
• • Standing Supported
• • International (One-Handed) Standing

Basic Supported

• Minimum age: None (depends on the youth’s ability to hold and shoot an air pistol safely as determined by an experienced pistol coach).
• Maximum age: Thirteen.

The rules of the Basic Supported are written very broadly...

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