For those looking for a sport that requires a lot of concentration and aim, sports shooting can be a great option. But do you know how to practice sports shooting? The first step is to look for shooting clubs. The best option is to visit several establishments to choose the one you like most and then take a basic-level course. To continue practicing shooting, you will need to join a club to be able to attend the range.
The ISSF (English acronym for International Shooting Sports Federation) recognizes 20 different shooting sports events. The score is scored according to the accuracy of shooting at targets that can be fixed or mobile. Depending on the category.
Carbines, pistols, or rifles can be used, depending on the category in which the athlete competes. Rifle and pistol competitions take place at shooting ranges. The objective is to hit the central area of the target. Still depending on the category, the shooter can be lying down, standing, or kneeling.
In skeet shooting, the competitions are outdoors and athletes need to hit the moving target. To score, you have to break a piece of the plate.
History of sports shooting
Sports shooting was born, of course, after the invention of the personal firearm. It is believed that, shortly after the invention of gunpowder, in the 9th century, in China, the first firearms appeared, still quite rudimentary: they were bamboo tubes that fired stones.
In the 13th century, the Arabs invented wooden cannons and, around 100 years later, bronze cannons. It was in the 16th century that firearms became portable and, only from the following century onwards, was it possible to use them for target shooting competitions.
The first shooting clubs were created in Europe in the 19th century. Sports shooting was part of the modalities that were part of the first Olympic Games of the Modern Era, at the 1896 Athens Olympics. In 1907, what is considered the first assembly of the ISSF took place, with the meeting of representatives of national associations from European countries and from Argentina.
A curious fact is that the first Brazilian Olympic gold was won in shooting, in Antwerp in 1920.
Like all sports, initially, only men could participate in shooting competitions. It was only in 1937, according to the ISSF, that women participated in a world shooting championship.
