30/08/2026
🎯 **50m Rifle 3P Shooters — A Rule Change That Could Change How You Prepare for Finals**
Shooting rules don't only decide how a competition is conducted.
Sometimes, they can actually change the way an athlete needs to prepare.
And one of the newly confirmed changes for the **50m Rifle 3 Positions Final at LA28** is a good example.
Earlier, shooters were accustomed to the competition controlling the progression from one position to another.
Under the newly confirmed format, **Kneeling and Prone will be combined into one timed phase.**
The important part?
👉 The shooter will have greater responsibility for managing the transition between the two positions within the allotted time.
At first glance, this may look like a small competition-format change.
As a coach, I think there is a much bigger lesson hidden inside it.
🎯 **POSITION CHANGE NOW BECOMES PART OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT**
A 3P shooter isn't only shooting three technically different positions.
The athlete also has to:
• come out of one position,
• physically reorganise,
• adjust equipment,
• establish the next position,
• find the Natural Point of Aim,
• settle breathing and body tension,
• and return to competition-quality ex*****on.
And all of this happens while the match clock continues to matter.
This means transition should not be treated simply as the time between two shooting positions.
**Transition itself is a skill.**
A technically excellent prone position is of limited value if the shooter wastes unnecessary time getting into it.
Similarly, rushing the transition just to save time can be equally damaging if the shooter starts the next position without properly establishing the body and NPA.
So what should developing 3P shooters learn from this?
👉 Don't practise only the three positions independently.
Sometimes practise the **transition between them** as well.
Kneeling → transition → Prone.
Learn how much time YOU realistically need to:
✔️ change position calmly
✔️ make equipment adjustments
✔️ establish NPA
✔️ settle the body
✔️ and become ready for the first quality shot
The objective should not be:
**“How quickly can I change position?”**
It should be:
**“How efficiently can I become ready to execute my next good shot?”**
That's a very different question.
And this is something young 3P shooters can start developing long before they ever reach an international final.
Rules may change.
But good shooters learn to turn those changes into better preparation. 🎯
— **Satinder Singh**
*ISSF Certified Coach*
📞 +91 96192 74784