Pistol Development Squad - Spring 2026 Report
Well, at least the Summer is almost here now and we can begin to feel our fingers again on the range! In view of this and in anticipation of next Winter, I have been bugging my partner to make me a bag to go over my hand like the free pistol shooters used to use, keeping my fingers a bit warmer! This would go round the action and handle, but would not support the wrist. It has an open top to enable loading.
I've had no luck persuading her so far, so I may need to just try to make it myself, watch this space…
In this vain, Callander is a fantastic club and I will look at better heating for the 25m range at Callender for next Winter, if we have to go forward onto the range and shoot from ten meters again, as it can be a bit chilly on that side.
Unfortunately, we do not currently have any new dates yet but I will release some more soon, so if you are interested please keep an eye on the Development Squad Facebook page or the STS website. I am busy just now dealing with projected training for the Black Powder Championships in Austria, and whether I can go or not this year with time and costs being taken into account. Once that is done I will confirm more training days.
We have had a great start to the year with several new shooters coming and have had a full house as well, so that's been very encouraging and it's great for me to see how enthusiastic people are, and being ready and willing to shoot the full day.
Talking of shooting the full day, we have also had three shooters who have started to shoot with one hand now, and not only were they able to shoot the full day, but also managed some amazing shooting :)
Training wise we have been doing some fairly heavy work on finals training and shots under pressure. Get used to this and you will be a force to be reckoned with at any competition, so watch out for Development Squad members if you are unlucky enough to face one of them in a final (they are also unfortunately beating me regularly now, which is most unfair…)!
We have been working on all the basics, including alignment, especially vertical alignment: vertical shots resulting in a group with less flyers together means you are achieving good trigger control, with stance and grip all working together in conjunction with alignment to the target.
We have looked at zero and how the sights work, locking the wrist, timing during finals and how much time you really have in 50 seconds, self awareness, balance, and also the new grip regulations, plus lots more and also of course lots of shooting.
Another really exciting thing is some of the Development Squad shooters have been able to go to the Performance Programme squad training coached by the STS Performance Pistol Coach. Sonal Ramendra, which has been a fantastic experience for them to be able to shoot and train alongside the performance pistol squad members. Thanks to everyone who helped to organise this and I'm looking forward to continuing this cross training in the coming year.
A massive thanks to everyone who has helped and coached: Kirsty Boardman (congratulations on your new wee one by the way!), Andrew Walker and Mark Joyce - all of you came long distances and gave up your time to be generally awesome and amazing. Thank you!
There have been some great scores, PBs and medals recently as well, so well done to everyone. Success is not always measured in wins and PB’s obviously; just to attend, compete and do your best whatever the outcome is a massively important thing in life. Experiencing this and dealing with competition is part of our life and life skills, and is never wasted.
Report by Nick Pye, Pistol AMG Development Squad Co-ordinator & Coach