Stance when shooting from barriers

[C.R. Adams]

For discussion - When shooting from a standing position off a barrier or a tripod, whether bent at the hips or more upright; which of the following do you believe is more conducive to a stable stance? 1) A natural, relaxed, shoulder width foot placement with body weight distributed evenly over a "grounded" foot (weight evenly distributed over ball, heel, outside edge, arch of the foot, etc) or 2) A slightly wider than shoulder width, less natural stance creating a bit more of a "triangular" support. However, weight is not distributed evenly over the foot and more so along the outside edge of the foot.

 

[SuperBoot]

For discussion - When shooting from a standing position off a barrier or a tripod, whether bent at the hips or more upright; which of the following do you believe is more conducive to a stable stance? 1) A natural, relaxed, shoulder width foot placement with body weight distributed evenly over a "grounded" foot (weight evenly distributed over ball, heel, outside edge, arch of the foot, etc) or 2) A slightly wider than shoulder width, less natural stance creating a bit more of a "triangular" support. However, weight is not distributed evenly over the foot and more so along the outside edge of the foot.

Depending on the height of the barricade I generally set myself pretty far off the obstacle and bend at the hips so I can load myself into the obstacle and take up slack if it'll let me. Feet are generally wider than shoulder length apart. I push with the balls of my feet kind of the same way you would loading the bipod prone. Tripod, same story. I generally try and use the top of the scope or a tripod leg as a place for my support hand.

Depending on how low I've gotta go a J-Lo booty pop might get thrown in there somewhere too

 

[Cascade Precision]

Are we teaching this, "J-Lo booty pop," anywhere?

But this ^^ is going I shoot barricades and tripods as well.

 

[hereinaz]

I am 6'2" so end up bent over if I can't kneel. This is on a table, but I do the same on lowish barricades, tripods, etc. I have to spread put my legs to get my hips low enough to bend. Like above, I will lock an arm on a barricade, tripod, etc. for stability. Locked knees are more stable for me.

There may be a better way, but it is all I got now...

 

[Dthomas3523]

Depends on stability of the prop. If the prop is stable enough to hold your weight, square up to it and lean on it turning your feet and the prop into a tripod.

If the prop is not stable, blade off only as much as needed to stay stable. With the goal being to get as squared off as possible with only the minimum amount of blading.

Feet width is almost solely dictated by the height of the shooting platform. You only want a slight bend of the knee at the very most. The higher the platform the closer your feet. The lower the platform the wider your feet.

The goal here is to not bend the knee more than slightly. If you get to a point where you are bending your knees a lot to get low enough, it’s likely low enough to take a single or double kneeling position.

 

[Forward543]

Dry fire practice at every level you can reach. And dthomas has a good description of not trying to hold position with muscle. Try to "lock" supporting joints, or have direct bone support when possible. If you lean too heavily into barricades it seems to cause too much variation. When I am in between full standing and kneeling, I try to stay balanced on my feet, while spreading them out to adjust for the elevation, with minimal support from the prop.

 

[hlee]

Foot stance is dictated by prop height. I've seen everything from tippy toes (and standing on a pump pillow) to the afore mentioned J Lo booty pop stance- and done most of them. Get comfortable and get steady. That's the name of the game. How you get there is a function of your body type.