PUNE: There is something that the Indian shooting squad at the Tokyo Games have in common - their belief in yoga. Be it rifle shooter Apurvi Chandela or pistol shooter Abhishek Verma, they all start their day with yoga.
Indian shooters have known the benefits of yoga and pranayama for many years. But science is not just limited to Indians anymore.
Shooters from other countries have realised the power of yoga and have been practicing it for mental and physical strengthening.
Take women's rifle 50m 3 position World No. 1 shooter Seonaid McIntosh for instance. The British shooter is a potential medal winner at the Tokyo Games, but more than shooting, her Instagram feed has videos of her practicing yoga.
"I started to practise yoga in 2014 after being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. The practise was suggested to me in order to help me manage my disease both physically and mentally. Initially, I started to attend lead classes at my local yoga studio in Edinburgh. After a few months I also started self-practising at home. For me the practise really helped me to build back my strength after losing it to my disease," the World Champion shooter said.
For French skeet shooter Eric Delaunay, the need was to train his mind for shooting.
"I always had ups and downs in all my shooting seasons since I started competing in 2001. I lacked consistency in my shooting, as sometimes I shot well and sometimes really bad," the Tokyo-bound shooter said.
For me, training the mind in shooting is very important as 60% of the success depends on how strong the mind is. I didn't train for this part enough, so I started meditation in 2018," the former European Champion said.
"It helped me in better concentration, better self-control and stress management," he added.
Seonaid agreed: "I was also surprised how much the practise impacted me mentally. I found that the mental aspect of the practise and the breathing techniques that I learned helped me a lot when it came to my sport. I also think that the combination of flexibility and strength that yoga teaches is very important for shooters. I have also tried to take some of the teachings such as kindness and compassion into the other aspects of my life."
Australian skeet shooter Laura Coles is another shooter who practices yoga and has been talking about its benefits.
