Quality guidance at a young age is the key to healthy growth in any sport. Keeping this in mind, the Athletes Committee of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), with the former World and Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra as the Chairman, has brought out a comprehensive Athletes Handbook, for the benefit of shooters around the world.
The book in its digital form can be downloaded from the ISSF website.
In these days, when FAQ, frequently asked questions, provide the answers in the best format, the handbook answers 10 questions in each of the 11 chapters, addressing all aspects of the sport and beyond.
Starting with, “things to know about your body’’, nutrition, injuries, “using the power of your mind and emotions’’, dealing with commercial aspects, managing ones career, professional integrity, navigating through the international calendar, opportunities available through the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and setting career goals, the book deals with a wide spectrum of subjects through some of the best professionals in the world.
“The success of athletes and their effective participation is dependent on the timely professional guidance. Considering the range of topics covered, I believe this is a pioneering effort to present relevant information for the benefit of athletes around the world. I would like to commend Mr. Abhinav Bindra and the entire Athletes Committee, assisted by the GoSports Foundation team, for putting this together,’’ writes the president of the ISSF, Olegario Vazquez Rana.
“The challenges faced while training and participating are diverse and ever changing. Therefore, it is essential to have platforms that educate athletes and enable them to construct a structured approach that is most suited to their unique requirements,’’ says the secretary general of ISSF, Franz Schreiber.
“The creation of the ISSF Athletes Handbook is an honest attempt by the Committee to make a lasting contribution and I am thrilled to see it come to light,’’ writes Abhinav Bindra.
“We at the Athletes Committee, are pleased to have invested our efforts into this initiative. It is our humble contribution to a sport that has played an integral part of our lives and brought us much joy’’, concludes Abhinav.
“Informed choices and decisions can only be made if trusted and reliable sources of information are made available to an athlete,’’ says the Chiarman of the ISSF Medical Committee, Dr. James M. Lally in his foreword.
“It is a novel initiative that can strengthen the relationship between coaches and athletes’’, says, the Chairman of the ISSF coach Advisory Committee, Kevin Kilty.
The best has been said by the double gold medallist in men’s rifle, of the Rio Olympics, Niccolo Campriani.
“The sport has not only given me moments to cherish but has also enabled me to become a better person along the way.’ I have focused more on enjoying the process of becoming better, both as an athlete and as an individual. The outcome at major competitions like the World Championships and the Olympic Games has always been just the consequence of that process,’’ says Campriani, who was coached by Gaby Buehlmann, the same coach who had guided Abhinav to the gold in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
“I ensured that my passion for the sport never became an obsession. People often say that winning a medal at the Olympic Games is the ultimate source of happiness. For me, it has been the opposite. Only when I was happy and content with myself, was I able to win a medal. I tried various methods to make this happen and they mostly involved aspects unrelated to the sport’’, says Campriani.
After his post-graduation degree, Campriani worked part-time at Ferrari, and confesses that everything helped him enjoy his preparatory routines better in shooting.
“It helped me establish that the outcome of competitions would not determine the future possibilities. Knowing this at the Olympic finals, I was able to shoot the last shot with much more confidence,’’ he says in the book.
Campriani also reveals that when he began shooting with a rifle, he had no coach, and used to refer to a book in a different language with his dad to find solutions.
“Resources such as this handbook can be really useful. I hope that athletes around the world can absorb relevant aspects from the book and use it in unique ways to pursue a successful life,’’ says Campriani.
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