“He who doesn’t know, he teaches”, says the saying, but this is certainly not true for Fleischer Bernadette, a sport shooting instructor from Debrecen, because in such a sport every millimeter counts, not to mention that if a bullet goes in the wrong place, it can be a huge problem . Fortunately, this has not happened to the athlete from Hajdúság, especially because he is the first to communicate accident prevention instructions to future Olympic champions.
The beginnings
It has been eight years since the specialist from Debrecen started the sport. In the beginning, he applied to the Debrecen Shooting School Sports Association as an athlete, but over the years he decided that he was even more interested in coaching. – When I turned 16, my father took me to the shooting range, and even then I was preoccupied with the idea of what it would be like if I got a job in this.
By the way, I have many female colleagues, especially in the association. I competed for two years, but joint work with the University of Debrecen began in 2017. I started coaching in 2019, obviously I liked the profession before, I’m glad it turned out this way.
“It’s sometimes difficult with the university students, because there are many of us, but this is a positive thing, overall, I really like teaching them classes,” he said, then emphasized: the classes are usually over in minutes, one of the most popular physical education subjects among students.
It makes sense to start shooting sports early
According to Fleischer Bernadett, he is trying to make people fall in love with a sport that requires a lot of physical preparation and endurance. Regardless of any sport, experts usually advise students to start as early as possible. The coach answered our portal’s question by saying that he recommends starting at the age of 10, but this does not exclude other age groups either, as he currently has more experienced competitors. – You can start at any time, but we recommend starting at the age of 10, because then they can already handle the rifle.
It is more difficult as an adult, because there is constant supply, there are many junior cups or age group competitions. It is part of the truth that people have different daily routines due to generational differences.
– If someone starts it as a child, it is also included that this will be their profession – he continued.
The Olympics are a great motivational force
During the conversation, it was also revealed that many people stop shooting sports prematurely. Although Fleischer Bernadett also said that it is difficult to combine training with work at a professional level, it is not impossible. It’s been a long time since the sport became a competition at the Olympics, which can be a huge motivation for athletes, but according to the expert, a lot of work and perseverance is required for someone to get a quota for the five-ring games. – It is important to point out that an incredible amount of work is required for someone to compete in the Olympics. Young people tend to be very enthusiastic, and of course older people too, but it’s hard to combine it with work, for example. We usually hold 3-4 training sessions per week for the dedicated ones, but this number can also increase.
Sports shooters who already compete at this level have very serious training in the gym.
“However, there is a lot of work to be done on the way there, so we used to recommend such trainings,” he said.
Nobody was injured
The specialist was so nice that he allowed me to try out how difficult it was – not that I was skeptical before – to hold an airgun and use it as intended. I admit, it is much more complex than many of us can imagine. I commented several times, “it’s hard to aim because my hands are moving”, to which I received the humorous answer, “that’s his job”. With this, my trainer for half an hour now – officially – wanted to point out that everyone has to figure out the technique by themselves, but he helps with the basics without further ado. After roughly 10-20 shots, I hoped that everyone would be safe, and then my teacher was indeed right: my last seven attempts hit the target, so I left the room with a big smile on my face, but I’m not applying for the main role in Bradley Cooper’s American Sniper movie yet.