Games

Fumble

Works on: Set-up Consistency

Pairs of 2. Athlete 1 gets into position to take 1 shot. As they get into position, their partner watches closely for any error. I.e. Bad position, clip not going in smoothly, arm cuff clip-in not smooth (for those who have it). If Athlete 1 does everything perfectly, they can take 1 shot. If Athlete 2 sees an error, they say “FUMBLE” and then the Athlete 1 cannot take their shot. Then they switch. IMPORTANT! They must clear the rifle after each shot – clip out, bolt open. They continue alternating until one person has hit 5/5.

Take out Charlie

Works on: Accuracy, Speed

Athletes will need to find side by side lanes – might need help moving rifles and rests. Say athletes are on lanes 21 and 22. They pick one lane to shoot at, say 22. At the same time, athlete on the left lane, will shoot Alpha until hit, then Bravo, then Charlie. Athlete on the right lane, will shoot Echo until hit, then Delta, then Charlie. The first to Charlie is the winner. Athletes must stand up after each shot – clip out and bolt open. After winning, they can battle more athletes and tally up their wins. Extra challenge to do this standing on prone targets.

Shoot out or Kill

Works on: Accuracy, Speed

Athletes are on their own lane. The goal is to shoot every other target but their own. Can be done as elimination – once their 5 targets are shot, they are out, or they can keep shooting until one person remains. I usually give them 20 shots each to help limit.

Extra level (On prone targets): If you are playing elimination-style, once an athlete’s 5 target are hit down, they can become a “ghost”. This means they can stand up and keep shooting, but then then are trying to shoot prone targets while in standing position.

Points

Works on: Accuracy

Athletes shoot on paper. For every hit in the inner ring prone, they get +3 points. For every prone hit, they get +1 point.
Then they shoot on metal, for every miss, they subtract 5 points.
For younger kids the points will need to be adjusted, less for metal misses or more for paper hits. If doing this standing, a prone ring hit is +3, a regular standing hit is +1.

1 Shot Mini Relay

Works on: Race Simulation, Set-up, Speed

Mini Relay Race- Partner up. Each athlete can only take 1 shot at a time. Tag off at the fence.
Alternate until the first 3 teams have all 10 shots down on their 2 lanes.

Mingle

Works on: Speed

Athletes each have their own lane and sit in the middle of the range and “mingle”. Sort of like musical chairs where they buzz around in a small group and mix themselves up. The coach will yell a number between 1-5 and the athletes will have to hit that number. They can use as many shots as they need to hit that many. The first 3 are the winners. Everyone else stops, clears their rifles and start to mingle again for the next round.

Distraction

Works on: Focus

Athletes are in pairs or teams. Athletes take one shot at a time and then alternate. The partner or team not shooting, tries to distract the ones that are. They can make any noise, sing songs, say whatever they think will distract the other person. They CANNOT touch the person, their rifle, breathe into their face or move their mat. Alternate 1-shots until someone gets all 5 down. This can also be done with a loud World Cup Soundtrack for a true international racing experience.

In a Row

Works on: Accuracy

Athletes try to get as many shots as they can in a row. If they miss, they go back to zero. Can be done as 1 shots or with a clip. Usually I limit to 4 clips or 2 tries to reach the “in a row” goal.

Versus

Works on: Accuracy, Teamwork

Split the range in half. For example: 4 lanes vs. 4 lanes. Line everyone up at the fence, at “go” each group can fill their lanes and take one shot, then clear the rifle and the next person on the team can go. All 6 lanes of each team should be full at any time as the participants alternate after each shot. First side clean wins.

Can add a “dizzy” component by asking the athletes to spin before getting into position. Or give them a penalty for misses before tagging.

Elimination

Works on: Accuracy, Pressure

Coach calls out when to take one shot at a time. Athletes take the shot. If they miss, they are eliminated, but they join the cheering/distraction squad behind the remaining athletes. Continue shot for shot until one athlete remains. Remind them about focusing even under pressure. Ask them what they will focus on. Then play again. One shot at a time, but they don’t have to get up after each shot. You can also play with 1-2 lives so they aren’t eliminated on the first miss. 

Added Pressure, after each 5 shots, you can move from Prone to Standing to Standing on Prone targets.

OUtlast

Works on: Holding Position, Accuracy, Stability

Athletes shoot in the order they are positioned, but only one at a time. So lane 1, then lane 2, then lane 3 holding position the whole time until the shot comes back to them. Athletes can take as long as they want to shoot, forcing the others in position to continue to hold. Once they miss they are eliminated. You can also play with 1-2 lives so they aren’t eliminated on the first miss. 

Added Pressure, after each 5 shots, you can move from Prone to Standing to Standing on Prone targets.

Staple Challenge

Works on: Accuracy

Athletes shoot at a paper target with 1 staple in the middle until they knock out the staple and the target falls. Usually I give them around 15 shots. Sometimes the shot will hold the target on, so at the end of practice, it’s good to go down and just flick the target and see if it falls. Can do this as a completion drill or as a race.

King/Queen of the Range

Works on: Race Simulation, Speed, Accuracy

Athletes start at the fence. On “go”, they run up and shoot 5 prone. They have to go around a rifle rack as a penalty loop per miss, then back to fence, and go back into 5 standing. On the last lap, they can choose prone or standing and can change their own target – or have a helper – to complete their last round of shooting.

Summary: 5 shots prone, penalties, 5 shots standing, penalties, 5 shots their choice, penalties, finish.

Speed Walk Race

Works on: Race Simulation

You can do any type of race – but they can only speed walk. Great for practicing race procedure multiple times and pressure shooting without tiring them out.

Trigger Buddies

Works on: Trigger, Teamwork

Athletes are in pairs and side by side on 2 lanes. One partner will get into position on their rifle and aim, while the other must pull their trigger for them. They must figure out how to communicate when to take the shot on their own. Once a shot is taken, hit or miss, the one who is holding the rifle, gets up and runs to the fence and back while their partner gets into position on their rifle on the lane beside them. Then the athlete that just ran is in charge of pulling the trigger while their partner now aims. First team to get their 10 shots down wins.

SCooter Race

Works on: Race Simulation

Athletes take off one ski and have to scooter around any course for a race. You can also mix it up, where one lap they have to scooter on one leg, the next lap – the other leg, then maybe no poles or only poles or then ski backwards. There are lots of options for laps.

They can also do team chariot races where athletes take turns pulling their partner around with their poles.

Garage Sale

Works on: Race Simulation

Athletes take off all gear (skis and poles) and mix it up in a big pile in the stadium. Line them all up, and say go, they will run to the pile and collect and put on one piece of equipment. It does not have to be their own. Then they come in and shoot. Usually have some penalty for misses – Silly squats, push ups, jumping jacks, star jumps, etc. Then back around the fence and pick another piece of equipment. Continue until they have 4 pieces of equipment and cross the finish line. It does not have to be their own equipment and it does not have to be 2 skis and 2 poles. They can have 4 skis or 4 poles or any combination.

Hockey/Soccer Combo

Works on: Accuracy

Athletes play field hockey as normal. Every 3-4 minutes, call the athletes to go shoot. If anyone shoots clean in the range, they get a point for their hockey team. Then go back and play hockey. Sometimes they keep score.

Patrol Race

Works on: Race Simulation

Athletes are in teams of 2 and start in the range behind their mat. Say “go”, and the partners must clean both their lanes before leaving. They can crossfire if one partner is clean and the other is not. They get unlimited ammo. Then they must ski together around the course, come back in and shoot together again and clean again, lap again, on final range loop, they must shoot clean first to finish.

Pyramid Challenge

Works on: Accuracy, Pressure

Athletes walk/run/ski a lap (short is better), then take 1 shot. If they are successful they take a lap and go for 2 hits. If successful they lap and then go for 3 hits. This goes to 4, 5, then 4, 3, 2, 1. If they miss a shot in the progression, they stay on that level until they are successful. I.e. If they need to hit 4, they must hit 4 before moving on to 5, etc.

For added difficulty, if they miss, they go back to level 1.

Gamble Game

Works on: Accuracy

Athletes all line up at the fence. The coach says a number, say “4”. The athletes choose if they think they can hit 4, if they think they can, they go up to their lane to shoot. If they are unsuccessful, they are eliminated. But if everyone who chooses to shoot is successful, then anyone who chose to stay on the fence is eliminated. Continue until 1 remains.

*Game Credit to Luke McGurk

Machine Gun

Works on: Teamwork, Speed, Accuracy

Athletes are in teams of 4. They line up on 4 lanes side by side. On “go” athlete 1 takes a shot, then athlete 2, then 3, then 4, then back to 1. They do this in order (2 can’t shoot before 1, 3 can’t shoot before 2, etc.), one shot at a time, until each athlete has shot all 5 shots in their magazine.

The team then tallies how many they hit, once all the teams go, they see which team was the highest.

Speed Targets

On “Go” athletes run to their mat to shoot. If they hit a target, they are safe. Athlete may shoot until they have a target hit. The last one standing without a hit target, has to hold the position and dryfire. Game continues until 1 winner and everyone else is holding the position.

Biathlon Bingo

Teams of 2 try to complete the bingo board. This was set-up for Senior B/G. Adjust as needed

 Click to Download Bingo

Future Game

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Future Game

Help out other coaches!

Send in your games to have them featured on the website! 

Future Game

Help out other coaches!

Send in your games to have them featured on the website! 

Future Game

Help out other coaches!

Send in your games to have them featured on the website!