Using Practice Balls For Fencing Training

Using Practice Balls For Fencing Training
By guest author: Walter Green

Hitting the target is one of the essential tasks for a fencer. This means that accuracy training is an important part of any fencer's development as an athlete. Unfortunately accuracy comes with practice - lots of practice. Experience in the martial arts suggests that 10,000 or more repetitions of a skill are needed to develop mastery. As you can imagine, your fencing master and your fellow fencers really get bored being a target to get to those sorts of numbers. This means that a training aid that is simple, inexpensive, and portable is worth exploring.

There are a variety of sophisticated target trainers available--the Target Speed is an excellent example and the various flexible arm systems are another. However, these are a reasonable investment for a club, but can be somewhat pricey for the individual. Plastic balls with holes in the shell, the practice ball, offer one option.

These balls are readily available in three sizes: a softball sized ball, a baseball, and a golf ball. Each of these represents a different target. The softball approximates the shoulder in epee or any of the flat surfaces in the primary target zone from low line under the weapon arm, up on the inside of the forward chest. The baseball is an approximate lower arm, the available target as an opponent quickly reverses direction with a parry after seeing the start of the final action of a feint attack, or the target on an opponent with a large bib and a crouching on guard. The golf ball is approximately the exposure of the hand and lower arm on a careless epee guard.

The ball you select as a practice partner depends on the target you are training to hit. But it also depends on the level of your training. Start with the biggest ball available. As you go through the drill progression, go back to the big ball every time you start a new level. When you are hitting it reliably, even when moving, move to the next smaller ball. Read more.

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