I have been watching with interest the German progress with their new Supported Air Pistol class of match target shooting for Senior's over the age of 56 years since 2011 when it really got going.

For those that have not seen it or heard of it before the pistol is supported by balancing the base of the grip on a cross tube of about one inch diameter ( imagine the "T" handle on the top of a garden spade). Grips can be adopted or bought from grip makers such as RINK to give a flat base to the underside of the grip. This allows the pistol to roll freely over the tube and so it still needs to be controlled by the shooter.

This completely holds the weight of the pistol but does very little else to support it so it retains many of the skills of pistol shooting but takes the weight away from those old and tired backs, necks, arms, and shoulders.

When many of us "old-uns" struggle with of age related aches and pains as well as paying (with interest) the price for previous injuries such as damaged necks from Rugby tackles etc that seemed to heal OK all those years ago (but come back with some ferocity in old age to haunt us) we find air pistol shooting a lot more difficult than it used to be - and yet we still love the sport.

This Supported Air Pistol Shooting solution has a lot of appeal for myself and I hope for others who like me who struggle with age related aches and pains that remove our ability to compete with those more fortunate than ourselves who are younger and remain fit and strong enough to hold a target pistol steady with (comparative) ease.

I would like to try and start the ball rolling in the UK so by the time the next MPL postal league starts in July this year we could have a trial class for those (aged over 56 years) that would like to have a go at shooting Senior Supported Air Pistol.

I would be happy to produce a set of rules to invite comment and helpful contributions so that we may develop them into a workable and practical set of provisional rules to cover the equipment permitted and the way it could be used here in the UK at home and in the club ranges.

Maybe in due course we can start to catch the Senior German shooters who appear to be having all of the fun with Supported Air Pistol Shooting at the moment - or maybe us "older folk" should just do our own thing and enjoy it here in the UK before "Father Time" takes it away from us completely and forever