Book excerpt: Acquiring the ability to accurately shoot a pistol is no simple matter. One should not assume that the art of advanced pistol marksmanship is fully realized immediately upon reading a training manual on the fundamentals and techniques of pistol shooting; nor completely understood after having received a few hours of advice and instruction from a qualified coach or expert shooter.To become a top pistol shooter and able to produce consistently high scores, one must learn to perform all the fundamentals of shooting, acquire certain definite habits, achieve flawless coordination - and above all - have a capacity for the intense concentration essential to exercising a high degree of mental control. For this, one must train.It is difficult, if not impossible, to establish a universal system of training in pistol marksmanship which will cover all cases - one that can be adapted to each shooter's technique or special need. Training pistol shooters requires an individual approach. There is no single pattern or system for the organization of training that will entirely meet the individual requirements of all competitors, nor can one ever be expected. This is the reason knowledgeable coaches take the peculiarities of an individual - such as experience, degree of preparation and fitness, and other items - into account. They use these, and by relying on their own experience, devise a training program which allows special consideration for each shooter's capabilities. In spite of the difference in details, technique or method, there is much that is common to the training of advanced marksmen, that - in the opinion of leading coaches and shooters, applies to everyone, without exception. This manualendeavors to present, in a detailed, comprehensive manner, these universal applications.Advanced pistol marksmanship training must of necessity, avoid the involved and exceedingly complex because it is an activity whose participants form a great cross-section of our nation