Lee Won-ho (24-KB), who is competing in the 10-meter air pistol event at the Hangzhou Asian Games, is right-handed but shoots with his left arm.
This is because his right arm, which he used to shoot in high school, suddenly began to tremble for unknown reasons.
“The extreme stress I experienced when I started shooting with my left arm made me want to give up,” Lee told reporters at the Hangzhou Asian Games Shooting Team Media Day at the Changwon International Shooting Center in Gyeongnam on Friday afternoon, adding that he aims to set a new personal best at the Asian Games.
Lee’s story is not unique around the world.
“I should have quit,” he concludes when asked what it means to switch arms as a shooter.
“When I first noticed the tremor in high school, I thought it was a simple injury caused by not exercising enough,” Lee admits.
He was diagnosed with shoulder impingement syndrome, which is common among shooters, but the ‘rattling’ tremor got worse every day.
The cause of the tremor has been described by doctors as neurological, muscular, and psychological, but he hasn’t been able to find the exact cause yet because he missed the right time to see a specialist at a major hospital.
Lee Won-ho thought, “I should quit,” but then he heard a voice from the stands.
“Isn’t that Lee Won-ho? Why is he shooting like that?”
With his pride firmly scratched, Lee Won-ho became determined to keep shooting.
The idea of shooting with his left arm became a reality when he met his middle school coach at university.
He said, “Try it with your left arm, I’ll help you a lot,” and in the summer of 2018, during his freshman year of college, he started shooting “head on the ground”.
In order to accurately aim at the target, the arm and shoulder must remain in a stationary position while holding a pistol weighing about 1.5 kilograms.
Whether he was training or not, Lee trained to hold a 3-kilogram dumbbell in his left hand until he could hold it.
He gradually started doing things with his left arm that he used to do with his right, such as spooning, and now there’s nothing he can’t do with his left except write.
I’m still right-handed in my bones.
It’s hard for her to move her left hand as freely as her right hand, so when something goes wrong, it’s hard for her to fix it quickly and freely.
He also worries that his left arm could suddenly develop a problem, like his right arm shaking inexplicably.
That’s why he hasn’t had a premonition that it’s going to work out since he started shooting with his left arm.
“I wanted to throw it all away,” he says of the extreme stress of training, but he doesn’t hesitate to say that if his right arm is treated and the tremor goes away, “I’ll shoot with my right arm again.”
“I’m just focusing on my training,” Lee said, and now he’s looking to pull the trigger on gold in Hangzhou.
“I only want to shoot above 85, which is my personal best in international competition,” Lee said.
“This is the biggest major competition I’ve ever shot in, and I want to be more helpful to my older brothers who will be competing in the team event,” he said, adding that if he achieves his goal, a medal is within reach. 토토사이트