I am just now back from a 2 hour private instruction session. It was close to home for me. I went to help a lady who is old enough to be my mother. She has been shooting steel for four years in Texas during the winter time. She wants to get better at it. She and her family have their small range out behind the tool shed. She is shooting a Smith and Wesson Victory with a red dot on it.
I am happy with how the session went for the both of us. She was a sponge and soaked up the material that I provided. We talked through a number of shooting elements and how they relate and how they work together. She had a steel array set up and I had her do a few runs on the array as she normally does things and were noted the times. Her times were 7 seconds and change on these initial runs. By the time we ended she was running the array in the low fives. She repeated a time of 5.26 seconds several times in a row. She had a handful of runs in the mid 4's as well.
There are so many points that should be take note of from this experience. An open minded student can make progress that is dramatic in less than 100 rounds if they listen to someone who knows the right material. She could have shot 1000 rounds and not been any better for the effort and the expense. Lots of people think training is too expensive. Not if you learn from the session.
This lady has done enough shooting on her own that she had some bad habits. She is planning on putting the time in to change those habits because she wants to improve. If she had gotten this instruction four years ago before she formed the wrong habits. She would be much further along. Building good habits from the start is much easier than fixing things later.
I feel a little embarrassed about this next part. I don't like to blow my own horn. I preferred to let the score sheet and my clients do the talking. But I have run into this many times over the last ten years. The lady today asked me why she had not heard of these fundamental skills that I taught her before now because she has a couple of good friends that have helped her and they are NRA certified instructors. This lady is not the type that is going to let you off the hook with a vague answer. I have done other sessions where the same question has been put to me. Last winter I had a young woman seek me out because she could not shoot accurately after taking a class (not NRA) and some private instruction at Point Blank in Greenwood. After going through the fundamentals she stopped me and said I was telling the exact opposite of what she had been told else where. After a 15 minute period of shooting doing what I told her to do she had enjoyed the best accuracy of her life. There are certain fundamentals that must be in place to get hits and to do it at speed. The right instructor is a thing. It is a big thing. Certifications may mean something or they may not mean much.
Context is a big thing. Tom Givens and his classes have driven that point home with me. Someone who does not shoot competition is not going to be able to help you with that. Someone who does not understand the defensive use of a pistol is not going to be able to help you with that. Someone who cannot shoot is not going to be able to teach you to shoot well. I have had a number of people want to be an instructor with me or at Parabellum, but they cannot hit the target. I refuse to hire them. It pisses some of them off drastically. A good instructor should be able to teach someone who is younger and has better reflexes to shoot better or faster than the instructor can. If I do my job well there will be a day when my son is better with a gun than I am, and hopefully better than I ever was.
If you want to shoot well. Get some instruction. Get the right instruction. Do it before you have bad habits if possible. If that is not possible do it sooner rather than later. It can make a big difference. I had a client a few years back up at Warsaw who did 1 hour of private instruction. She was pretty inaccurate when she arrived. She had taken 32 hours of classes from an NRA certified instructor. We worked hard for that hour and the difference on the target was impressive. You cannot learn to shoot in the classroom. You have lay the foundation properly to build upon. She was a little angry at how little she had gotten from those other classes in comparison. Classes can be just as helpful as private instruction but it has to be the right class.
The right instructor leaves you with a practice plan for the new skills you have acquired. A good instructor shows you the way and explains why it is the way. Then it is up to you to practice and master it and own it.
It sure is rewarding for the instructor when the class or session goes well. Plus it is nice to get paid.
I am happy with how the session went for the both of us. She was a sponge and soaked up the material that I provided. We talked through a number of shooting elements and how they relate and how they work together. She had a steel array set up and I had her do a few runs on the array as she normally does things and were noted the times. Her times were 7 seconds and change on these initial runs. By the time we ended she was running the array in the low fives. She repeated a time of 5.26 seconds several times in a row. She had a handful of runs in the mid 4's as well.
There are so many points that should be take note of from this experience. An open minded student can make progress that is dramatic in less than 100 rounds if they listen to someone who knows the right material. She could have shot 1000 rounds and not been any better for the effort and the expense. Lots of people think training is too expensive. Not if you learn from the session.
This lady has done enough shooting on her own that she had some bad habits. She is planning on putting the time in to change those habits because she wants to improve. If she had gotten this instruction four years ago before she formed the wrong habits. She would be much further along. Building good habits from the start is much easier than fixing things later.
I feel a little embarrassed about this next part. I don't like to blow my own horn. I preferred to let the score sheet and my clients do the talking. But I have run into this many times over the last ten years. The lady today asked me why she had not heard of these fundamental skills that I taught her before now because she has a couple of good friends that have helped her and they are NRA certified instructors. This lady is not the type that is going to let you off the hook with a vague answer. I have done other sessions where the same question has been put to me. Last winter I had a young woman seek me out because she could not shoot accurately after taking a class (not NRA) and some private instruction at Point Blank in Greenwood. After going through the fundamentals she stopped me and said I was telling the exact opposite of what she had been told else where. After a 15 minute period of shooting doing what I told her to do she had enjoyed the best accuracy of her life. There are certain fundamentals that must be in place to get hits and to do it at speed. The right instructor is a thing. It is a big thing. Certifications may mean something or they may not mean much.
Context is a big thing. Tom Givens and his classes have driven that point home with me. Someone who does not shoot competition is not going to be able to help you with that. Someone who does not understand the defensive use of a pistol is not going to be able to help you with that. Someone who cannot shoot is not going to be able to teach you to shoot well. I have had a number of people want to be an instructor with me or at Parabellum, but they cannot hit the target. I refuse to hire them. It pisses some of them off drastically. A good instructor should be able to teach someone who is younger and has better reflexes to shoot better or faster than the instructor can. If I do my job well there will be a day when my son is better with a gun than I am, and hopefully better than I ever was.
If you want to shoot well. Get some instruction. Get the right instruction. Do it before you have bad habits if possible. If that is not possible do it sooner rather than later. It can make a big difference. I had a client a few years back up at Warsaw who did 1 hour of private instruction. She was pretty inaccurate when she arrived. She had taken 32 hours of classes from an NRA certified instructor. We worked hard for that hour and the difference on the target was impressive. You cannot learn to shoot in the classroom. You have lay the foundation properly to build upon. She was a little angry at how little she had gotten from those other classes in comparison. Classes can be just as helpful as private instruction but it has to be the right class.
The right instructor leaves you with a practice plan for the new skills you have acquired. A good instructor shows you the way and explains why it is the way. Then it is up to you to practice and master it and own it.
It sure is rewarding for the instructor when the class or session goes well. Plus it is nice to get paid.