Why we never stop training…

Training is one of the most important things you can do as a shooter. It doesn’t matter if you are new to the sport or been shooting for 50 years, there is always something you can learn. Actually if you’ve been shooting 50 years, there are probably a lot of things you can be reminded of!    :-)  

Training can be reading and then practicing what you read. For most people the most effective way to learn is with an instructor. It can be expensive, so you want to plan your training to get the most benefit. Choose your trainers carefully, read reviews, understand what their style is and what will be covered before you commit. Is the course at the right level for you? A class that addresses the basic fundamentals may be boring for an experienced shooter, and a fast paced, shoot 5000 rounds in a weekend while moving and drawing from concealment could cause a new shooter to go home, sore, frustrated and scared!

It can be good to go back and revisit fundamentals if it has been a long time, but be prepared for the material, and pay attention, even if you think you know it already. There have been a lot of changes over the years and you will probably learn something new or hear it presented in a new way.

If you are an instructor already, consider asking another instructor if you can sit in on one of their classes, and offer them the same courtesy. You can learn a lot just seeing how someone else presents the material.

Remember, train as if your life may depend on it.

Safe Shooting!

NTYDTTRD Logo!

Yea!  Thank you Crystal of Stiches-n-Stones.com!

I hope you all like it!!

Targets - what do you use?

Ah, the choice of targets.  Everyone has a favorite.  Some specifc instances require a specific target type, but for go to the range practice?  My favorite technique is to flip whatever stack of targets I have around so they are blank and stick either a 3 inch or if I'm feeling adventerous a 1/4 inch round sticker in the middle and send it down range.  Yep, no fancy rings, number, shapes...just a dot.  I see a lot of folks bring white paper plates to the range.  Paper Coasters work really well, too.  They don't have to be fancy, just give you a focus point.

One of the things my instructor says is "Aim Small, Miss Small".  If you get used to focusing on a small point, you will tend to shoot that small point unless you are doing something wrong, generally with aim or trigger control, both of which can be corrected. 

Besides, there is significant satisfaction to hitting it just right and have the dot fly off the paper!  :-) 

I like to say, "Practice as if your life may depend on it". 

Safe Shooting!

Instructor Tip – Refocusing the Hyper Excited Student

Sometimes, you get out to the range and find yourself with a very excited student.  All he wants to do is fill up the magazine and rapid fire like he has seen in the movies.  I write "he" because, frankly, women don’t usually have this issue.  It is up to you, the instructor, to re-focus your student and get him to focus on the fundamentals.  As a new shooter, rapid firing 9mm rounds, he will be lucky to get shots on paper, let alone a respectable grouping.  If allowed to continue, he will escalate, getting more hyper and shooting worse.  In the end, he will be frustrated, and tired, from all the adrenaline.  It will not have been a positive experience.  That is not the goal. 

You need to “interrupt the behavior cycle”.  Yes, there is a term for it.  As he is spinning up, you need to gently, but firmly, bring him back down.  There are always different ways to do that, it depends on your personality and your student.  When it happened with me, I had him clear and lay the gun on the table, step back out of the booth and take a couple deep breaths.  Then, I circled my hands wide and brought them together in front of me while telling him he needed to center, like The Karate Kid.  Once he quit laughing, he did, and the cycle was interrupted.  We went back into the booth, I had him load 3 rounds in the magazine and fire them one at a time.  He went from all over the cardboard to drilling the 3 inch sticker I had put on the paper.  He was able to do this consistently, and after a couple reloads, I was comfortable letting him fill the magazine to capacity, and he calmly shot the sticker off the paper. 

What could have been a miserable experience turned into a happy, high-fiving student who was smiling as he left the range with his completion certificate and his souvenir target with a nice tight grouping.

Safe Shooting

For the Sheer Joy

Years ago (more than I care to admit) I took flying lessons, even soloed a few times, but got to a point where it was too expensive to keep going and gave it up.  Learning to fly is pretty intense.  My instructor, who had been a pilot for over 40 years, once told me; “sometimes you just have to punch holes in clouds.”  That was his way of telling me I needed to relax and just go, have fun, fly for the sheer joy of being up in the air.

With the craziness of the past week, the incredible response to National Take Your Daughters to the Range Day, and the associated stress of trying to pull an infrastructure together in record time so we don’t lost the momentum I’ve been losing sleep, grinding my teeth and generally grumpy.  Ok, there is another word for it, rhymes with witchy, but I don’t know who is reading this.  J

My new friend, and NTYDTTRD supporter, Cathi, reminded me I need to relax, go to the range and let go of the stress.  In doing that she reminded me why we started this project.  For a moment I had lost sight of that.  It is about the sheer joy and fun of shooting. 

My plan is to go to the range this weekend and blow holes in paper.  I’m not going to work on my next Winchester Rocker, I’m not going to practice my drills, I’m not going to do anything except relax, let the lead fly…downrange of course…and let my stress go downrange with it.  Why?  For the sheer joy of it. 

Thank you all for your support and patience.  Hopefully within about two weeks I will have finished by part of the infrastructure and will be able to focus on getting materials out, registering participating ranges, and planning the local event I will co-host.  Until then…I’ll keep going to the range and letting the lead, and the stress, fly downrange. 

Safe Shooting