I reintroduced someone to handgun shooting today. I gather that she hadn't been all that into it before, but seems very interested in learning now. It's amazing what a world turning upside-down can do for a person's attitude about things...
Basically, I brought as wide a variety of handguns as I could manage (which isn't that wide, unfortunately) and took her through the basics of pistol shooting and the specifics of how each operated before letting her loose shooting whichever she wanted.
Right next to me, a guy spent a little time "teaching" his girlfriend how to shoot. He didn't know his limitations because he was a lousy instructor. I actually felt the need to step in and give a couple of quick tips because he wasn't doing anything to correct the flinch she had that was putting bullets into the ground at 5 yards. Just unsafe...
Let me start off with what to do right, and then I'll get into where this guy showed me you can go wrong.
The right way:
Just a note on follow-through: I think this is one of the most under-taught secrets to shooting well that exists. When I discovered it, my groups tightened up considerably and it helped keep me from developing bad habits that result from anticipating the pistol going off. I've shown it to a few other people and watched them cut their group size by half or better.
Now what not to do, thanks to macho big pec dude with arm tats and MMA t-shirt:
We need to introduce new shooters, and we need to bring inactive shooters back, but we need to do it the right way! Being like this moron I saw today is a great way to turn new shooters off. That girl is going to go tell all her friends that she went and it was "OK", but the gun was loud and kicked real hard and she couldn't hit fuckall, so it wasn't all that fun.
Meanwhile, at my side of the table, my "student" was handling a P220, 1911 and revolver safely and accurately enough to take the X out at 7 yards by the end of the day.
Basically, I brought as wide a variety of handguns as I could manage (which isn't that wide, unfortunately) and took her through the basics of pistol shooting and the specifics of how each operated before letting her loose shooting whichever she wanted.
Right next to me, a guy spent a little time "teaching" his girlfriend how to shoot. He didn't know his limitations because he was a lousy instructor. I actually felt the need to step in and give a couple of quick tips because he wasn't doing anything to correct the flinch she had that was putting bullets into the ground at 5 yards. Just unsafe...
Let me start off with what to do right, and then I'll get into where this guy showed me you can go wrong.
The right way:
- Start with a student who wants to learn! If they're not interested or simply lukewarm, you're both going to go home unhappy and probably pissed at each other.
- Be patient. If you're having trouble with a point, both of you should take a break or do something else and come back to it later.
- Break it down. People learn better when you give them one thing at a time. Throwing ten things at them at once, they're probably not going to learn and will often feel like you're overwhelming them, which turns them off to learning.
- Positive reinforcement! "Good shot!" "Good form!" and statements like that go a looooong way to building confidence and more importantly toward reinforcing the good habits over the bad. Operant conditioning works just as well on people as it does dogs...
- Invest some time. This stuff is hard, and you've (hopefully) been shooting for quite some time. Remember how long you've been at it to get as good as you (hopefully) are - this stuff don't happen in a 30 minute "blast as much .40 at the paper as you can" session. Slow down, take your time and make sure the person you're introducing makes every shot count. Goofing off and just blasting once or twice can be a fun release, but if they want to learn, you need to let them know that this isn't the way to learn.
- Know what you're going to teach! If you aren't proficient, you probably shouldn't be teaching.
- Know your limitations. Know if you're proficient or not. Also, don't be afraid to admit that you don't know something.
- Be prepared to show someone that you can actually shoot. Today it was picking up my P220 and saying, "see that stick on the berm 25 yards away?" "Barely." *Boom* Stick goes spinning off to the side of the berm. Show them it's doable, and that your way can get them there. This also gives them a goal to work toward.
Just a note on follow-through: I think this is one of the most under-taught secrets to shooting well that exists. When I discovered it, my groups tightened up considerably and it helped keep me from developing bad habits that result from anticipating the pistol going off. I've shown it to a few other people and watched them cut their group size by half or better.
Now what not to do, thanks to macho big pec dude with arm tats and MMA t-shirt:
- Don't assume you're proficient when you're not. Even ignoring the girl's hits, his target looked like someone had taken potshots at it with buckshot at 50 yards. Dude. Learn to shoot before you play instructor.
- Teach proper technique! One of the huge reasons this girl was having trouble flinching was he hadn't taught her anything resembling a proper grip or stance, so recoil was kicking her ass. I didn't correct the stance (they were both kind of frustrated by then, and he was a little upset that I was correcting the mistakes he was training into this poor girl), but I did make a slight correction to the grip - she was consistently holding the pistol way too low, and I could see it from ten feet away. Not that he could have known, since his stance, grip and trigger control were all so fucked up I wanted to go over and offer to correct him.
- Give them a benchmark that's better than a target that looks like a blind man shot at it!
- Use the proper equipment! I was a little miffed that his girl wasn't wearing eye pro, and suspect that hear ears might not have been up to the task. Also, don't train a new shooter on a full-powered (9mm, .40, .45, I don't care which) compact - or any compact for that matter! The recoil and muzzle blast are a bit much! Start on a .22 or at least a full-size pistol. Leave the compact for later in the day or even next week.
- Last, and probably most important - lose the asshole macho attitude. You don't know everything, and it won't hurt you to admit it. If you have the attitude so bad that I can smell it rolling off you before I've even introduced myself or heard you talk, you have zero business training someone. Go home, jerk it to UFC and leave the world alone.
We need to introduce new shooters, and we need to bring inactive shooters back, but we need to do it the right way! Being like this moron I saw today is a great way to turn new shooters off. That girl is going to go tell all her friends that she went and it was "OK", but the gun was loud and kicked real hard and she couldn't hit fuckall, so it wasn't all that fun.
Meanwhile, at my side of the table, my "student" was handling a P220, 1911 and revolver safely and accurately enough to take the X out at 7 yards by the end of the day.