Training a new shooter, some pointers if you want them.

Wambli Ska

Don't know if anyone can use (or want) this info but I thought I'd drop it here in case you can.  It's my way of paying it forward as many folks that are REALLY good teaching this have taken the time to teach me and knowledge is useless if kept on a shelf.  What I'm typing here is some of the salient points I've learned about training new shooters.  I'm not trying to speak of training high level operators or competitors.  I' VERY CAREFUL to NOT teach ahead of my own headlights.  They require very specialized coaching by folks that are much better than I.  My certifications and training get me to helping folks get to a point where the fundamentals and execution are solid for effective Self Defense.  No more than that.

Also, just about every trainer has their own way of doing/communicating things and I'm sure some here will disagree with some of the things I'm writing down and that is great!  I'm always looking at improving and if you have a better idea, I'm all ears and if it sounds good to me I'll shamelessly steal it and make sure I pass it forward too.  So here it goes...

I know many folks here enjoy bringing new shooters into the fold, both friends and family, and just by our general familiarity with guns we probably as a group get constantly asked by folks to teach them how to shoot.  While most of us have become proficient by crook or hook and hopefully by having some decent training and coaching, I thought I'd be helpful to have some tools at your disposal that would help you so I'll try to summarize some thoughts that I think will help next time you're called upon to train someone.

First, just about all of us tend to overcomplicate the range experience.  Once the basic safety rules are discussed and understood we as trainers need to understand that the basic skills necessary to shoot a gun accurately are already ALL ingrained into your average human, work WITH them.  I'm going to point out some things you might personally already understand but have not consciously thought of or thought how best to communicate to a new shooter so they understand the experience better.

First - Everyone that can stand erect and balanced has a basic shooting stance.  If you can shake someone’s hand you have a gun grip. If you can point your index finger to a picture across the room with your index finger you can effectively aim a gun. If you can gently scratch your nose with your index finger without making yourself bleed you have trigger control. And if you’ve ever watched ANY movies that involve firearms you have the rudimentary knowledge of how to operate a firearm. Hell, most humans got their best handgun training playing with a cap gun running around in the backyard.

I’ve tested and proven this natural ability premise with many brand new shooters and just given them a gun and told them, "Don’t think about it, just point it at that target center and press the trigger and in most cases I get a perfect shot out of them. That is an amazing moment!!! The problem is that then their brain want in on the fun and latches on to it and it takes HOURS of training to get them back to that first shot experience consistently.  Your brain is almost your worst enemy.

Second - the reason it all breaks down is that the by-product of shooting a gun is setting off an explosion rated at thousands of pounds per square inch with a massive blast and recoil IN YOUR HAND and there is NOTHING natural about that, and then you add all the subconscious cultural and psychological issues and you now have a mental mess! Because of this, most “trained” and absolutely ALL UNTRAINED people will progressively develop problems and bad habits that they will never correct, or their trainers don’t know how to correct, so they shoot like crap for the rest of their lives and accept it.

Understand that managing recoil and noise is an advanced skill that should only be attempted after the shooter has mastered the fundamentals of stance, grip sight picture and trigger press.  If noise and recoil are not impossible to avoid altogether at the beginning by the use of a laser system or dry firing then please start them with a low recoil, low noise handgun chambered in .22.

Third, NEVER train anyone or yourself for speed.  And funny, everyone does if they don't know an better.  As folks get more advanced in their training, SPEED while VERY desirable especially for SD is NEVER the goal of training, it is the by-product of good training.  When you coach a professional athlete in speed events you never tell them to shave a few thousands of a second of their time, that's useless information.  As a trainer you analyze their movements and look for places where they can save motion.  Then you practice the new way of achieving that "economy of motion" over and over again until it becomes your new way of doing something.  Speed will then follow as the new motion becomes smoother and the shooter more confident.

Fourth: Don't fix what is not broken.  Ex. I've seen a trainer take a whole class of newbies that have never shot a gun through the exercise of figuring out their dominant eye.  All he accomplished was acquiring a bunch of whiners that decided all their problems shooting had to do with cross eye dominance and the class was a mess.  I never, EVER mention cross eye dominance and have yet to have a problem with it with ANY student I've trained.

So if you observe issues with the fundamentals like a less than perfect grip or someone leaning back while they shoot, AND it is affecting their performance! THEN gently address those issues, one at a time, by suggesting they try a change and in most cases the low pressure suggestion gets adopted without any hoopla or fight within one correction or two.  Remember, at the end of the day, landing lead where it belongs is the only goal and if they can do it while holding the gun with their teeth in their preferred yoga position, so be it.  Not everyone needs to look like a NAVY Seal when they shoot.

So these are the high level things to keep in mind when working with a new shooter.  When I have a little more time I'll go into the next section which is the step by step progression I use with a new shooter to get them to an effortless level of basic proficiency.

If any of you are interested... Let me know, but if there is no interest, I'll just let his post roll off the page.

Jeeper44mag

The #1 tip I give to new shooters (once we've covered the basics of grip, stance, & sight alignment) is regarding trigger control.   

Almost EVERYBODY tries to get the gun perfectly on target and then pull the trigger while it's lined up "just right". 

Needless to say, this causes them to jerk the trigger and miss, so I repeat over and over, that it's OK for the gun to move around a little, and that GENTLY squeezing the trigger while the gun is "almost" perfectly on target is far far far better than trying to get it dead on target, and THEN pull the trigger.  Works like a charm.  I've had complete noobs shoot like a champ once they grasped this concept.

Luis

Varmintmist

Its not rapid fire. Its sustained slow fire.

Once I got that, I started cleaning as often as not.

Wambli Ska

Jeeper44mag said:

The #1 tip I give to new shooters (once we've covered the basics of grip, stance, & sight alignment) is regarding trigger control.   

Almost EVERYBODY tries to get the gun perfectly on target and then pull the trigger while it's lined up "just right". 

Needless to say, this causes them to jerk the trigger and miss, so I repeat over and over, that it's OK for the gun to move around a little, and that GENTLY squeezing the trigger while the gun is "almost" perfectly on target is far far far better than trying to get it dead on target, and THEN pull the trigger.  Works like a charm.  I've had complete noobs shoot like a champ once they grasped this concept.

Luis

So true!

I purposely use targets without an actual bullseye because of this.  Just an open square on the high center chest target area.  I have a remedial drill where I ask a shooter to keep the front sight moving inside the square and just squeeze the trigger straight back until the gun goes off.  It never fails to fix the shooting issues.

Wambli Ska

Varmintmist said:

Its not rapid fire. Its sustained slow fire.

Once I got that, I started cleaning as often as not.

That’s a great way of saying it and thinking about it!

When I use a timer I tell students it’s not an incentive to shoot faster, it’s just a tool for the trainer to observe their rate of fire and it means nothing to them.  I never ask them to speed up.

Freezer

I used to help Boy Scouts get ready for the range, where the training of the basics wasn't the best. Safety training was good and if the kid could group he might get a little better training but that was it. 

The two basics I taught them were Squeeze the trigger, don't jerk, and how breathing affects the gun. I did this with an eight-inch stick. I had the scout hold the stick tight in their right hand with their arm stiff and straight out. I would then use their hand as a grip and the stick as a long vertical trigger. With my fingers locked in theirs and the tip of my index finger on the stick, I would slowly draw it back. The stick would always came straight back. Then I would shift my finger to the first joint, the stick pulled to the right. It was easy to see because of the length of the stick. Next I would squeeze the trigger, then I would jerk it, sending a shock wave up their arm. I would explain how this affected their ability to shoot accurately. Then I would tell them to hold that stick straight out and breath. It was easy to see the stick rise and fall. Then we would talk breath control. 

I always enjoy the thought of a time when a leader who hadn't handled a gun in 30 years out shot me. It was a leader's challenge and before the match Treve ask for some pointers. I went through the above steps. I put 5 shots under a penny, he covered his with a dime! The kids had a hard time understanding why I was so happy he beat me.

Diver43

Proper training for a new shooter is important.  I had never shot a gun until I joined the Army.  I listened and read everything about the M-16 in the classroom and then did everything the Sergeant said on the range.  I received a little more attention because I was only 17 and nervous, but as I shot those 3 round familiarization magazines I heard that Sergeant not yelling but coaching me on breathing and trigger control.  Every time I qualified for the next 20 years I shot expert.  Thank You SSG Donothan.
Fast forward several years and a coworker of the wife's teenage son had never touched a gun and wanted to learn.  He came to the house and I laid out every gun we had.  Explained what it was, caliber and basic function. After talking safety in depth, the next day we went to the range. He was a natural to begin with and took little coaching to keep him in line.  He progressed from a Single Six .22 to a to a Sig P229 that afternoon.  Not long after Giovanni graduated and went to college.  A few years later her became a Federal Agent and today is a Firearms Instructor for NCIS.  
Not only is what you teach a new gun enthusiast important, but how you teach them to me is even more important.