Coaching

Shooting is a very individual activity, and often a fairly private one at that. Because of that, most shooters have never had a coach or even thought about having one. Sure, you may go to a school and the instructor or an assistant may “coach” you through something, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

TLG often talked about the importance of a shooting partner, and that cannot be overstated, but again, it is not what we are talking about today. In any real sport, the athletes have a coach. Often the coach is much older and incapable of doing what the athletes can do, but the coach is still a vital part of the team and of an individual’s performance.

At the Prairiefire RANK Championship, JAG spent some time coaching me on the best way to shoot the steel stages (3rd and 4th stages). I would not have done as well as I did without her help. Stage strategy is a real and important thing, and can make the difference between winning and losing.

When I used to shoot a little competition back in the mid-2000s, the majority of my success came from JAG telling me how to shoot whatever it was we were shooting. IDPA was usually pretty straightforward, but even there, it helped to hear her ideas on the best way to approach a stage. In Steel Challenge and USPSA, it was even more beneficial. A steel challenge stage looks as straightforward as it gets, and it can be. Nonetheless, it is surprising how many different ways there are to shoot a steel stage! How you shoot it is part strategy and part personal preference. Are you better off hitting the close big target first, or maybe you do better hitting the smaller target first and then moving on? A good coach, who knows how you shoot, can help you figure that stuff out pretty quickly. I placed highly in several regional and national level competitions because of her coaching, even winning occasionally.

JAG didn’t try to tell me how to draw the gun or reload faster. Instead, she concentrated on the areas that a competent shooter, but less experienced competition shooter, would need to focus on to be successful. The picture above of me kneeling is a good example. When I first walked through this stage, I squatted at the port to shoot. I’m short and relatively flexible, and squatting is much faster to get into and out of position, so I thought I’d save some time over my taller competitors. JAG told me to kneel instead, as the number of targets, the spread of the targets, and the difficulty of the shots, all warranted a more stable position. I should have known that myself, but like many athletes, I underestimated the difficulty of the problem and overestimated my ability to deal with it. Kneeling turned out to absolutely be the correct solution, as the shooting from that port was much harder than it looked at first. At least to me. JAG already knew it would be hard because that’s one of the things that experienced coaches are good for.

So, where do you get your very own coach from? The best way to do that is to marry a champion shooter. If for some reason you prefer not to do that, then I recommend finding a high-level shooter at your local range who might be willing to mentor you. Given the scarcity of high-level shooters that are found at local ranges, I refer you back to marrying one. Or maybe move to Phoenix, a city with a very high concentration of high-level shooters.