As I’ve written before, the task of diagnosing students is one of the most critical responsibilities for any instructor. Proper and effective diagnosis makes or breaks a student’s experience. Just a few months ago, I also wrote about ways to deal with shooters of differing skill levels in one group.
While teaching at our monthly Practice Session at the NRA Range yesterday, the confluence of these two issues was very apparent. While no one in the group was a first-time shooter, a few of the students definitely fell into the “beginner” category. A few of them were very strong shooters. The rest fell across the spectrum in between.
It’s fairly easy to diagnose a new shooter. “Your grip is messed up,” or “no, the bullets come out the other end,” doesn’t take a genius. The advanced shooters, though, probably know what they’re doing already. With them, most of what you’ll see are obvious mistakes (“Bob, you fumbled your reload“) or very subtle things. For example, last night I noticed one of the group’s top shooters tensing a muscle in his support hand thumb as he was shooting. The result was rounds flying to the right when, to him, it looked and felt like he was doing everything right.
The instructor’s role requires his mind to bounce back and forth between gross problems and fine problems. I think of it as Diagnoses Pingpong.
- You have to fix the major problems first. Telling a new shooter he’s a little slow picking up his sights during a press-out is a waste of time if the guy can’t pull the trigger without anticipating the end of the world each time. Address the big, obvious things first.
- For the advanced shooter, look past the obvious. Someone who can perform a 2.5-second Bill Drill doesn’t need you to tell him he fumbled his draw. Instead, identify the minor nuances that are holding him at a plateau.
- Keep track of what you’re seeing. That fumbled reload might actually be a consistent bad habit. If you notice it repeatedly, it’s time to talk to the shooter. Encourage him to slow things down and focus on doing things right instead of doing things fastest.
- Don’t fall into the trap of convincing yourself that the solid shooters are “good enough” and don’t need any feedback. Everyone in the class should be given a chance to improve.
Doing all of this properly can be hard, which is why good instructors keep their instructor-to-shooter ratio under control. When you can’t keep track of whether it was Bob or Tom who keeps shooting high and right, you’ve stopped being an instructor and you’re really doing nothing but calling drills as a range master.
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
As I find myself more and more in the role of mentor or coach, I continually strain myself to try and make logical, correct diagnoses of shooters I am observing.
To touch on another point… when I pay an instructor I do not want to be “left alone”! Yes, I am a competent shooter but that *does not mean* nod your head and move to the next guy – I need feedback!
Great post, Todd.
J
some great points Todd.
This is one of the great benefits of training/shooting with Todd. I’ve been through a metric ton of classes by this point and it’s actually kind of rare to find an instructor who actually has the inclination (or ability) to really break down EVERY movement you make and illustrate where you can improve. Granted that skills courses have a different focus than combat courses, but in many courses if you’re shooting to the standard the instructor expects you get the thumbs up. That may stroke the ego, but it doesn’t really help the student improve.
Thanks JW777!
Todd-
Great post, and one where you definitely “walk the talk.” As one of the people at Sunday’s NRA practice session, I saw the range of abilities and the way that you took time to give each (and every) participant solid feedback and guidance. Over the course of the past few months, your comments in practice sessions have helped me to focus on and improve my grip and stance, draw stroke and presentation, and speed, as well as useful instruction and practice on using lights in low-light shooting, cover, and shooting on the move.
During each of the practice session, your comments, as well as the drills during the practice sessions (and on this site), have given me personalized pointers on strengths, errors, and things to work to correct during my own weekly practice sessions.
At the same time, there has been genuine cameraderie among the students–encouragement, coaching, and feedback to maintain focus and motivation.
Bottom line–this has worked. As an example, I competed in two IDPA matches drawing on your coaching, with good (at least for me) finishes. (Say what you want about competition–anything that helps you gain proficiency with your weapon and use of it under pressure has got to be good.) So–thanks for the help, and keep it coming.
(I was going to send this note directly, but figured that this would help the ongoing dialogue on your post.)
All the best,
Michael
Michael — Thanks for the very generous praise! See you in a couple of weeks at the next Practice Session.