More than three years ago, pistol-training.com republished an article Rich Verdi originally wrote for the IALEFI Journal called Keep an Open Mind! This past weekend in Connecticut I got to see an excellent example of that thought process in action.
As a general rule, very few people show up to one of my classes without prior instruction. That’s a good thing, because it allows the class a running start and saves me from having to explain which end the bullets come out. But on occasion there will also be the student who has a lot of prior training from a single instructor. Often that student has ingrained habits, some good and some bad, into his technique. When presented with a different approach from a different instructor, some guys just shut down. Excuses are legion, from “I’ve been doing it this way too long to change” to “this just works better for me.” Those are perfectly legitimate comments to make after you’ve put some real effort into assessing the new technique. But when a student won’t even try a different way of doing things, you have to wonder why he spent money attending a class in the first place.
In Connecticut, there were three guys who have been training together under a certain instructor for thirty years. They were shooting Weaver, they were using a thumbs-up grip, etc. And let’s be honest, they were good shooters. Maybe not win-the-world-championship good but embarrass-the-youngsters good and definitely surprise-the-mugger good. Having seen this movie dozens of times before, I assumed these would be my three problem students who wanted to get better and wanted to keep doing things their established way all at the same time.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. Not only did they actively seek out advice from me when they weren’t gripping the gun properly, when they failed to press out, etc. but they actually watched each other and corrected one another all weekend long. “Look at your grip!” and “You’re not crouching!” became a non-stop chorus down at their end of the line. It was impressive to watch a bunch of experienced shooters willing to dedicate a weekend to trying something completely new even though it meant they had to slow down and think a lot more than when they just did it their old, ingrained way.
Will all three of those guys become poster children for pistol-training.com-esque technique? Probably not. They’ll go home and practice, figure out which bits work better and which don’t, and find their own combination of best. As an instructor, that’s all I can ask for. I got over being emotionally attached to what I teach a long time ago. My job is to show you what I do, explain why I do it that way, and help you do it. Your job as a student is to pay attention, give it an honest try, and then decide what bits and pieces to keep and which ones you’ll throw away.
You don’t know how to shoot well until you figure out how you shoot well.
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
Absolutely Right On. I go to class expecting to try everything, throw some away and keep the rest. The only way to learn & improve is by keeping an open mind and try. Just 2 weeks ago I learned a new way to grip the gun and improved my trigger pull. 52 years old 40 years shooting and I’m still learning new things and will continue to the day I die.
Brings to mind two quotes by Bruce Lee.
“In order to taste my cup of water you must first empty your cup. My friend, drop all your preconceived and fixed ideas and be neutral. Do you know why this cup is useful? Because it is empty”
“Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
Not that the Venerable Mr. Lee is the end all be all mind you, I just thought that two points (yours and his) make a line, a potential direction for the quest of truth and all that.
I’ve met Rich at an IALEFI training seminar in NJ several years ago. Good man.
Who in the hell quotes Bruce Lee???
Oh, and great article! Thanks Todd
You don’t know how to shoot well until you figure out how you shoot well.
THIS!!!!!
Very well said Todd!!!
Excellent commentary Todd.
I actually found myself in this boat. A good friend and mentor had invited me down to shoot for several years, while I would go down to train ground fighting and knife stuff I thought “I know how to shoot” so I didn’t make it down for several years.
When I eventually did make it to class I kept and open mind, which was fortunate for me since I learned how jacked up my grip, reloads and trigger control really was.
When I read posts like this Todd it ALMOST (but not quite) makes me want to take my agency’s transfer to DC offers seriously for the sole reason of getting access to your classes and practice sessions on a regular basis.
I’ve trained with some of your peers (the big name ones) as well as some more locally based guys. I have learned from each of them …. good and bad. However, your attitude alone on HOW TO TRAIN is what impresses me the most. Your no BS. Not only that …. I probably got more out of your AFHF class then all the other classes combined. No joke.
Thanks for that.
Vol — Very kind of you to say but let’s face it, we’re all the product of all our training and while something I said or did might have turned on the lightbulb this year, it might not have last year or might not next year. In my opinion you’ve got the exact right approach: take quality instruction from multiple quality trainers, practice like your life depends on it, and use your brain to find Your Way instead of wasting a lifetime trying to discover The Way.
I was just talking to somebody looking for advice on gun school yesterday, and I recommended you pretty strongly.
This post is why, and I hadn’t even read it yet. 😉