Teaching Styles

I am a pretty laid back instructor when on the range. I demand safe gun handling, but I really believe in allowing shooters the freedom to solve their own problems (without abandoning my teaching responsibilities) and fill their own needs without having to ask permission all the time. I have yet to be disappointed with the private sector but I imagine I will be if I do this long enough.

Other instructors run their lines differently. Some are very regimented, others can be downright rude. While I don’t condone rudeness in general, a more regimented line has its place. The first school I ever went to was Massad Ayoob’s LFI 1 class. I was 20 or 21 at the time. Mas was very specific about what he wanted on the line, but was not overbearing or rude. He did scare me into strict obedience to his range rules, as I did not want to be removed from the line. As a barely adult shooter, it was exactly what I needed to hear, and I have been safely strict with myself ever since.

I bring this up because my time at Tac Con a few weeks ago exposed me to various instructors that I had not seen teach before. Some were a bit like me while others took a somewhat harder line. Both have their place and if you have not experienced a good “hard line” instructor, I recommend you do. Especially in a beginner level open enrollment class, it is probably better to be a hard liner than not. Since I don’t do much of that, I have not felt the need to alter how I run a line. I do value it though and am happy to see it done well.

I am ok with either of the above styles of instruction, though at this point in my development, I can’t really imagine finding too many strict instructors teaching material that is relevant to me. More concerning to me, are the instructors who think their way is the only way. This is an immature outlook, regardless of how good the material is. Most of us have been through this phase and outgrew it. Some instructors who are old enough to know better by now, still feel that their way is the only way, because of “competition”, or “experience”. Both of those are valuable, but they are supposed to allow you to develop more fully, not stay closed minded to other paths.

In the end, everyone has to find their own way, and what works for one may not work for another. I have developed my curriculum with the broadest application in mind and have found that it works very well for almost anything and almost anyone. My goal is to be able to do anything possible with a gun at a very high level, but not necessarily the highest level in any one discipline. If your needs are more specialized or more focused, it may not work for you. And that is just fine.