USPSA New Shooter Certification Class

A few days ago I was having an email exchange with Mike McCarter about ... something or other ... and I said:

"Oh, BTW, I see that you are offering a lot of training at the ARPC (Albany Rifle and Pistol Club) range on Saturday. There's a "Home Protection" class, a "new shooter gun-handling" class, and you personally are responsible for three classes: Junior USPSA practice, New Junior USPSA training, and adult USPSA training/certification. It looks like you are spread pretty thin. Could you use some help?"

Mac allowed as how he would "take all the help I can get!", so I suggested that I might show up before the classes started, and he might find something for me to do.

I arrived at the range at noon, and Mac found me eating my lunch at the car. He said he would get some supplies and be back to me after I finished lunch.

It was, as it turned out, a good idea to get some lunch.

A half-hour before the classes were scheduled to start, as we were toting targets and props up to Bay 9 (where the USPSA New Shooter Certification class was scheduled), I casually asked how many students we could expect.

Mac said: "I have six new shooters confirmed. I'll handle the classroom preliminaries, and then you'll run them through the field training while I run the Junior practices." (One if the scheduled instructors for the Junior program was a no-show, so Mac had to combine the two Junior classes/practices into one. This was a job which couldn't be delegated... Mac is very involved in the Junior Program.)

When all of the people were counted, we had 13 ... not 6 ... new adult USPSA students.

Fortunately, Chad M. showed up to do some private practice: Mac drafted him to help me, and I was grateful that I wasn't the only instructor in the Field Trials portion of the class. (In the actual event, Rob and Caryn S. of Major Nyne Guns showed up to do their own practice, and stuck around for an hour to help organize and explain the process of squadding, and getting the next shooter ready on time. We could never have completed the training requirements without them.)

The experience of leading a USPSA Certification Field Training class was an absolute blast! And it was a new one, for me. Sure, I've helped on such classes before, and I've run the Field Training Certification for individuals before, but jumping into a class of 13 good folks who had a widely variant of experience with pistols ... and I didn't have background information on anyone ... was both daunting and exhilarating.

I consider myself to be a good trainer: I've trained individuals, I've been an IPSC competitor for 25 years, I've taken three NROI courses on Range Officer (one Level I RO course, then a Chief Range Officer Course in 1999, then an Audit of the CRO course on the new USPSA rule book a few months ago).

But running 13 strangers through a 5-stage Field Training course is a new Personal Best.

At the end of the day, I gave out "Get Out of Hell Free" cards to all of the students, along with the URL for this blog and my associated email address. So I'm not telling tales out of school.

Well, actually I am. But what follows is not an attempt to hold up anyone to ridicule. I'm just trying to provide some background on what the Field Training part of the certification process feels like from a personal point of view.

First, I saw a lot of new guns today. Most prominent in my memory were various models of Kimbers, an unexpected number of Ruger USPs, and a couple of Glocks.

What I didn't understand at first, is that a significant number of the students either had not shot that particular pistol before, or were not familiar with it.

I found three students with leather holsters that featured a thumb-snap. They were not aware that they had to be engaged (the strap had to be fastened by the snap, if the holster was so equipped.)

Two of the 13 shooters were "lefties"; I was reminded again that Range Officers need to be aware of this when the shooter comes up to the line, and position himself on that side to observe the "Load and Make Ready" ... no, now the Range Command is just "Make Ready" (I found myself forgetting that time and again) process.

Some of the students were very apprehensive. I can understand that, as I found myself to be nervous for the first several months when I first began competing. My instructors, and Range Officers in the first half-dozen matches in which I competed, were patient and understanding with me. I had learned a lot from that experience, and I hope I managed to convey a similar mien of understanding, patience and unflappability.

The experience levels of the various students were dramatically varied; however, the more experienced shooters did tend to shoot faster than they needed to, and were not as accurate as they could have been, had they taken to heart the admonishment to "take your time, don't try to shoot fast".

Generally speaking, every shooter was an excellent shot. When they got over their initial nervousness, everyone got good hits and had no problems with range commands, the need to obey the safety rules, and they paid attention to detailed explanations of "you have read the book; this is what it means in a match". (Eg: what is "standing in the box" vs "this is not in the box" and "you can reload while moving, or while you're standing still, but you must always keep the muzzle pointed downrange and your finger off the trigger when reloading").

Here are some of the unique situations we encountered --- I offer them not to embarrass the individual, but to illustrate the training deficiencies which are probably not atypical:

• One gentleman didn't know that his Kimber had a safety, let alone when and how it should be applied;
• The lady who was shooting her new Kimber for the first time (she had been shooting a Revolver before, which had obviously punished her badly) didn't know how to grip the pistol "as if you were holding a hammer". She drew the pistol very low on the grip, and then shifted to a higher grip after the draw. This was very awkward for her, and time-consuming in terms of stage-time;
• One gentleman shooting a new Kimber had formed the habit of placing his weak-hand thumb over his strong hand, with the result that his thumb was very close to the space where the slide would travel in recoil. I explained that he needed to move his thumb on the off-side of the pistol to avoid having the slide in recoil engaging the knuckle of his thumb resulting in great personal injury to his thumb, damage to the meat and bone, and a lot of pain and unseemly caterwhaling. He acknowledged this advice and moved his weak-hand thumb further down-limb to the near vicinity of his strong-hand wrist. This was the most I could accomplish, because when you get locked into a very bad habit it is almost impossible to break it without the reinforcement of a corresponding breakage of bone mass;
• One gentleman did the "Make Ready" part okay, but when he started his first stage, the first action after drawing his pistol was to rack the slide ... dumping the chambered round and needlessly chambering the second round before his first shot. He immediately recognized that this was not necessary, and never did it again;
• One gentleman was devoted to 'flamboyant gestures with his firearm", a term which I defined on the spot when, upon being given the command "If you are finished, unload and show clear", he dramatically dropped his supporting arm to let gravity bring the pistol swooping down, down, down until the weight of the gun allowed the arm to swing past the perpendicular-to-the-earth position in an arch which allowed the muzzle to point to the rear of his position. When advised that this could result in a Match DQ, he discontinued the practice in subsequent stages;
• One gentleman swung his pistol UP and over the top of a Bianchi barricade in moving to engage targets from the other side. When it was pointed out that this may, in a spate of over-exuberance, lead to breaking the 180 degree rule if the muzzle of the gun should accidentally point to the rear of the stage, it became a good training point about the best way to traverse from one side of a barricade to the other (pull the gun back into your belly, rotate your torso toward the other side of the barricade, and push the gun away from you ... always attempting to keep the barrel horizontal and pointing downrange);

I note that some of these lessons took me 20 years to learn, and they are not perhaps typically taught in USPSA Field Training Certification exercises.

These were not "problems', they were only lessons that needed to be learned, and until an event occurred which provided an opportunity to become a Training Lesson it was not generally recognized that training was necessary.

I emphasize that these illustrations are not intended to denigrate the students. They were universally enthusiastic and ready to learn. To belabor a clumsy expression: "You don't know what you don't know until you know what you didn't know".

The entire experience was revelatory both to the students, and to the instructors.

And it was a total thrill.

I've regaled you with what might be considered "war stories", now let me tell you some of the very positive outcomes of the training.

I have often said, and always held that "shooters are some of the finest people in the world", and this day at the range proved it once again. I think there's something in the mind-set of people who have convinced themselves that shooting is a great way to have fun and meet like-minded people; maybe it's an indicator of a healthy mind and a healthy self-image, but the reason we all congregate at a rocky shooting range is that we consider it an adventure to be shared, and enjoyed, and cherished. USPSA competition is one of the most demanding shooting sports in the world; the safety rules are daunting, the penalties for violating these rules are embarrassing and the standards are so high that they may seem impossible to meet.

But they can be met, and when you have put yourself unto the touch, to win or lose it all, and have met the test, there's an exhilarating sense of self-worth which is lacking in the daily life.

Every student who attended the class was eager and open to learning what they didn't know. They had questions ... lots of intelligent, good questions. They listened to the answers, took them to heart, and applied them immediately.

Nobody was cranky, or resistant to being told that they just did something 'wrong'. Instead, they maintained a positive mental attitude and never, never interpreted criticism as a personal affront.
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The moral to the story is probably best exemplified by the sound-bites after the class was over:

• I suggested that "this was so fun we should do it all again next year". Jan Hase (pronounced, I think, 'Yawn Hawsah' ... I hope I've finally got it right!) said "We should do it all again next Saturday" (when the students complete their certification by completing an actual match, safely.)
• One student said he couldn't compete in the next match due to a scheduling conflict, and anxiously asked if he could complete the three-part test (written test and online instruction; verbal "classroom" instruction and Field Training; and the final exam of safely shooting at an actual match) at a later date? Mac's response was that they only had to safely complete an ARPC match, and if it was the match scheduled in 3 months, that was acceptable. I think he meant that it didn't have to be the 'very next match', only that they had to successfully complete any match at ARPC.)
• I challenged one lady with the comment that "Now, that wasn't so very hard after all, was it?" She replied: "It was wonderful. I loved it! I can't wait until the match!"
• The lady who was shooting her brand new Semi-Auto (Kimber) for the first time, and her husband, talked to me for a half-hour about techniques, training, gun-handling, and about how nervous she was at first. (She was obviously nervous, but she had the courage of a Grizzly bear and was undaunted by the training. She shot so well, I wasn't aware that she had never shot that pistol until she told me about it after the class.) We discussed gun-handling training techniques, and other technicalities ("try dry-firing at home, put a penny on top of the gun when you're dry-firing and see if you can squeeze the trigger without dislodging the penny"; "Where do you put the penny?" "Anywhere that you can make it balance, preferably near the muzzle of the gun, even on the rear sight.")

SUMMARY:
I very much enjoyed my day, and I think that most of the students in the class did, too. Until and unless they read this, they may not realize that I learned at least as much as they did. As an example, half-way home I discovered that I was drained of energy and had to be careful to stay alert enough to drive safely. Even now, I'm groggy with fatigue and almost half asleep but I am so energized about my day that I couldn't rest until I have told the story.

(I have one more story to tell, and dinner to heat&eat, so I'll probably stay awake for a while although my planned evening with SWMBO will have to wait for another day.)

Oh yes, two more points.

First, that I spent at least a half-hour with a father-and-son pair (one of the more rewarding consequences of interest in USPSA competition) discussing technical and administrative issues of USPSA competition. The son was obviously offended when I lit a cigarette, but he stuck around 'upwind' long enough to learn the lessons.

Second, I made the point to a husband-and-wife team that the husband/boyfriend was not the best person to train his wife/g-friend. The best person to help train a lady shooter, I averred was probably an experienced lady shooter.

Later I circumspectly discussed this concept with SWMBO. She graciously disavowed any protestations on my part that am not a great trainer, and completely ignored my subtle hints that she would be doing a service to new lady shooters if we were squadded with them at the 'certification match' next weekend, and she would offer coaching during the match to new lady shooters.

I'm not done yet. Watch this space.

Note to the lady shooters at the class today: if you are reading this, I strongly encourage you to show up early next weekend, and squad yourself with us.

I suggest this, of course, only because new lady shooters are more comfortable shooting with other lady shooters ... especially when shooting with experienced lady shooter who may have a few tips and other encouragement to offer.

I'm just saying ....