RMJack Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Hi, Fairly new competitive shooter, and have a few local matches under my belt. I've been doing a ton of reading (this site, Stoegers and Anderson's books). It can really feel like drinking from the firehose, and as mentioned in this thread, some common advice is to find a coach / better shooter who can assess your skills, and give you guidance and a development plan. What a great idea, and as an older shooter I want to focus my efforts most effectively. To that end, is there any list of coaches by area? For example, I'm in Portland (OR), and would happily work with a more experienced shooter / coach once a month for an hour or two at the local range, and pay for their time/expertise. This is different than a class, which I'm not opposed to, but my feeling is classes and coaches have different purposes... Maybe I should ask around at the local matches, but it feels like I might be missing something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 I'd ask some RO's / MD's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 2 hours ago, RMJack said: Hi, Fairly new competitive shooter, and have a few local matches under my belt. I've been doing a ton of reading (this site, Stoegers and Anderson's books). It can really feel like drinking from the firehose, and as mentioned in this thread, some common advice is to find a coach / better shooter who can assess your skills, and give you guidance and a development plan. What a great idea, and as an older shooter I want to focus my efforts most effectively. To that end, is there any list of coaches by area? For example, I'm in Portland (OR), and would happily work with a more experienced shooter / coach once a month for an hour or two at the local range, and pay for their time/expertise. This is different than a class, which I'm not opposed to, but my feeling is classes and coaches have different purposes... Maybe I should ask around at the local matches, but it feels like I might be missing something... As a true beginner, just about any legitimate A, M, or GM could be a great help. Especially a GM. You can ask Match Directors or just pull up match results and seek out the better shooters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMJack Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share Posted July 20, 2017 Thanks all, I'll ask the MD and RO's at my next match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemphisMechanic Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Definitely go with a local to start, then a year or two down the line you might feel like it's worth spending the $ to train with a nationally competitive GM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taadski Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 Gabe White is local to you. He's an excellent diagnostician, has the skill set and resume you're looking for and is a fantastic teacher. He does a good bit of one-on-one teaching and runs an ongoing skills group in your area too. http://www.gabewhitetraining.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchman195 Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 On 7/19/2017 at 10:05 PM, Sarge said: As a true beginner, just about any legitimate A, M, or GM could be a great help. Especially a GM. You can ask Match Directors or just pull up match results and seek out the better shooters. Pick one of them and befriend them. Try and squad with them whenever you can. even just watch what they do our how they shoot something. Ask why after their run. Thats the best thing I did when I first started. and then a year into it a took Bens class that was super helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanks Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 One thing to consider also is just because someone is a good shooter does not mean they can teach or even diagnose someone else's shooting well enough to come up with a solution. They'd be able to tell you what to improve etc. at a macro level, but not necessarily provide micro adjustments to your fundamentals. "Do it like I do" is not a good teaching technique ;). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximis228 Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 I recently opened up my Saturday morning practice sessions to anyone who wanted to join from our local club. Added an hour to my time slot to account for slowing down my personal practice. I will help diagnose any issues they are having, offer some low hanging fruit ideas, and give them a basic dry fire routine to follow. I have seen massive improvements in a short time for those who take the time to show up and put in the work. Ive taken people from C-A/M within a couple months. Got a few guys working on GM right now. Its awesome to see people make strides when they put in the effort. I just recently made GM and wouldn't consider myself competitive on a nationals level by any means. I will also ban people if I see they dont put in the work and are just wasting mine and others time. I bet you can kind a local group of guys who get together and practice. Just make sure you have a plan going in. Too often I see groups not have a plan before getting the range and end up shooting the shit for the majority of their range time. If you can find a top level shooter in that group, even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 50 minutes ago, tanks said: One thing to consider also is just because someone is a good shooter does not mean they can teach or even diagnose someone else's shooting well enough to come up with a solution. They'd be able to tell you what to improve etc. at a macro level, but not necessarily provide micro adjustments to your fundamentals. "Do it like I do" is not a good teaching technique ;). So True, but so is the opposite. There are A shooters out there that are better teachers than GM's for sure. Training and shooting well are not the same as understanding how to tell somebody else how to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Sarge said: So True, but so is the opposite. There are A shooters out there that are better teachers than GM's for sure. Training and shooting well are not the same as understanding how to tell somebody else how to do it. Exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMJack Posted July 21, 2017 Author Share Posted July 21, 2017 Great feedback from everyone, thank you! fyi: I'm already scheduled for Gabe's class here (PDX) in October. Oddly enough it doesn't appear to be on his webpage... I'm looking forward to the class, but in the interim was hoping for a few 1 on 1 or small group sessions, even if informal as "we're in bay 8 on Thursday nights from 6-8:30, come on down". I also understand that not everyone who's good at something is good at teaching it or wants to teach/coach. I'm sure a motivated and enthusiastic 'A' coach is better than a 'GM' who is bored to tears talking grip/sigh picture/trigger press for the millionth time to noobs. Which is probably why I've read Stoeger says don't sign up for his class until you're at least a 'B'. Makes perfect sense to me. A new guitar player wouldn't seek out Joe Satriani for lessons, while a Kirk Hammond would - you need a certain amount of skill and common language to make the lessons / coaching useful. I do know I've been hanging around by myself too much in the basement dry firing, and neglecting live fire. I got to the range for the first time in 2 months, and was sure I was going to smoke the basics I've been working (draws, WHO, SHO, transitions and arrays) - complete cluster. Missed everything at first, my Acceptable Sight Picture in dry fire was insufficient for live fire. It got better after I tightened up the ASP, but felt glacial. so much for my belief in a .8 draw... And my great dryfire groups for SHO/WHO weren't great at all in live fire... I'm planning to go get out at least 2x a month live, I've been lying to myself... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkten Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 As a beginning IDPA shooter, should I limit my search to IDPA coaches? or USPSA as well. It seems that the skills are probably transferrable... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balakay Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 The skills are definitely transferable. Learn the fundamental skills and adapt them to the rules of your chosen game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 6 hours ago, mjkten said: As a beginning IDPA shooter, should I limit my search to IDPA coaches? A lot of the skills are certainly transferable, BUT I'd stick with an IDPA kind of guy - there are some definitely different ways of shooting and handling a particular COF. An IDPA guy would show you how to shoot IDPA a little better, in my opinion. Some very good shooters shoot BOTH IDPA and USPSA - that would also be a better bet than a strictly USPSA shooter, again, IMHO. When I started shooting "again", about 12 years ago - I tried BOTH IDPA and USPSA and couldn't do both - they were too different for me - so I stuck with USPSA - that's how different they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taadski Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 I think for the majority of shooters, the low hanging fruit will rarely be the minutiae of stage breakdown and gaming tactics. But rather the actual shooting. And growth/improvement there will carry over from one sport to the other very well. I shoot both disciplines monthly and don't have much issue going back and forth, fwiw. Drop Gabe an email. I'd be willing to bet he'd take the opportunity to do some one-on-one coaching with you as a train up for class in October, or otherwise. t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gooldylocks Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 (edited) Gabe, Keith Tyler, or myself (and I'm sure there are others) would probably be your best bets. But since I just moved to Bend, that's tougher. Keith has lots of classes he holds throughout the year, as well as the Academy. http://tylerfirearmsinstruction.net ::ETA:: I reread your OP, and as far as 'coaching' vs a class, that is exactly what Keith's "Academy" is. 9 months of coaching in classes, video breakdown/dryfire schedules, and match coaching. Edited July 25, 2017 by Gooldylocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTJer Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 I need to get my butt out to some classes. There is a local practice every other week that i shoot, but it's not much in the way of teaching. An hour away there is a practice I've been out too that i got some good feedback and advice from an 'A' shooter and MD of a monthly match i attend. I should make the effort to get out there more. Tough with kids to take both Saturday for practice and Sunday for a match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTJer Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 On 7/25/2017 at 8:41 PM, CTJer said: I need to get my butt out to some classes. There is a local practice every other week that i shoot, but it's not much in the way of teaching. An hour away there is a practice I've been out too that i got some good feedback and advice from an 'A' shooter and MD of a monthly match i attend. I should make the effort to get out there more. Tough with kids to take both Saturday for practice and Sunday for a match. Going to said practice this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrek1 Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Tacticalperformancecenter.com has tons of online resources plus classes and will do FaceTime/Skype training. They have helped me a tonSent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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