Rangertim Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 I've been shooting USPSA for roughly 5 years and had a long shooting background before that. My wife of 3.5 year on the other hand has only shot on occasion. I make sure she goes to the range with me often enough that she is well aware of the safe handling of firearms, is accurate, and can for the most part correct a malfunction. Which turned out to be very useful when two intruders kicked in the back door of the house while I was overseas. One 9mm round later and they were gone faster than they came in. I digress, she has finally agreed to shoot a match with me since it's my birthday this weekend. I am looking to those that have gotten their wives or girlfriends to shoot a match or even become a regular competitor for advice on how to ensure she enjoys herself and it is a successful venture. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle O Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 I've been shooting USPSA for roughly 5 years and had a long shooting background before that. My wife of 3.5 year on the other hand has only shot on occasion. I make sure she goes to the range with me often enough that she is well aware of the safe handling of firearms, is accurate, and can for the most part correct a malfunction. Which turned out to be very useful when two intruders kicked in the back door of the house while I was overseas. One 9mm round later and they were gone faster than they came in. I digress, she has finally agreed to shoot a match with me since it's my birthday this weekend. I am looking to those that have gotten their wives or girlfriends to shoot a match or even become a regular competitor for advice on how to ensure she enjoys herself and it is a successful venture. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks. Put her on a different squad with people you like. Let them be the "coach" and not you. At least for the first match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ima45dv8 Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Put her on a different squad with people you like. Let them be the "coach" and not you. At least for the first match. Yes. Two things a husband should never try to do is teach their wife to shoot or drive a manual shift transmission. The "peer pressure" is just too high. Dispense with her expectations of trying to please/measure up to you and let her hang with some of the locals you know won't be too abusive. Step away and enjoy the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avezorak Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Congrats on her agreeing to go. Im sure she will have a blast. I dont have any firsthand experience as Im still trying to convince my wife to shoot a match, but I definetly agree with the statement that you should watch from afar.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Steele Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Yep, I agree with the above statements. Let her shoot and have fun, let others offer advice and wait till she asks you before you offer up advice. This is a fun game but can be too much information at once for her. Me and my wife have fun and I don't overload her with too many details, she shoots the way she is most comfortable. .02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rangertim Posted November 11, 2010 Author Share Posted November 11, 2010 We're relatively new in the area and I only know a handful of the people I shoot with. I made sure we're squadded with them. I plan on letting them give the advice while shoot my own match. Until/Unless she asks my advice of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Warrior Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Put her on a different squad with people you like. Let them be the "coach" and not you. At least for the first match. Yes. Two things a husband should never try to do is teach their wife to shoot or drive a manual shift transmission. The "peer pressure" is just too high. Dispense with her expectations of trying to please/measure up to you and let her hang with some of the locals you know won't be too abusive. Step away and enjoy the results. LOL! Been there, done that....with minimal screaming on his part My advice to the OP: If you do shoot with her, don't be over-bearing. Let her do her own thing. When I shoot with my husband, I always figure out how I want to shoot the stage on my own & if I have questions, or I want his opinion, I'll ask. You guys will have fun......always nice to see couples on the range together! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Deegan Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 As the husband of a husband wife team... If you want her to have fun, you are not her coach, but you are her gun cleaner, ammo loader, mag loader and bag carrier. Be the first to cheer for her, offer no advice, answer her questions directly but do not expound. Enjoy your hobby together. It's a bonding experience for her (my wife offered that over my shoulder). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rangertim Posted November 11, 2010 Author Share Posted November 11, 2010 As the husband of a husband wife team... If you want her to have fun, you are not her coach, but you are her gun cleaner, ammo loader, mag loader and bag carrier. Be the first to cheer for her, offer no advice, answer her questions directly but do not expound. Enjoy your hobby together. It's a bonding experience for her (my wife offered that over my shoulder). Thanks. That is excellent advice. And if Tracy is your wife, I want to thank you two for all the hard work you put in at Fredricksburg! Match can't happen without volunteers like you! (assuming you are the right Deegans! lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ima45dv8 Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Put her on a different squad with people you like. Let them be the "coach" and not you. At least for the first match. Yes. Two things a husband should never try to do is teach their wife to shoot or drive a manual shift transmission. The "peer pressure" is just too high. Dispense with her expectations of trying to please/measure up to you and let her hang with some of the locals you know won't be too abusive. Step away and enjoy the results. LOL! Been there, done that....with minimal screaming on his part My advice to the OP: If you do shoot with her, don't be over-bearing. Let her do her own thing. When I shoot with my husband, I always figure out how I want to shoot the stage on my own & if I have questions, or I want his opinion, I'll ask. You guys will have fun......always nice to see couples on the range together! Having been one of those guys Matt (or you) threw you in with, I concur! Let her shoot with the unwashed masses. We're really hard only on our brethren. Once she becomes one of us, we'll ride her like a rented mule (like we would anyone else)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritinUSA Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Be supportive but let her do her own thing, let her figure out how to shoot the stage, where to reload etc. I think you should shoot with her on the same squad, I'm sure she won't want to be around people she hardly knows on her first trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirveyr Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 My wife knows that I take my shooting very seriously and I'm very competetive. Therefore, she is reluctant to shoot with me because she thinks I will expect her to do the same. My advice is to make sure that you make sure this match is all about having fun. You can beat yourself over mistakes and tease your buddies during the next match. Most of all, enjoy the time together! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Put her on a different squad with people you like. Let them be the "coach" and not you. At least for the first match. Yes. Two things a husband should never try to do is teach their wife to shoot or drive a manual shift transmission. Add "play golf" to that list! I actually taught my wife to shoot, but we're not your average couple, and I put a LOT of time and thought into coming up with a plan to have it be safe, fun, and successful. For the OP, one thing I'd say is to make as sure as possible that the gun, mags, ammo etc are as close to perfect as you can get. It's got to be 100% reliable, sighted in properly, and ready to rock. I took a class this year and one of the women was using ammo her husband knew had issues (some sort of press problem) and told her "just burn up that junk ammo"....BAD idea. She spent a lot of time clearing a jammed gun, and got really irritated with it (for good reason). R, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdwilliams Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Haven't found anything here I don't agree with. Couple of things I'd add is make sure it's a gun she's comfortable with. From the sounds of things, I think you have that one covered but I can't tell you how many times I see guys put big guns in women's hands that they're not prepared for. Again, it's supposed to be fun. Another thing, make sure she not at the top of the shooting order. Breaking down/programming stages can be overwhelming for a new shooter and going early only intensifies the stress level for most. You might even consider putting her through a few drills with a timer in advance if you have a chance, that way it's not quite such a new experience for her. Beyond that, have fun and good luck. Let us know how it works out! Sherry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigpops Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Tim, Got your PM. Come on down Saturday, let Cindi show her the ropes on the range while us men to manly things! We will shoot too but we will let the woman have some alone time. We have enough props and stuff that she will have some fun. No pressure...just fun. Cindi and I established some rules right after our first match together. For one, during the walkthough, we don't talk to each other. (ahhh 5 minutes of pure bliss) . (side note Cindi does not log on to BE...can't you tell). At the end of the walk through she will usually tell me her strategy, which is usually better than mine, and I try to keep my mouth shut. What works for her works for her. It's her run not mine. The only thing I ever gave her quick pointers on were safety related. We agreed from the get go that if I saw anything marginal to speak up. I/we do and we don't sugar coat it. Above anything else we have FUN! You've shot with us and you have seen how we are. We are both competitive people and that can lead to trouble between us if not handled properly. We are thankful to be participating in a sport together so we value that and have FUN! That being said, when she starts beating me on a regular basis all bets are off! Take the newness and enthusiasm to York on Sunday and she will have a blast! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgkeller Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Try to ensure that she has an experienced shooter and RO run her and that the RO knows that this is her first match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
de03x7 Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Lucky for me, my wife and I started shooting together. We both had been around guns forever but had never done any shooting events. We would shoot a couple hundred rounds per year using handguns, rifles, and shotguns. Our youngest daughter started driving last fall and this spring we found ourselves with time to do things for us and not just for the kids. We started shooting steel challenge matches and both of us have gotten hooked. The steel matches seem to be a great place to start out because there is very little movement involved, you don't have to break down a stage only to forget everything when the buzzer sounds and reloads are done off the clock. This allows getting a feel of competition without having an overload of things going on at first. Our oldest daughter went with us later in the summer and shot a couple matches using a .22 and now she can't wait to get a 9mm to shoot with next summer. In our local steel matches all new shooters and rim fire shooters start from low ready so they don't even need to worry about drawing in the beginning. My wife and I have shot a couple of USPSA matches with the local club and we do our walk thru together and bounce ideas off each other. We share anything we pick up along the way and have a good time giving each other crap about any screw ups along the way. We treat the match as a competition between each other and don't worry about where we place against everyone else. Now if I could just beat her more often than she dose me.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boulderchild Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Like the others have said, squad her with people you like and let them walk her through it and coach her. I have been shooting my whole life, my wife and I started dating with our time at the range. I decided earlier in the year that I wanted to get into 3 gun and uspsa and she decided she wanted to jump in with both feet as well. She has been a lot more on/offish with matches than just going to the range, but when she comes to matches she loves them. let someone else show her the ropes (unless she specifically asks you) and be supportive and there's a good chance that the biggest problem you'll have after that is figuring out how to pay for her gear too!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colt22man Posted November 15, 2010 Share Posted November 15, 2010 Wish my wife would shoot. She has a horse, $$$ more than shooting. At least she tells me to shoot well when I'm out the door headed to a match. She would squad with a squad other than mine if she did shoot. She doesn't want to hear my coaching. For the couple's with both names on the sign in sheet, have fun, shoot safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rangertim Posted November 16, 2010 Author Share Posted November 16, 2010 Well, as luck would have it she wasn't feelin well after the practice session Saturday and ended up not shooting the match. She's promised that she's in for a match or two next season though. I guess I can live with that. Give me plenty of time over the winter to practice with her and make sure she's more than ready for next spring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigpops Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Well, as luck would have it she wasn't feelin well after the practice session Saturday and ended up not shooting the match. She's promised that she's in for a match or two next season though. I guess I can live with that. Give me plenty of time over the winter to practice with her and make sure she's more than ready for next spring! You two are always welcome at the Flat Broke Shooting Range! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rangertim Posted November 16, 2010 Author Share Posted November 16, 2010 We both had a great time and will be back out I'm sure! Thanks again for your hospitality!! Next time, we'll bring the bagels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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