Overview, History, and Weather
We had a great pistol clinic at Paul Goin's Range in Muenster! We had a little less than 10 students come out and learn pistol fundamentals. Without the great help from multiple instructors, ranging from Red to Silver Hats, this event would not have been as successful as it could have been. The Waco cadre drove up to help teach and allowed us to have a great student to instructor ratio. We even had an instructor drive all the way from Alabama!
A great and inspiring time was had by all. The three strikes, Sam and Sam, the onion of self-defense, and various DOM's were spread out at key points throughout both days because it was hot! It wasn't quite hot enough for a caliente seed patch though, but it was hot and muggy enough to impact learning and scores.
With great instruction and practice we saw scores increase across the board from only a few shooters qualifying on the initial hits count target to a majority of shooters performing well on the afternoon hits count target on Sunday.
Lightbulb Moments
We had a lot of "lightbulb" moments with various shooters on the line. These were times when the students made their own discoveries of how applying good fundamentals with appropriate techniques will get great results. Here is a list of some of these lightbulb moments:
- One student who was still new to the dot had trouble target focusing. After placing a piece of non-translucent tape in front of his optic (on the front nearest the muzzle) he then understood how to focus on the target and not on the dot. This method is called occluding the dot and shows shooters how to target focus appropriately with red dot sights.
- One student kept shooting low left. After ensuring his pistol was zeroed correctly, we shot the ball and dummy drill and he saw how he was driving the sights low left with his primary hand. Seeing how he drove the sights down on a dummy round made him understand how his shots were going low left. Improving his grip really helped mitigate the low left push, but he was encouraged to dry practice at home to develop a good trigger press and to help mitigate his flinch. Ensuring the support hand is high up and gripping hard enough can help the shooter mitigate or sometimes eliminate the low left push, however this shooter's pistol was very smooth without a lot of room for gripping.
- One newer shooter was struggling with group shooting. An instructor verified the pistol was zeroed correctly and then worked one-on-one to improve his grip by making his support hand grab higher and harder. By improving his grip, not only did the student's groups become more accurate, but his sights became more predictable, which increased the student's speed. Seeing an instructor shoot the pistol accurately and improving the student's grip made the student shoot more accurate and faster because it allowed the student to trust his grip and his shooting process.
- Another student struggled with understanding what a deliberate trigger press is like. To help develop a deliberate trigger press on small targets, an instructor advised the shooter to get to 75% of the control point (the wall) of the pistol's trigger. He then asked the shooter to add 5% more, then 5% more, then 5% more, and so on until the shot broke. This helped show the shooter what an accurate trigger press can feel like. Asking students to do something is much better than asking them to not do something. Telling the student to not anticipate or not slap the trigger is not as impactful as asking them to deliberately press the trigger.
- As both days progressed shooter's hands became sweaty with the heat. Grip chalk was provided and the students that used them improved their grips and scores. In hot environments, grip chalk is almost a must because it makes gripping the pistol easier and improves learning.
Pistoleer™ Patches
As for the official scores we had one two new Pistoleer™s and two instructors requalify!
One student shot an awesome 220 with his red dot pistol! He came prepared and despite the heat and mugginess delivered an awesome performance.
Tony requalified for Pistoleer™ with his new red dot pistol!
Our very own ScottinTX requalified and earned distinguished with iron sights by scoring a 232!
Helaman made Pistoleer™ huzzah! He's been gunning for this accomplishment for a while and after deliberate practice (and picking up a red dot pistol) he made it through the 210 breakpoint. We're all very proud of him.
Conclusion
I want to thank all of our shooters and instructors for a safe and fun shoot. For all shooters seeking excellence, having consistent purposeful practice with brutally honest feedback will allow you to meet and exceed your shooting goals. Come back and earn Pistoleer™ or distinguished if you haven't already! I hope to see you all on the line and hope you all earn the coveted Pistoleer™ patch.
A great event this weekend, we all saw great progress made by all the participants. Kudos to Anthony with the Alabama cadre for scores that increased with the temperatures! Also hats off to the gentlemen from Waco for driving up to North Texas.
I don't have much to add on MRAKESTRAW's post, but I have to brag on Helaman a bit.
Helaman scored a 202, a 208, a 209 (and probably another 200-something in there). THEN we had another instructor verify zero only to learn . . . it wasn't correctly set :slap: The fact that Helaman was able to consistently achieve those scores with an off-zero dot really speaks volume to his ability. Congratulations sir! :F
Thanks to the TX cadre for a great shooting experience! Jacob and I both learned a lot and he is talking about coming back with a pistol that better fits his hands. He wants my Sig, but....
May Liberty Increase,
AnthonyB
Quote from: AnthonyB on May 29, 2024, 05:09:31 PMThanks to the TX cadre for a great shooting experience! Jacob and I both learned a lot and he is talking about coming back with a pistol that better fits his hands. He wants my Sig, but....
May Liberty Increase,
AnthonyB
So he wants something of yours. I can tell you how to motivate him, but it might cost you.
True story. "Ray of Sunshine" is my daughter and an instructor in training. Before she earned her patch, she wanted to stop at Braum's on the way home. I told her no, because she wasn't a rifleman.
"What if I score sharpshooter?"
"If you score sharpshooter, we'll talk."
I'll be darned if she didn't score sharpshooter on the next AQT.
Okay. Fine. We can stop at Braum's on the way home for burgers, but no ice cream. Ice cream is for riflemen.
Once again - I'll be darned if she didn't score a 211 on the very next AQT. That girl jumped more than 20 points in 2 AQTs to spite me, or for the love of ice cream, or both.
Moral of the story: People just need the right motivation.