Muenster, TX AAR September 27-28 Pistol Clinic

[mrakestraw]

Overview, History, and Weather
We had a great pistol clinic at the Goin Firearms Range in Muenster, Texas! We had a large group of just under 20 students come out and brave the potential storms and heat to learn history, heritage, and pistol fundamentals. Orange hats to Silver hats helped out, and all instructors were needed on the line. Without their help we could not have had the great success that we had. Every student learned and had a great time!

Both days were very busy, and every second was filled with history, instruction, or hydration! We had a mix of updated pistol instruction as well as from the current Appleseed manual. New instruction was covered with good success. Students learned from both brand new drills such as the test drive drill as well as classics such as ball-and-dummy.

Because of the number of students we used relays. Relays helped some students learn more by being coached by their relay partners. We Are looking forward to hearing about relays from the student's surveys.

History was presented with the much loved and classic three strikes. This provided an excellent background for the pistol specific stories and lectures such as Sam & Sam, equipment selection, and the Onion of Self Defense. Students had excellent questions about equipment throughout the weekend and we were able to condense their questions into one lecture. This saved time and allowed students to focus good questions into one lecture. Students learned that for whatever context they want, their equipment needs to be safe, functional, reliable, and fun!

The weather was a little hotter than expected but canopies helped. I asked for students to bring canopies and we had nearly the entire line covered! This helped both instructors and students have a much better two days. Students, thank you for bringing canopies! ScottinTX brought towels for students to cover their pistols. Direct sun can make pistols extremely hot to hold, so canopies and towels helped make the event more safe and enjoyable.

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. On the last day we saw all remaining shooters hit the largest tombstone in the Hits Count target. This is excellent shooting, especially after a hot two days! Some students came prepared to play and every time a student cleared the Hits Count target we gave them three loud huzzahs!
 

Lightbulb Moments
There were various "lightbulb" moments for both shooters and instructors on the line. These were times when the students or instructors 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:

- Instead of using the terms "strong hand" or "weak hand" we used the terms "firing hand" and "control hand". This really helped one student better understand grip because it provided concrete instruction for what to do with his hands.

- The new instruction for grip was a hit. Using correct hand placement and pressure really is key. Using light pressure with the trigger hand and large pressure with the control hand into the grip panel helped make the pistol repeatable and predictable.

- The test drive drill was well received but there are still a few bugs to iron out. Students were able to shoot other guns and see how they shoot with both easy to shoot guns, like a cool 2011, to guns which are completely different than what they've had before, like a traditional double action 3rd generation Smith and Wesson. Most students found that they had a new found appreciation for their original pistol after trying out different pistols.

- One student persevered all weekend with multiple malfunctions with a small 380 pistol. Despite the struggles, she performed greatly by only focusing on her grip, trigger, and sights. She delivered some extremely small groups!

- Another shooter struggled with getting on paper. By working through the trigger press, and by having 1-on-1 instruction with various instructors she got onto the paper and had a big smile on her face by the second day.

- Instructors demoed some parts of the course of fire, such as grip and single handed shooting. Students found this helpful as some people learn by watching. It's one thing to describe a course of fire, but it's another to show it.

- Like our last pistol class, on the second day we started with light stretching and review. Students were asked to tell the class the most impactful thing that helped them on day 1. Hearing what other students found useful helps out both the other students and instructors.

Pistoleer™ Patches
Students came prepared to shoot and scores rose across both days. Students earned about 4 Pistoleer™ patches! One student shot a heart breaking 209 and despite only needed one point, earned four more the next PQT for a total of 213! A Pistoleer™ perseveres, even when they only need one more point. We even had an IIT qualify and then requalify in the same day with a score in the high 220s! That is excellent shooting.


Conclusion
I want to thank all of our shooters and instructors for a safe and fun shoot. For all shooters seeking a patch or shooting excellence, consistent dry practice will get you there. Come back to another clinic and bring a friend!

[Roswell]

Sounds like an amazing event! 

[Leadslinger66]

  Nice!

[Steck]

SO proud to be able to work with this crew and these students!

[AF5US]

You ran a great shoot Matt.

With all the respect in the world (because tone is hard to convey online):

- Another shooter struggled with getting on paper. By working through the trigger press, and by having 1-on-1 instruction with various instructors she got onto the paper and had a big smile on her face by the second day.

"Got onto the paper" undersells it.  By the end of the second day she was getting somewhere between 33% - 50% of rounds into the black, and the rounds that weren't in the black we were seeing where they were supposed to be and able to diagnose the next thing to work on (trigger control, pressure etc.)

Just goes to show that this program has something for every skill level!

I'll also add: Matt and I both have the good fortune to have SIRT pistols.  I continue to find these to be valuable tools for students struggling on a particular stage, or in general.  Yes, students should be able to diagnose what their sights are doing but sometimes it's easier to put a laser pistol in their hand, have them take some shots & diagnose from there.  On day 2 for a review of one-handed shooting we broke the line into 2 groups, put a SIRT pistol on each side & had them practice one-handed shooting.  That really helped some of our students hone the one-handed skill during the next live fire.

I appreciate every one of our instructors that came out. 

LittleMissE - great job learning to call the line.
TxJim49 - That's a man with experience behind him.  Great to work with you again, and looking forward to November in Waco
ScottInTX - Dude, you are a rock-solid staple of that range and I'm very grateful for you.
Steck - Thrilled you're able to be out more regularly again; you really had a hand in helping our struggling shooter.
Ghostring - I mean man, a chance to hang with the master instructor - that's awesome.  I know it was a long drive for you, thanks for coming out.

I hope that I'm no slouch in helping others (and continuing to learn myself), but if you ever have a chance to come work pistol with Matt you won't walk away disappointed.