Why am I smiling?
You all better know this feeling.
Yesterday was club fest so we had several new shooters tonight at the trap and skeet club. Many of these shooters had never shot trap before tonight. Each new shooter was paired with an experienced shooter to assure saftey and teach them the basics of trap.
My first pupil turned out to be a fairly small framed lady. A short get to know you conversation revealed that she had shot a little informal clays with a Rem auto chucker. All the club autos were taken so I let her shoot my 390 sporting. Granted it was too big for her but it was better than a lightweight o/u 12 gauged with heavy field loads. After the standard saftey and basics chat it was time to shoot. For a small girl, she handled the long auto well and after a bit of coaching was shooting very well, hitting 2-3 birds per station. She was probably my easiest pupil of the even, little suggestions on form, swing, and hold points was all it took. I'm happy, she's happy. I hope she continues to come out and shoot as a little practice, a proper fitting gun, and maybe some time with an instructor who actually knows how to instruct and she could be a target crushing machine.
Pupil #2 was was also very pleasant to work with. Again, this young man had little shooting experience, but was familar with shotguns and only needed a few pointers to get on the right track. Like most newer shooters he had an tendancy to jerk out in front of the bird then stop and come back. Again a few suggestions on hold points, swing and follow through was all it took. Once I had him talked out of trying too hard on being fast and working on smothness, he was crunching targets with regularity. This came by the second station and I was feeling pretty good about myself. Thanks when another club member says "can you help with "shooter X", I can't tell where he was hitting."
I said sure although inside I gumbled at lossing my pupil who I had shooting good to start all over again.
So it was on to Pupil 3 for the night and a bit more of a challenge. Again the shooter had little experience and was shooting the club's superx1 trap which was way to big for him. Form was the biggie here and the long and heavy X1 wasn't helping matters, causing him to lean back alot to counter ballance. It took awhile but the form improved, then the swing started to smooth, and the birds started to break. By the end of the round, he too was breaking a good percentage of the birds. Afterwards we talked awhile and next week I am going to have him try a round or two with my lighter 390. This young man was somewhat of a challenge for me though, and I went through what I assume to be the normal worries of being a coach. Am I overloading the student with too much information? Am I being too pushy with the suggestions and causing him discomfort? If I don't suggest things and just let him go will he become frustrated with missing? Coaching can be stressfull.
Afterwards, I shot two rounds of skeet myself. I'm still a bit rusty after a summer of no shooting and it showed on my first round. The score was 19 and my form stunk badly. Second round I buckled down and worked on form and broke a 22, not great but I could tell the smoothness was coming back and I could feel every miss so some practice and I should be doing alright.
So why am I smiling? Setting 3 inexperienced shooters on the right track in one night is worth smiling about. Will have to pick up some light load for next week. Sure wish I had a 20 gauge auto but don't have the money so light loads will have to do. Got a couple girls I know who I am trying to get to go out next week as well. Neither one has ever fired a gun, but are interested just need a little convincing to get them past the uneasiness most non shooter have about guns.
Now for the record, I ain't much when it comes to being a coach. I know a bit about coaching, I'm not pushy, I trying to keep it as uncomplicated as possible, and I don't expect Rome to be build in a day when comes to scores. Not to hard, eh? Now go take someone to the range and discover true shooting happiness.
Matt- corrupting todays youth one new shooter at a time.
You all better know this feeling.
Yesterday was club fest so we had several new shooters tonight at the trap and skeet club. Many of these shooters had never shot trap before tonight. Each new shooter was paired with an experienced shooter to assure saftey and teach them the basics of trap.
My first pupil turned out to be a fairly small framed lady. A short get to know you conversation revealed that she had shot a little informal clays with a Rem auto chucker. All the club autos were taken so I let her shoot my 390 sporting. Granted it was too big for her but it was better than a lightweight o/u 12 gauged with heavy field loads. After the standard saftey and basics chat it was time to shoot. For a small girl, she handled the long auto well and after a bit of coaching was shooting very well, hitting 2-3 birds per station. She was probably my easiest pupil of the even, little suggestions on form, swing, and hold points was all it took. I'm happy, she's happy. I hope she continues to come out and shoot as a little practice, a proper fitting gun, and maybe some time with an instructor who actually knows how to instruct and she could be a target crushing machine.
Pupil #2 was was also very pleasant to work with. Again, this young man had little shooting experience, but was familar with shotguns and only needed a few pointers to get on the right track. Like most newer shooters he had an tendancy to jerk out in front of the bird then stop and come back. Again a few suggestions on hold points, swing and follow through was all it took. Once I had him talked out of trying too hard on being fast and working on smothness, he was crunching targets with regularity. This came by the second station and I was feeling pretty good about myself. Thanks when another club member says "can you help with "shooter X", I can't tell where he was hitting."
I said sure although inside I gumbled at lossing my pupil who I had shooting good to start all over again.
So it was on to Pupil 3 for the night and a bit more of a challenge. Again the shooter had little experience and was shooting the club's superx1 trap which was way to big for him. Form was the biggie here and the long and heavy X1 wasn't helping matters, causing him to lean back alot to counter ballance. It took awhile but the form improved, then the swing started to smooth, and the birds started to break. By the end of the round, he too was breaking a good percentage of the birds. Afterwards we talked awhile and next week I am going to have him try a round or two with my lighter 390. This young man was somewhat of a challenge for me though, and I went through what I assume to be the normal worries of being a coach. Am I overloading the student with too much information? Am I being too pushy with the suggestions and causing him discomfort? If I don't suggest things and just let him go will he become frustrated with missing? Coaching can be stressfull.
Afterwards, I shot two rounds of skeet myself. I'm still a bit rusty after a summer of no shooting and it showed on my first round. The score was 19 and my form stunk badly. Second round I buckled down and worked on form and broke a 22, not great but I could tell the smoothness was coming back and I could feel every miss so some practice and I should be doing alright.
So why am I smiling? Setting 3 inexperienced shooters on the right track in one night is worth smiling about. Will have to pick up some light load for next week. Sure wish I had a 20 gauge auto but don't have the money so light loads will have to do. Got a couple girls I know who I am trying to get to go out next week as well. Neither one has ever fired a gun, but are interested just need a little convincing to get them past the uneasiness most non shooter have about guns.
Now for the record, I ain't much when it comes to being a coach. I know a bit about coaching, I'm not pushy, I trying to keep it as uncomplicated as possible, and I don't expect Rome to be build in a day when comes to scores. Not to hard, eh? Now go take someone to the range and discover true shooting happiness.
Matt- corrupting todays youth one new shooter at a time.
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