Monday, December 17, 2012

Training a Junior Shooter

Justice's Journey (Part 1)

Dry Fire, Draws, and Reloads...

I have been working with my son Justice for about a year now and teaching him everything I can about sport shooting. Like any boy his age, guns are cool. He says he can now play "Call of Duty" for real. However, the things I'm allowing him to do now are more than when he started. There is a great responsibility when handling firearms and should only be done under the direct supervision of a trained professional. If your child is not mature enough to handle a firearm, please keep it safe with AirSoft.


In the beginning, we worked with an AirSoft gun. Justice had a belt, holster, mag pouches and an AirSoft Glock. The gun was a gas blow back, full metal replica made by KWA. It functions exactly like a Glock 17. We started with weapon manipulations. I thought it be important for him to understand what racking the slide meant along with locking it to the rear. He also learned that if the magazine was empty and he pulled back on the slide that it would stay locked open. Working with the gun like this began to build his confidence. One of the big "mental humps" I see out of beginning shooters, is that some are so scared of not knowing or understanding what the weapon is doing, that they can not take in information that is being taught. 

Once he understood what he was doing with the gun and its functions, we moved right into trigger control with his Glock 17. All the drills we did were done dry. I would have him close his eyes, and use his finger to feel what was going on with the trigger. I had him prep to the wall and release, over and over again. The challenge was to see how fast he could prep it, with out letting the striker fall. I then placed a coin on the slide and had him move the trigger back and forth without letting the coin or the striker fall. I then would keep the coin on the slide and have him pull the trigger back until the striker would fall. His goal was to keep the sight on the target and not let the coin fall. 

The next thing we worked on was drawing from the holster. I discussed with him a very simple but precise draw stroke. I had to catch myself from telling him too much at one time. The only thing I had him focus on with his draw, was he had to have the trigger prepped and the sight in focus. Even with the AirSoft gun, he could prep the trigger. We would work on this for maybe 10 minutes. Focusing on only the draw, nothing else.  One of the things that I tried to make sure of, was to keep things new and exciting for him. I could see that he would start to get bored sometimes, so I made it a new drill to step in all directions and drawing. 

Reloads was next on the list. This is an area where things could differ a little based on the student. I still had him draw the gun straight back, keeping the gun high so he can see the mag well and the target in his line of sight. That part did not change. What did change, was how I had him release the slide. For top level shooters, .3 seconds over 10 reloads can make or break your match. For junior shooters, its more about hitting the target and executing your plan. So I have made Justice sling shot the slide forward, rather than hit the slide release. Yes he may loose a little time, but he does not have to think about what's going on with the gun. Now, another advantage to this is that if the slide does not lock to the rear or he has a malfunction, the motion is still the same.  So the less he has to remember, the better. As he starts to mature in handling a pistol, then I will give the option to use the slide release if he wants.   

Once the dry fire was done, it was time to head to the range. What I found interesting about the range work, was that we did not have to go over all the basics. We had been practicing for months without firing a round.  So when we got to the range the only thing I said was "load and make ready, stand by !" Reload times were around 2.50 to 3.0 and his draw times were 1.7 to 2.0.


The one thing I did not do with him was slow fire for accuracy. I believe that in practice, people focus too much on slow and steady. I'm not sure why, because in a match or combat, nothing is slow and steady. I have seen plenty of good shooters who can shoot a dime size group at 10 yards, however when asked to shoot multiple targets at different sizes, distances, and priority, they loose their mind. Sight picture is so important and when the environment changes throughout a course of fire, those shooters cant take all the time they did to shoot the dime size group. So the result is, missed shots and confusion in the plan. 

My approach with Justice was to hit the "A" zone. I did not care where it hit in the "A", just hit the box. I believe this will allow him to make the decision as to how much time he spends aiming in on a target. I guess only time will tell with that... 

2 comments:

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  2. Great story Brandon. Justice is lucky to have such a great father, mentor and coach! I recommend that any shooter, of any age, take a class from Brandon. Not only is he a skilled shooter and competitor, his teaching skills are second to none. Looking forward to Justice's Journey (Part 2)

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