Becoming an instructor

[wolf_fire]

Wow, J. Powers. I'm not sure what this handful of instructors did to you, but the fact remains there are many good instructors out there who have been trained through the vast array of NRA training programs.

You bashing an organization that has developed because of its training programs is a bit obtuse. You got screwed by a handful of the bad ones. Every group, entity, or demographic is going to have a few bad apples. Unfortunately, that's the way things are.

But to bash all of NRA's training programs because you found a few bad eggs is a bit naive. However, since you wasted your money and had to relearn because of bad technique, I can understand why you are upset and have a chip on your shoulder.

It's obvious you can do research well from the history you gave on Jeff Cooper. However, wouldn't it be better to advise others to do their research on their instructor before paying him/her cash?

Every instructor I know in my area has a three ring binder or some other method to show all his/her credentials as well. Ask for it before hiring their services. Meet with them before hiring them. Contact former students and ask their opinions of the instruction.

In my experience, everyone of the instructors I have come in contact with has been phenomenal. They all have been NRA trained. All but one has served in the military, but their military career isn't their slogan for their experience. Their dedication to their craft, their ability on the range, and their willingness to perfect their students is what is leading me down a path to emulate them. Currently, I'm a Range Safety Officer. I hope to one day to become an instructor and help those, who like me, needed good quality instruction.

The OP asked for assistance on getting involved in being an instructor and you have hijacked this thread (11 out of 20 posts) into your own private bashing party. Let's try to get back on topic to help PackingPastor.

 

[Bttbbob]

Bob,Your opinion of military instructors seems greatly biased by the fact that you were once a military instructor, which again is purely self-serving. I was never in the military, however, I have trained with more than one instructor that I know for a fact was a military instructor and had served at the local joint reserve base in that capacity. My experience with a relatively small sample is that the military instructors lacked fundamental skills with a handgun. I could not describe them as being a cut above anything rather I found them to be just another flavor of ignorant.

There are two levels of experience that we are dealing with in this situation. The first level of experience is with actually using a handgun for its intended purpose. The second level of experience is in teaching or transferring your knowledge to other people. Of the people that have the requisite experience with using a handgun for its intended purpose, there is only a small number that will develop the requisite skill as a teacher to transfer that knowledge to others. The vast majority of the people posing as instructors lacked experience in using the handgun for its intended purpose and also often seem to lack basic skill with a handgun.No matter how much practice you get as an instructor, if you do not have the skill and experience at the first level, you will never be able to become an effective instructor.

I hope that your reference to gold-medal winners is not an attempt to slander one of my former teachers, Lanny Bassham, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1972. He is an exceptional public speaker and has a program that I would highly recommend to anyone that has to function under pressure, called "Mental Management".

I certainly agree that the ability to diagnose the problems the shooter is having and then to provide a solution is the heart of marksmanship instruction. Unfortunately, these are skills that very few possess. As I struggled to learn to shoot a handgun, I found that the vast majority of instructors could do no more than randomly recite some buzzwords or catchphrases. They could not begin to provide solutions to my problems.

I have no problem with the price of top quality instruction and in all honesty I feel it is worth every penny. However, I do have a problem with being defrauded and certainly the greater looming danger of being improperly trained and ill-equipped and unable to defend myself had the need arisen. In my experience, low quality instruction was never offered to me a discount and was every bit as expensive as getting first-rate instruction from schools like Gun Site or Thunder Ranch. I have no problem paying the cost of good instruction, nor do I have a problem with any of the associated expenses. However, I do not like being swindled and being put in a potentially dangerous situation. I think that your insinuation that I got low quality training because I was unwilling or unable to pay the price of good training is absurd. I think that as a woman i was exploited by dishonest and unethical instructors.

In the grand scheme of things, I spent far more money on low quality training and questionable guns recommended by inept instructors than I spent on first-rate training and high-quality guns. Money was never an issue, rather the issue was my personal safety. After numerous bad experiences with certificated instructors, as well as assorted military and LEO types, I have become quite cynical. If you cannot step up to the firing line and show me what you can do and also show me some documentation or record of your first-hand experience of defending your life for the handgun, you will not see me sitting in your classroom.

I will say the Col. Cooper did not learn his trade in the military with great confidence. True, he did service in the military as a small arms instructor. However, the driving force behind his modern technique of pistol craft was the fact that he found his military training to be so grossly inadequate and went in search of more efficient and effective techniques to employ a handgun. His modern technique was a significant departure from the training he received in the military and he certainly says so. I think that you have been running a bluff for so long, that you feel it's a little late to back down. You certainly remind me of the man that lied so much about having horse that he had to go out and buy a saddle.

I'm glad you clarified the fact that you do not feel you are special. Your otherwise arrogant and condescending tone had left me with the exact opposite impression.

I will just say WOW to all of this. I was neither condescending nor arrogant in my post. I truly am sorry you have had bad experience with low grade Instructors. You are correct in your feeling that defrauded if you took substandard training or training that diod not fullfil your requirement in a school or Instructor. Fraud is fraud. There are legal ramifications. Not sure I stated you didn't pay enough for your training wither, never said one way or the other.Nothing that I wrote is either inaccurate nor condescending. Several problems with your post.
1st-I had no idea you trained with a Olympic shooter so it couldn't have been a dig.
2nd-Your issue with inept instructors is just like all walks of life. You could say the same about Doctors, Lawyers, Contractors and Auto Mechanics.
3-rd I would agree you have become cynical about training.
4th- Your statement about Col. Cooper is part right and part wrong. I actually had the pleasure of training with him when he owned API and had time to speak with him at length. Yes, he found military training lacking in areas and that is why he, among others used those weaknesses to develop his modern pistol theory. Again, you want to discount his military instruction background, but had he not had that, how would he have known where it's weakness was? Experience, right? He fired thousands of rounds and trained hundreds of students in the Marine Corp that helped to develop his trade. So your statement he did not learn his trade there is inherently false. He did not search of more efficient and effective techniques. He invented those. Show me anywhere, where he actually took training from another instructor to come up with his techniques. He would never have invented the modern technique had he not been an instructor in the Marine Corps. Also it showed in his training, the color codes of awareness had been taught in the Marine Corps since the 1940's, Cooper just refined it. This is called experience. Not to mention his love affair with a 1911.....How would you explain that?

I fear that your cynicism on firearms instructors has clouded your thought process and judgement.

I have only been a firearms instructor for over 38 yrs, from the fundamentals of shooting to Instructor training. I would say I have seen more than a few Instructors, both good and bad.

And yes, Firearms training is training and as such, you need to do a background check before you spend your hard earned dollars. Get references, go sit in on a class, ask if they have a money back guarantee on the skills you want to learn.
And I am just trying to help you here.

 

[sempertodd]

If you want to be a good Instructor, I would suggest finding a good one and ask if you could assist or be an apprentice. This way you get to understand how to "poll" the students, and keep them insterested. learn the flow of the curriculm as well as find the lull's and high points. Get a taste of what all it takes (alot more to it than teaching). I have had several people whom apprenticed and once they seen ALL the work only couple went on. One other point I stress, as a good Instructor you never stop learning and are always learning and evolving.

 

[1-LM]

When I started out learning about firearms it was over 5 decades ago. My first informal training was my father. Later on I joined a gun club and continued my informal training from others in Rifle, shotgun, And pistol. In the small town I lived nothing was offered like today in training. Learning to train was a progression from the joy of being around firearms. I became an NRA instructor not so much on the shooting basics of shoot but to learn to train others effectively. Supplement my income was the farthest thing to do with transgressing into a SDA instructor. Most of what is taught in a conceal carry class is LAW and Making this stuff exciting is the challenge. What is learned about firearms is less then what is taught in an NRA basic class. Conceal carry classes are not defensive shooting classes. One thing I cover in class is that this is not a defensive shooting class what you learn here today is the "fundamentals" of pistol shooting.

I have those who are wanting to take a conceal/carry class with absolutely no knowledge of a firearm. For them, I offer the NRA basic pistol class at the cost of $20.00 before they take the conceal /carry class. The $20.00 covers the cost of materiel.

My basic point is; Don't take an NRA instructor training course just because you want to supplement your income with a conceal carry class. You will not enjoyit and it will show.

 

[Ric64]

woow some great info and thoughts here, I just wanted to say Thank You all. :dirol: