Went down to visit her and she’s never held a gun in her hands before. She decided a Glock 43 was perfect for her hands and needs (it is). I only approved the purchase but tried not to influence the decision. About 2.5 hours at her pace, the smile on her face was precious.
After her fundamentals were solid… Her first 9mm target ever. 3 yards, Kinesthetic alignment, two hands, from High Compressed Ready position, 1-3 shots per repetition using visualization.
She handles recoil like a champ, better than most men I’ve trained. Amazing what someone can do when you don’t tell them something is hard.
Teaching fundamentals with a Glock 44. We gently corrected any issues while making her comfortable with noise and teaching recoil management. We don’t allow any flaws or bad habits to become ingrained. Doing it right before doing it often is the key to great training…
I think it’s great! I wish we never had to teach them such skills! Looks like a natural from that whole grouping, nice recoil management. Normally, first timers are all over the place.
“Tiny” is the reason for a force multiplier! I taught both my girls at a young age.
@Enzo_T, @Scott52,
Keep up the good work in training people especially women. I am happy to see them handling themselves. They all look very capable of defending themselves. Thank you guys for the pics.
Thanks. I try to make sure every woman that I care for at least has the fundamentals without forcing them into it. I just offer and answer questions and they will ultimately come around.
Funny my personal training tends to run about 80% females and I have developed a little bit of a reputation of being good at it, lots of referrals from female students. I think being raised with two strong willed sisters and living with a VERY strong wife has taught me the finer points of effective communications with females. Males are not typically born with that skill set.
Thanks! And again I want to emphasize, since I know some folks will not think this is all that accurate, this is NOT target practice. We’re not shooting for tiny groups. This is shooting for self defense. Basically hold the gun tight in a retention/ready stance and at the command of “threat” punch the gun forward and using the natural body alignment to get a shot in the right part of the body as swiftly as you can.
We will be working on more advanced training soon in upcoming sessions. I told her she’s now my personal Tactical Barbie doll
A younger relative of mine chose the G43 as well. I gifted some holsters, including a pocket one, DeSantis Nemesis, and a barrel block chamber clear indicator from the USCCA, as my “pet peeve” is checking that chamber if it’s hot or clear.
Thanks. I don’t own my hair. This is a collaboration between my wife and the girl that cuts our hair. I’m just their plaything
Good for you for getting your relative set up! Sometimes it’s thought, especially for younger, people to foot the bill of getting themselves outfitted.
My wife & I knew eachother in high-school as friends & 35 years later reconnected, fell in love, got married after the 1st year. She knew that I was retired military & was interested in shooting a handgun. So naturally we had some serious gun safety sessions & a bit of dry fire. I took her to the range for the 1st time & she learned the fundamentals on my Glock 26 which quickly became HER Glock 26. Lol. She had some initial recoil apprehension but in time was able to shoot fairly well. I enrolled her into a woman’s only beginner shooting group class run my ex-army women. That gave her even more confidence so we got her CCL & she also became a USAA member. We’re older now & she likes the 380 better because of her arthritis. She can draw & get the front sight on target in a smooth action with no panic. We still love going to the range together.
Good job! My wife was very happy at the beginning of our relationship to let me be her protector. Every time we went out she gave me a pat down to make sure I was “packing”. Then one day I said, “What are you going to do if I get shot first? Don’t I need a protector too?”. Since then she’s been my partner
Thanks, we try. I just wanted to share this to hopefully inspire others that have women in their lives that might need a little “help” to get them out there for some training. I’ve yet to find one the hated it. Usually they leave the range inspired and empowered. It an awesome experience!
I general I HATE indoor ranges. There’s no place to move and they amplify noises to levels that negatively impact training a new shooter. The best way to train a new shooter to the fundamentals including trigger control is by taking all the distractions out of the equation. Noise and recoil are distractions.
Recoil and noise are NOT part of shooting a gun, they are the by-product or end result of doing so. You can do a million repetitions of fundamentals such as grip, stance, front sight (sight picture) acquisition and pressing the trigger smoothly while maintaining a perfect sight picture, and never actually fire ONE live round, and you will become a good shooter. Noise and recoil management are much more advanced skills that should only be taught AFTER the other four fundamentals are SOLID!!!
Anyway, I LOVE outdoor ranges, especially the ones where you can move, set up multiple targets and in some cases have a whole berm to yourself. I’ve been blessed that I’ve always had those available to me, but for my sister this was the best option we could get to swiftly in her town so we made do.
BTW, some might have noticed that unless I’m actively working on correcting an issue I stand on the right hand and slightly behind of a new shooter. This is done on purpose. It makes it less likely that they will point a gun at me when they get excited and turn to face me, and it gives me more time to stop them from doing so if they start turning in my direction (I can block their swinging gun hand before the muzzle is on me), and if all is going well and I’m just observing it helps me to remember to continuously ignore the hot brass that is raining all around me or hitting me at times. So we both get to train together…
I agree. A clean slate (someone who has never fired a firearm but has an earnest desire to learn) allows the instructor to teach fact based training to the individual from the beginning without wasting time helping them “unlearn” the bad habits they acquired previously on their own or from sub-par training.
I wrote about my daughters roommates I pay for an additional Elite account with the USCCA, specifically for my daughter’s roommates. One of my daughters roommates was the daughter of an FBI agent. Anyways she was vociferously anti 2A. The day after my daughter’s first time shooting at the range. She wanted to go to the range and both of her roommates wanted to come. So the one who’s dad was FBI, I trained her while my daughter and her other roommate were shooting one lane over.
Anyway, I taught her my usual way. When she started shooting, I know shooting is a perishable skill. But that girl was freaking amazing. 5 targets, 100’ish rounds and you could cover the shot placements with an index card. I signed her targets and they all went home. They painted their targets and hung them in frames at their apartment.
One day I get a call from the FBI line. I am freaking the… out, I’m sure you can figure out the word and why I curious about why the FBI is calling me. Anyways, I answer and it’s my daughter’s roommates Dad. He asked how I had got his daughter to go the range. I said it was a girl thing. Anyways she had asked him to go to the range the FBI used during their downtime. He had started to go through how to shoot and she told him she knew how. So to kind of convince her to listen, he had her shoot the FBI training stages. She passed it on her first try. He thanked me for training her, and said he had given up on her ever being comfortable with firearms.
That was a good couple of days. Teaching my daughter and her roommates about self defense. Got 3 liberal girls to embrace the lifestyle of self defense, and 3 new CC permit holders as well.
