Top 10 Tips for the the Firearms Instructor

I started writing this while I was still on the job and only occasionally providing training to private citizens. As my focus transitions away from law enforcement training, these observations are just as applicable in the private training world.

1, Instructors/Teachers are potentially the most limiting factors in training. The wrong personalities, lack of imagination, laziness, unwillingness to learn new techniques or lack of knowledge, all contribute to a dated and stagnant training program. "Let's do it like we always have" or "we didn't need self first aid before" is not good enough. Almost as bad is mindlessly parroting what the people before you said. It's like an adult version of Pass It On. This combination leads to what Pat McNamara refers to as "Institutionalized inbreeding". If your instructor is incapable of explaining concepts and demonstrating techniques to you but spends an hour telling you what a badass they are, bail and get your money back. That’s a guaranteed shit show. Test your theories, vary your sources and stay current.

You wouldn’t take driving lessons from a person that went to Driver’s Ed and got their license last week. One would seek out the teacher that has some experience and time behind the wheel. Yet, in the firearms training/self defense world, this lack of experience is often what people settle for.

2, People want to participate in dynamic training. They don't buy into the anti-septic, safety above all else, scripted, we are all going to get sued mindset, imaginary world that trainers sometimes create. Picture the classic image of firearms instructors. They imply to their students that all of them would be maimed or killed if the instructor wasn’t on the range protecting them from themselves at that very moment. They are tired of fighting against their instincts and how their bodies naturally move. Challenge your people, they want to be tested.

3, Reps, Reps, Reps. Properly executed repetitions are far more important than mindless lecture and never ending critiques. Explain why the technique or subject is important so they can buy into it. Explain the technique (Auditory learner). Demonstrate the technique (visual learner). Let them perform the technique (Kinesthetic learner). If there are five phases or goals, focus on one per rep. You can't bombard them with all five after the first rep and expect them to retain any of it. To the contrary, you will shut them down. Building blocks, please.

4, Never underestimate the value of scenario based training. The more stressful the scenario, the more unpredictable the results. Professionally conducted scenario training is successful because to the mind of the participant the scenario is real to a certain degree. Asking trainees to "pretend there is a car here", or "those doors and rooms are out of play" is essentially asking them to use their conscious and unconscious brain at the same time. Pick one. It may be easier to think of one as a scenario and the other as a drill. Be cautious in mixing them. The trainee is problem solving, working with their equipment and they have nowhere to hide from their performance. A winning scenario does not mean that the trainee is not allowed to fail. Instead of spending five minutes lecturing them on how they screwed up, do them a favor by simply doing it again. See #3.

5, Training to the lowest common denominator. Another excuse to stay safely in the box. Think "Performance Based" training. Thank you Pat MacNamara/TMACS. Training to the LCD means everything has to be easy enough for everyone to be good at it. We should be encouraging the LCD to work to a higher standard instead of reinforcing that their skills are good enough. This line of thinking is also unfair to the competent person who sacrifices to be better and ultimately shuts them down in training. Change your thought process to "Do the best you can with what you have today" for everyone and design your training to accommodate this thinking.

6, Stay classy. One of he most debilitating things you can do to a class is tell them how bad Deputy John or Jane Doe (Mr or Mrs) screwed up in the last class. They will laugh with you but you just planted the seed in the fertile garden of self doubt that they are going to be the one you make fun of in the next class. In training, your personnel's weaknesses will be on display. They need to know they can screw up in front of you without the world finding out about it.

7, Have patience. Understand that while this is just another day for you, for the trainee the two or three days of in-service training or pistol class for the private citizen can turn their sleep schedule, family life and child care upside down. No one is good at everything. You are there to make them better.

8, I always try to think in terms of guided learning. For example, once your trainees have a grasp of basic malfunction clearing, offer them a course of fire where you induce the malfunction or stoppage and guide them through fixing it. Screaming each step to them may stroke your ego but it does nothing for the trainee. They will learn faster and retain the information longer if "they" slow down and work through the steps. This forces their brain to make the connection and understand the practical application of it.

9, Qualification is not training. Let me repeat, qualification is not training. It is a measurement of a minimum standard. If you are using a qualification course as training I urge you to stop. You are inducing training scars such as planting one’s feet while shooting (holding still) and worthless “administrative reloads”. I get it, it has to be done and to a certain degree I guess you could argue a qualification can establish a baseline. Qualification is anti-problem solving. It’s the auto pilot of shooting. Push through and get it over with if it’s mandatory so you can teach something that might actually benefit your people.

10, Train for the reactive situation, not the proactive. Gabe Suarez pioneered this concept after winning numerous “reactive” gunfights. Proactive is much easier to put on. The trainee knows what is going to happen and what they are expected to do. Reactive equals vulnerable. Here’s where gaps in one’s Training and skills will read their ugly heads. Reactive is also the world we live in.

Finally, you have to care. You must know that the people you train are going in to harms way with only what they carry on their person and the knowledge you have given them. Oh your heart is in the right place you will share in their failures and applaud their successes.