Wannabes

There are several “wannabes” at every club. You know, the guys that jump on a field as soon as they have an opportunity to impress someone with their so-called knowledge.

 

I was recently told about one of these that went up to a teenager at a registered skeet shoot and told this teenager that he could help him improve his game. The teenager had just (five minutes before) shot his fifth or sixth 100 straight. The kid is very talented. The ‘wannabe’ has never been close to a 100 straight, but there he was.

It’s great that clubs have people that want to help new shooters learn the shotgun sports, but there is a time and place for this, and it’s not at a registered shoot.

It’s also not for the ‘wannabe’ to present himself as knowledgeable of a game that he has little talent in himself. He’s feeding his own ego. If he wants to teach, he should take the steps necessary to become a certified instructor; you learn a lot about how to improve your own game along the way to becoming an instructor.

All of the major shooting organizations have certified instructor classes- the NRA, NSSA, NSCA, and ATA are among the best known.

If you want to help shooters, fine, but recognize where your limits are. In the shotgun sports, the NSSA- and NSCA-Certified Instructors are taught to never teach above their level of training. NSSA and NSCA instructors also teach the same basic techniques which makes it easy to go from one certified instructor to another and continue on the same path seamlessly. NSSA and NSCA instructor courses involve hours of training, learning and applying shooting techniques as well as teaching and trouble-shooting methods that have been proven to work.

This is by no means saying that some of the local, club-level shooters are not talented teachers; some of them are. The problem for shooters is in identifying which of them are and which are not talented. This is where and why the new student needs a certified instructor.

Barry Hartmann is an NSSA Master Level and NRA Certified shotgun instructor who can help you improve your skills at American Skeet and wingshooting. To contact Barry, email him at threeat8@aol.com or give him a call at (918)803-2393.