Proactive Shooters' Defensive Handgun II class - July 7, '13

[ProShooter]

Defensive Handgun II

Utilizing skills learned in Defensive Handgun I, students will learn addition techniques to properly deploy a defensive handgun under these circumstances:



- Shooting from cover / concealment

- Escort techniques

- “Man down” drill

- Shooting while injured

- Shooting from your vehicle

- Utilizing your vehicle as cover

- Low light / Night fire (or simulated night fire)

- Flashlight techniques

- and other topics…



This course will require a small degree of physical activity; running, dragging heavy objects, etc. Students should be physically prepared to meet these challenges.

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The cost for this class is $200.00. There is a prerequisite of having completed our Defensive Handgun I class.

Visit http://www.ProactiveShooters.com to register for this class

[Chasbo00]

There is a prerequisite of having completed our Defensive Handgun I class.

I suspect you are losing potential students by having only the above sole prerequisite. Why not also come up with performance-based prerequisites and test those prerequisites at the start of the class for those who have not attended the level I course? Those prospective students who can't meet the prerequisite standards would then get to go home early with a paid voucher for your level I class.

[ProShooter]

There is a prerequisite of having completed our Defensive Handgun I class.

I suspect you are losing potential students by having only the above sole prerequisite. Why not also come up with performance-based prerequisites and test those prerequisites at the start of the class for those who have not attended the level I course? Those prospective students who can't meet the prerequisite standards would then get to go home early with a paid voucher for your level I class.

Sorry for the late reply. Just noticed your post.

The answer is fairly simple. There are things that we teach, and explanations of why we teach them that are gone over in Defensive Handgun I. Students in DH-II build upon skills learned in DH-I.

Let's say that we have 10 students who show up for DH-II. 5 have taken DH-I, and 5 have not.

I take the 5 "have nots" and say "show me ABC, show me XYZ"...some of these things are done one person at a time. Targets have to be set up, explanations given, and basically we're teaching DH-I all over, trying to get them up to speed, while the "haves" stand around waiting, and getting mad.

What happens when I tell the person to "show me how to draw from the holster". They draw, and its all wrong. Do I spend 30 minutes teaching them, and giving them all the info that we normally give our DH-I students? Do I send them home with a voucher, and they're pissed because they think that they're drawing from the holster correctly, and now they've wasted a training day?

In the end, its just easier to require everyone to take the class.

[Chasbo00]

Perhaps somewhere in between is reasonable. Provide prerequisites, have the students show up before the class starts and evaluate them. Then, you could put them into three categories:

1. Meet the standards and are good to go.

2. Don't meet the standards, but demonstrate safe gun handling and use. You inform them (privately) that their skills are not up to par for this course and that you will not hold the class back for them. But, they are welcome to participate in the course so long as they remain safe. You also offer them a voucher for a subsequent course if they desire.

3. Are unsafe. These folks get a voucher and a trip home.

I suspect you would very rarely get any students who fall into 3 above, if the course content and prerequisites are properly stressed to prospective students.

[ProShooter]

Perhaps somewhere in between is reasonable. Provide prerequisites, have the students show up before the class starts and evaluate them. Then, you could put them into three categories:

1. Meet the standards and are good to go.

2. Don't meet the standards, but demonstrate safe gun handling and use. You inform them (privately) that their skills are not up to par for this course and that you will not hold the class back for them. But, they are welcome to participate in the course so long as they remain safe. You also offer them a voucher for a subsequent course if they desire.

3. Are unsafe. These folks get a voucher and a trip home.

I suspect you would very rarely get any students who fall into 3 above, if the course content and prerequisites are properly stressed to prospective students.

I appreciate the thought that you've put into this, but I still see some problems. First, the student who is supposed to be there early for an eval, but shows up late. Do I send him home PO'd, or do I hold up the entire class while we eval him?

Some people think that their skills are better than they really are. If they show up thinking that they can do stuff and they can't, that's an issue. Sometimes, people erroneously think that DH-I is a "teach you how to shoot a gun" class. Its not. We clearly state in DH-I, "Students should have a firm grasp on the fundamentals of shooting (stance, grip, sight alignment, etc) before registering for this class. This class will build upon those skills.", yet we've had people show up who have never shot a handgun before. Imagine if we then said for DH-II, "you can take this class if you know how to draw from your holster, do linear/lateral movement, etc". That would be a disaster waiting to happen.

The main problem is not necessarily that the student must do the exercises correctly, but that they must understand why they're doing them. They need to see how their body, their gun, and their holster work under the conditions presented, and how to compensate/correct for any problem areas. There's much more than that involved here, but the easiest thing to do for everyone involved is to just take the courses and learn the movements.

[Chasbo00]

This question of prerequisites interests me as I'm considering developing a technical course for intermediate level shooters. By technical course, I mean one that focuses on learning and applying the technical aspects of pistol marksmanship and gun handling that enable one to shoot both quickly and accurately.

You made the comment that some people think their skills are better than they are. I wholeheartedly agree. In fact, my belief is that most people, especially men, think they shoot better than they do. But, I've not yet convinced myself that there is a viable market for a course that focuses on shooting a pistol better.

[ProShooter]

But, I've not yet convinced myself that there is a viable market for a course that focuses on shooting a pistol better.

I think that I understand where you are going with a class like that, and I agree that it may be a tough sell.