Pre Assessment Day

On the 10th of September 2013 I had my BASC pre-assessment day.
I found out about the day that was going on in Derby on the 9th of September 2013!

There has been some staff absences and reorganization within the shooting standards team at BASC during the writing of this. This lead to some short notice to the candidates and some shortage of volunteers to use as clients. All that aside the day still went ahead and five coaches in training turned up to be assessed.
The assessors there were the aptly named Rob Pheasant and the resident coach to our hosts, Garlands shooting ground Graham Barrett, joining them was Peter Marshall the head of shooting standards at BASC.

We were welcomed with a coffee and had a briefing on how the day would proceed.
Throughout the day we will have to give 2 full lessons, show our own shooting skills, do some fault finding and then answer some questions on shooting law, gun safety and trap safety.

As it happened the volunteers took a while to rally up so Peter Marshall decided to take two of us for the shooting skills and fault finding.
I had to show I could hit a target, always good if you are going to teach something then you may aswell be able to do it :)
The target was a left to right crosser and I hit a pair much to my relief. Then I had to explain the 3 BASC methods of shooting, Smoke Trail, The Method and Maintained lead. Then I had to shoot the target using the three different methods.
Peter then shot at the same target and I had to pick up on why he was missing them. most common faults were stance, thumb on the barrells, face lifted off the gun or using the wrong eye. The sort of things you would expected to pick up if you were coaching.
All this seemed very straight forward yet some were not taking to it as well.

My first lesson was a male around 25 years of age and had never shot before.
By this time my patter has been shortened and rehearsed to the point of being pretty professional without too many ums and errs and I had faith that my coaching skills were as good as needed to be. All I needed to do was tell my nerves that it was just like any normal lesson.

Going through all the steps that I posted in the last post I managed to get in the zone and it all flowed very well. Intro, safety and gun fit were faultless and at the cage I talked him through how to approach the target. After a couple of snap cap shots were were ready to live fire. As the target came out he seemed to track it for a long time and then the gun went off miles away from the target.
I asked for some feedback as to why and he said there was a problem with the trigger. So I did a couple of test with the snap cap again and they were fine. Back on the live firing I said "target coming now' and bang the guy shot at the trap before the target had come out. Again I asked why he did it so fast and he said the trigger is sticking. I loaded up another and this time as I released the target I kept an eye on his trigger finger and noticed he was squeezing it before I sent the target.
With Browning shotguns if you pull the trigger to the 'click' point without it going off then try to squeeze it locks up, until you release and pull again. This I found out right there.
This set a few extra checks in my preshoot list.
1. Make sure the client has their finger on the wood next to the trigger as you push the safety off.
2. Make sure the client is not pulling back on the trigger before taking the shot.
3. Always ask if the person is from the military and has been shooting rifles for the last 3 months in Afghanistan!

Second lesson was a young lad about 16 that had shot before but not much and was keen to learn.
Again the Safety talk and gun fit was good and the lesson went well.
After smashing the first few he started to miss and I tried changing his pick up point and was making sure his mount was right and that he had his face on the gun. After I paused for a moment and thought about it and he said "if I moved over the the right a little I would be able to see them better"
a side step to the right and we were back on them.
Added to the checklist.
4. always ask for feedback and what the client sees before clutching at straws.

Its all too easy to over complicate your thoughts and trap yourself in getting the technical answers right to the problems to make sure you are assessed correctly.
Just remember to engage common sense and stay relaxed.

After everyone had finished their 2 lessons and shooting skills we did our individual pop quiz on gun law and safety and then we each had a debriefing.

At this point I was confident that my lessons went well and that the shooting skills were fine. But after hearing a few horror stories about little things you missed or the way you explained thing wasn't quite right. I had a few niggling doubts as to if I had met the grade.

As I sat down they referred to their notes and passed judgement. I passed and was told that I was very professional and had great rapport with the clients and was very good at fault finding, and keeping to the time limit necessary to give a lesson. One poor chap took one and a half hours to give a lesson. :(

I walked away feeling very happy and ready for some real live assessments.
Lucky really as they were that weekend at the midland game fair!

But that is another story.

BASC Coaching session report

A few days ago I had a coaching session with my BASC Mentor Dave Brown at his shooting school DBC Leisure. It was a group of 7 girls out on a hen party. Also along was another coach in training Davie, and it was our job to get the hens hitting targets.

They were a little late getting to the venue and some of them were a little worse for wear. Some of the fall out from hen parties can rival stags any day.

We decided to split them in to 2 groups, it turned out we had 3 left handers and 4 right handers, and as they were about a similar stature it worked a treat. After they all signed the section 21 declaration I was charged with the 4 right handers and I took them to one side and began with the safety brief and through gun fitting. Dave Brown mentioned it might be a good idea to use semi-autos as they are lighter and have less recoil and it would be good to practice with them as a lesson gun as most lessons for us tend to be with under and overs. However after fitting the first two it was apparent that it wasn’t suitable for all of them even with adjusting. So I opted for a nice browning 20 gauge with a little comb raiser seems to be the best for all of them. 

One girls master eye was a little high for my liking over the comb so I explained that as it was a group it would be easier to use the same gun but she would need to see the target just a little above the end of the barrel.

The shooting was very successful and there was a clear winner. She had a great stance and a great positive game face and applied all that I said and was smashing them out the sky. Some people have a good natural ability to get in to the groove fast and not give it too much thought. 

The others were great and were very willing to listen but I found myself having to show them how to swing the gun and they asked me to hold the gun and tell them when to move. One of my favourite comments from the day was as I was explaining the method she said “I don’t need to know how, I just need to win!”
You will find that not every one in a group will be willing to learn as much as just wanting to fire a gun at something in the air. But when they start getting frustrated at why they missed they loose faith in what they are doing and stop trying. So you have to pick them up and find another way of making it happen for them. One girl was struggling to hit a going away target and after about 5 go’s she was ready to give up. I said close your eyes for a moment take a breath and imagine it in your mind and think if it was a ball and you were going to catch it where would you reach? See it break and now put the gun in your shoulder and take the same breath. Boom! She hit 2 straight. Sometimes over loading a fresh mind with lots of instruction and words can hinder the shooting tempo and when a target has been missed a few times, the mind begins to try harder and puts up more things to think about. Break that cycle and just relax and take it back to instinct.

My session report from Dave was very positive with a few pointers.

Make sure clients always wear their safety glasses.
Good point as one of the girls had forgotten to put hers back on after hanging around for her next go and I only noticed after 2 shots were fired.

Make sure your hand is 10-15 inches from the gun while firing and not on it.
Again fair point and something to watch out for, no matter how much you are asked to move the gun for them they must do it themselves.

A successful day in all and a good practice. Dave has now put both Davie and I forward to our pre-assessment day and the second part of my CRB check has arrived in the post for me to fill out.

I hope to get to assessments before the end of this year but that might be a squeeze. Fingers crossed.

How to structure a lesson the BASC way.

Just as a quick up date before I get in to the meat of this post. 
The two references I put down on my CRB check have been contacted by BASC and have asked to give a written statement as to the integrity of my character and as far as I know they both have been very kind, besides the jibes about what they would like to have written. Thank you both.

Also Dave at DBC has asked me to help out this weekend as he has a hen party in to have a go at clays and then we might ask them to stick around for some lessons for me to practice on. Either that or Dave just wants some back up! 

Speaking of giving lessons leads us nicely in to this post.

Giving a formal lesson to a new client the BASC way.

One of the first things to point out here is the fact that like many other things this becomes easier with practice. I consider myself as an easygoing outward person who likes to meet people. I think this is quite an important trait for anyone looking to build enough of a rapport to pass on any knowledge to a keen mind. 

In this post I will give you a brief overview of a lesson and maybe we will drill down to finer points in later posts.

Introduction

Always look smart and introduce yourself. That’s easy enough.

Section 21

As mentioned before this is just an overview, so for a quick reference this is a disclaimer that needs to be signed by the client stating that [1] the client has not had a custodial sentence in the past 5 years, longer than 3 months or less than 3 years as this means they can not have a gun or ammunition in their possession until 5 years has passed after their release. [2] If they have served a sentence longer than 3 years they are banned for life.
Words to that effect, for full text visit - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/27

Experience 

Just by asking “have you shot before?” can give you a good insight in to what starting point you are at. More often than not these are a complete beginners or someone that has little experience. Though I guess as I progress and become established this may build to other clients wanting to approach particular types of sporting targets or clients looking for answers to noticeable misses creeping in. This we will have to wait and see.

Any cartridges?

This seems like a strange question to ask a complete novice but I am guessing this is more a safety precaution, as you don’t want shooters to turn up with random ammunition and using it in your guns. 

Gun and cartridges

At this point you are to make a judgement call on which gun to use with your client. If you are familiar with the selection of guns you have to offer it shouldn’t be too tricky, however if you are on a coaching line at a show for instance make yourself aware of the selection and take care to notice such things as stock lengths and cast not to mention bore.
Also at this point you pick up the correct cartridges to match the gun. This is also where I would pick up a skeet vest for them to wear.

Master eye

This needs to be explained as it is such an important point for success when shooting but even though you go through it with the client about how your brain uses one eye in preference over another and then getting them to discover which it is for them through various methods. It still surprises me when you get to the cage that they will close the wrong eye or try to look down the rib with the opposite eye or some even close both eyes and wait for the bang. This is why the delivery of your patter is important as not to bore them or baffle them. This took me a while to understand as I even now find myself waffling... moving on.

Stance

Is it important to stand a certain way? I have asked myself this question and the answer really is maybe. Because if you are out rough shooting you are never on a level piece of ground and you certainly don’t have the time to get your foot position right before taking that snap shot at a low fast pigeon. However saying that if you are shooting clays you have all the time you need to put yourself in to that position of lead foot pointing to the target half a step ahead and the other foot’s heel turned in with your nose over your toes. 

But let me put it this way. It’s all about balance and muscle memory. If you learn this stance and cement it in to your shooting rhythm you ‘stand’ a much larger chance of hitting your target regardless of the conditions under foot.

Gun Safety

This is mainly showing the client the correct way to handle a gun safely. Like how to remove a gun from the slip, always be aware of where you are pointing the barrels, an explanation of the safety catch and how safe it really is, and a quick introduction to the parts of the gun and how to find and hold it in position in the shoulder correctly. Vital for anyone wanting to learn shooting but unfortunately almost completely lost on most stags and party groups as the gun handling in the majority of the lessons you will give will be done by you. But giving them the option of taking it in is just as important as I have heard of many shooting grounds that approach parties as ‘get ‘em in , get ‘em out’ and wont even explain what a gun is before handing them one resulting bruised arms and shoulders or much worse.

Gun Fit.

In a one to one lessons this is fine tuning the gun to fit your client checking their stance, holding the gun, face placement and then on to stock length, comb height and making any adjustments needed to ‘fit’ the gun to them. This is very important as it would be if buying a gun and making sure it fits you. When running a stag party this is difficult as there are many members and fitting them with a gun each would be impossible so again making your best judgement on this and splitting them in to groups if you need a smaller or lighter gun for some as an example.

PPE

Personal Protection Equipment. As a coach it is important we take responsibility to ask the client and to make sure they are wearing ear defenders and safety glasses and in some cases the option of a cap for protection from falling clay debris. At a BASC coaching line, ear and eye protection are mandatory, hats are optional, and must always be in place before entering the shooting line. This is an instant fail if on assessment if unnoticed.

Show target

When in the cage the first thing to do is show them the target they will be shooting at. 

Explain technique

After you have showed the target you will have to explain the method you would like them to apply to that particular target. The three taught by BASC coaches are Smoke Trail, The Method or Maintained Lead. I’ll explain these in later posts.

Snap cap firing

Snap caps are the dummy cartridges, for the want of a better phrase, these allow your client to swing the gun at the target and pull the trigger and get use to the movement before live firing. This also lets you see from your coaching position if they were using the correct method, if they are on target and that the timing of the trigger pull was correct. 

You can do this as many time as you think is required for them and yourself to feel confident that they can move on to live firing.

Live firing

This is simply swapping the snap caps for live cartridges, and with your expert explanation, watching your client smash the clays with every shot!

Or if you want the truth this can go many different ways. But from your point of view making sure that you are in control at all times. That when they pull the trigger your hand is only 10 to 15 inches away from the gun in case they drop it or for any other reason. And your other hand is on their gun mounting shoulder preventing them from leaning back.

All this while you are loading and unloading the gun, checking their stance, which they would have by now forgotten, their hand and face position, and pressing the button to call the target.
This again takes practice just for the organisation of it all. And remember now you have the target in the air your hands in the right place you have to look at not only if they hit or missed the target but where they missed it and why?!

Rinse and repeat and adjust to make the lesson a success and always try to end on a high.

Enjoyed the lesson?

Even though this always is answered with a yes, its good to ask them as it reaffirms the successful feeling and can lead to some good feed back to you as a coach, don’t be afraid to ask them if you did your job properly, especially when learning as it is vital to know if you are making sense before your pre-assessment day or your full assessments.

What’s next?

Well depending on your client you can either book them in for another lesson? Encourage them to look into becoming a BASC member? BASC like this, or just gather up your PPE and skeet vest.

Farewell

It’s always polite to let them go with a smile. 

Replace gun and cartridges.

Put the gun away and any cartridges back that you didn’t use in the lesson and reset yourself and coaching kit for the next client.

Boom you are done. That wasn’t so hard was it?

That took longer to type than to do the lesson. Usually on a coaching line you will have around 20 mins or so to do a lesson but if you are at your own ground you can take as long as you like but around 30 mins in the cage is plenty to avoid fatigue setting in.

Trying to remember all elements that make up a well structured lesson and getting them in the right order can often lead to way too much talking as you try to think about what comes next, and before you know it you find yourself explaining the finer details of how the nervous system works when all you need to say is “do you know which is your dominant eye?”

So try to practice all your patter on courteous and favourable volunteers, after a few times you feel like you have it down and then you try it to a stranger and it becomes a different game.

Mainly, don’t be afraid of making mistakes or getting any bits around the wrong way as long as you cover it all and are seen to be safe and in control then you are doing great. 

So that’s an overview of a formal lesson in the running order that BASC require it to be and if you want to know more about each part then please let me know.
I will cover some individual aspects of the lesson in other posts.

I hope that this could be of use and a help to anyone out there thinking about doing this as a job or just for fun. If you have any comments then please get in touch.

Thanks

How to begin becoming a BASC Shotgun Coach

BASC offer a whole range of courses in just about every shooting discipline and a lot more. Their training courses help promote and protect shooting and related activities by establishing and maintaining high standards through training, education and best practice.

They say on their website “It is important to understand that BASC is absolutely opposed to compulsory testing as a condition of firearm or shotgun ownership. However people who are new to the sport must accept that the onus is on them to develop the knowledge and skill to use a shotgun or firearm safely, this could be through being ‘mentored’ by a more experienced shooter for a while to ‘show you the ropes’ or if this is not possible through a training course.” To which I agree whole heartedly.

To be honest it still amazes me how unsafe some people can be at shooting grounds or out rough shooting without ever realizing it.
Like I was told, it’s just as important to be seen being safe as it is to be safe. So even going along for a lesson with a coach can help just give you a heads up about gun safety, fit and shooting methods, all will improve your shooting even if you have been shooting for a long time.

It’s easy to keep doing what you have always done and just have the attitude that you 'miss some you hit some' but the reality can be more like you miss too many and you think the birds are learning!

So you end up in a guile suit with real tree HD camo coving you from head to toe laying in a bush with face paint on and your gun heavy with easy sight beads, camo paint and four types of choke stuffed in to the barrel and still shooting behind every CLAY.

Wow! Off on a little tangent there but in my short time being a enthusiastic shooter I have seen and heard just about all the excuse as to why they are missed and just about all the advice from the guy standing behind shouting random measurements of how much lead to give the next one.
After experiencing some lessons myself I felt empowered rather than embarrassed about asking for some pointers on how to improve.

I really enjoy teaching and passing on knowledge to others and to see them come to just to have a go for fun or with a problem and you help them understand the principals of this rewarding sport, how to hone the techniques to improve and be confident in any shooting situation is wonderful.

Most people in this sport I have found to be friendly and happy to offer advice but as a beginner a lot of advice from many sources can be just as baffling as it can be nurturing. So this is why I wanted my coaching accreditation to know that I can learn more about shooting and more importantly how to structure it to pass on this information in a safe, friendly and engaging manner.

So lets catch up to where I’ve got to..

To be a BASC coach you first have to be a BASC member. This is easily done on their website or my post or at a country show. At the time of writing this post it costs £66 and this membership offers excellent benefits such as insurance and many others things.
Once you are a member you can apply to be a coach. To become a coach you have to be mentored by a BASC coach mentor there is a list of mentors on the BASCsite where you can find one local to you. The deal you make with the mentor for cost of training is all down to you both. The only cost that is paid to BASC is £125 this includes all of the award administration costs, a coaching manual and a CRB check.

Your mentor will train you to the standard required to become a BASC Shotgun coach and once an awareness of the requirement is reached, your Mentor will recommend you for the ‘pre-assessment day’.

Where you will be assessed and marked to see if you are ready to go for your full assessment. At this point you are also handed a shooting log, which needs to be filled out and kept up to date as this goes towards your City & Guilds involvement in the Shotgun Coach Award. At the time of writing this the L12 City & Guilds involvement in the Shotgun Coach Award is currently under review and could change soon but I will keep you posted on this if this is the case.

Then a BASC Assessor will need to observe your coaching ability at live events. 

Make it through that and you will be good to go.

So register, get a mentor, do the pre-assessment day, and then you will need to give 3 lessons at a live event one to an adult male, one to an adult female and one to a young person either male or female. These all have to be passed consecutively or you go back to the beginning and have to do the 3 lessons again.

Currently I am a member of BASC, I have paid my coach training registration fee and I have Dave Brown as my mentor. I have filled out and sent my CRB check papers and I am currently helping and observing Dave at the shooting school while he takes clients through the process. I have also given a number of beginner lessons with Dave observing and taken groups of people for stag dos and parties.
Dave has other training coaches and we get together and go through giving volunteers lessons and analysing each other after, which gives good feedback and makes you notice a lot more about how gun fit is so important and how different people learn.

  

I go shooting as much as I can including clays and rough shooting and this year I am looking at getting a puppy to train too. I must think I have all the time in the world!

Next time I will talk about what’s involved in giving a formal lesson, important things to remember and how I got better at it.

In the beginning!

Just to put you in the picture a very short back ground on who I am and how I found myself on this task.
By trade I currently own my own company called BEARLEFT.TV we are a media production company based in the Forest of Dean, and before that a career of design and management lay behind me. With film and photography my main focus, pardon the pun.
I was asked to build a website for a local company called DBC Leisure  and thats where I met Dave Brown we seemed to hit it off at our meeting and he asked if I had shot before? I had shot a little in my past but only rough shooting with a friend around his farm. Before I knew it I was in a skeet vest, ear defenders and glasses walking down to the cage and this is how I got the bug.
After a few lessons and hanging around taking photos for the website I suggested we could make a DVD on becoming a coach. But who was going to be the coach? We had a few names and went through what would be needed and I said I could do that. The rest is in this blog...