Choosing An Instructor

I’ve gotten this question repeatedly over the past few years, mainly by people who travel or don’t always get to come up here to train:  “Jake, how do I find a good instructor?”  It’s a good question.  Just because someone is a cop or former military does not make him a good shot, or a good instructor. The market is flooded with new instructors, each trying to make their niche.  Its tough to sort them out.  Obviously you want to make sure he’s the real thing before you get there.  Sometimes you can, and sometimes you can’t.  Some people might think the answer is easy:  choose the guy with shitloads of credentials.  But that’s not always the best route.

I know a certified instructor with tons of credentials. To read this guy’s resume, he has been there and done that. Born in a fox hole wearing a steel pot. A real snake eater.  But what does he really do for a living? He’s a computer geek who has never heard a shot fired in anger, never gone through a door, and never had to get his hands dirty.  Instead, he goes from one course to the next, to the next, looking for whatever he might be able to use to market himself.  And he’s an expert at selling himself. Frankly, that’s what he should be teaching.  Now don’t get me wrong folks…  There’s NOTHING wrong with being a computer geek.  But being a geek, and trying to pass yourself off as Johnny Tactical is not only wrong, it’s dangerous.

Credentials and Bio:  Check out the instructor’s website or FB page. Is he just a ‘NRA-certified instructor?’ Being one myself, I am here to tell you anybody can be one.  The testing criteria is that lax.  Look to see how long  he’s been shooting or instructing? Look at his real-world experience.  What agencies has he worked for? Who has he studied with or under? What schools has he been to? If he can’t list multiple instructor creds, something is wrong. And watch out for too much fluff. You know what they say about it looking too good to be true, right?

Reviews:  Probably the best way to find a good instructor is to rely on word-of-mouth by like-minded people. When that is not available, the fall back is reviews, and those can be misleading. You want to pay attention to the reviews that give details, or are written by people with their own background. For example, if a Veteran, beat cop, SWAT operator, etc says it’s the best training he’s ever had and goes on to explain in detail, pay attention. If a novice shooter who just started out with an introductory level course is singing the praises, then that’s nice but take it with a grain of salt because he has no basis for comparison.

So how can you tell the poser from the real thing?  Sometimes you have to see someone in action before you can make up your mind.

How does the instructor look?  Yeah, that’s right…Let’s judge this book by its cover.  I’m talking about no-shit shooting and scooting courses.  Are you showing up to take a tactical course from a guy who can’t get out of his own way?  If he’s teaching you to do a 100 Yard Hustle, he’d better be able to do it just as fast, if not faster.  Check out his gear.  Is it functional, or just cool-looking?  How about his hands?  Chances are if he’s got silky smooth hands, then he’s a computer geek, not a tactical firearms instructor.   Does he look professional?  Is he someone you would want your attorney to call to the stand to defend you in a use of force litigation? Does he look like he just stepped off the set of Lawrence of Arabia?  You don’t show up to teach a CCW course in full kit and a super cool scarf.

Safety:  A good, safe instructor will start off every range session with a thorough safety brief, and will have a trauma kit on site (Thanks Doc Tatone, again!)  No decent instructor will sacrifice safety in order to look good or make his students feel good.  As the hazard level of your training elevates, and it can, it’s incumbent on the instructor to first, tell you, and second, mitigate when and where possible.  And an instructor shouldn’t have to berate people or yell and scream at every infraction.  A simple warning in a conversational tone is usually enough to correct someone.  If not, then a stern warning.  The yelling and evasive action is saved for when you’re looking down the barrel of a 1911, with the student’s finger on the trigger.  (And they ask me why I drink…)

VODA Consulting.  Yes folks, that’s a real gun he has pressed to his client’s chest.  Must have learned that as an Army Dietician…and this jackass makes money?

Communication:  Phenomenal shooting skills does not necessarily make a good instructor.  I can be the best shot in the world, but if I can’t tell you how to do it, I’m next to worthless as an instructor.  I had a world class shooter wanting me to host him for a course.  After talking with this guy on the phone for ten minutes, I knew I couldn’t subject my students to that kind of torture.  The guy just couldn’t make a coherent point.  And if he can’t say a complete sentence without tons of filler words and phrases, then what he’s trying to communicate is probably not that important.

The opposite side of that coin is the instructor who tells too many war stories or is otherwise too verbose.  (What?  Moi?  OK, OK, I’m sorry!  It’s tough not to tell a good one once in a while…)  But seriously, you are there to shoot and learn.  If your instructor is wasting your valuable time pontificating with story after story, or putting his audience to sleep with senseless ramblings, you’ve got a problem.  Sometimes it’s necessary to tell a story to relate a tactical application (see below).  Stories can help make a point.  Sometimes it’s also necessary to throw a question out to your class for discussion.  But if your instructor does that, he needs to keep the discussion focused and relevant.

Demonstrations:  There are two schools of thought:  Do them, and don’t do them.  When I was getting my NRA creds years ago, our instructor cautioned us to never demo in front of students in case we screwed it up.  He argued that it would take away from our prestige and reputation as an instructor.  Later on, I had a really good veteran instructor tell me “If you don’t screw up a drill in front of your students once in a while, then you’re not demonstrating enough.  And if you’re afraid to screw up in front of your students, you need to stow your ego in your dump pouch.”  Mike Boyle.

Tactical application versus ballistic masturbation:  What do I mean by that?  Am I shooting to learn a skill that could save my life, or am I shooting to look, sound, and feel cool?  I insist on having everything I teach relate to a tactical application, or be a skill I would rely upon in a gun fight.  For instance, I had an instructor not long ago putting me through drills where I was shooting something like seven rounds to the chest, and five to the head from 10 yards with a carbine.  I asked him what the tactical application was, to which he had no answer.  In other words, why would I be doing this in a gun fight?  If my foe is wearing body armor that defeats my carbine, do you really thing I’m going to wait long enough to squeeze off seven rounds into him before I switch to the grape?  Or for that matter, is my foe really going to stand there and let me pump twelve rounds into him without moving?  But it looks, sounds and feels really cool to fire off all those rounds so quickly…  If your instructor does not or can not relate a drill to a tactical application, there’s another clue…

Interest in the students:  An interested instructor has passion.  He should be passionate about his students learning proper skills and techniques.  The opposite side of that is the instructor who is just there to collect a pay check.  He really doesn’t give a rat’s ass about his students’ welfare or whether they learned something useful.

You pay a pretty penny to attend courses given by the big names, and you expect the best in return. If your instructor is more interested in his smart phone than in the students’ instruction or progression, look for someone else. If something is so important that he MUST take a call on the range, he needs to let everyone know ahead of time that he might have to take a call, and state the reasons. If he doesn’t, then he’s not giving the students their money’s worth. More than that, he’s also running an unsafe range because he’s not paying attention.

Practice what you preach:  Lead by example, right?  Is the instructor as safe as he tells everyone else to be?  Is he telling you to follow through on every shot, but not doing it himself?  Is he or she teaching you to blend in with the crowd, while he’s dressed up like Johnny Tactical with bloused boots on Main Street?

Humility:  Can your instructor learn from you?  I learn something in every class I teach.  Sometimes I learn how to refine a skill.  Sometimes I have one of you cerebral types point out something about a particular exercise, good or bad, and it’s an epiphany for me.  Sometimes the student shows me a better way to teach or demonstrate because of the questions he or she asks.  And often times I’ll demo a drill, have the students do it, and then ask if anyone knows of a different or even a better way to accomplish the same task.  If your instructor says his way is the only way, there’s yet another clue.

Equally important, can your instructor admit it when he is wrong?  If not, then he needs to stow that ego.  Not that I’ve ever been wrong on the range…  And Crystal and JT would never point it out in front of a class…  Hey, that’s life!  An instructor has to be able to laugh at himself once in a while.

Debrief:  Look for a thorough debrief at the end of a class.  As an instructor, I don’t like to hear the same old “Best training I’ve ever had”…crap.  Give me some negative feedback:  “What did I screw up?  What can I do better?  How?  If you can’t give me something now, then email me…”  Debriefing at the end of a class is vital to making sure you end on a good note, and with all questions answered, or at least addressed.  It’s professional.  Insist on it.  And don’t hold back negative content.

OK Goober, what did you think of today’s training?

I hope I answered the question thoroughly enough without sounding too sycophantic.  I’ve trained under some truly great instructors.  But I’ve also found myself in training courses being taught archaic techniques from inflexible instructors who were too impressed with who they were, and it’s not fun.  Again, you’re paying good money for the instruction you are getting.  Don’t settle for a sub-par return on your investment.

Stay safe.  Stay lethal!  jake