local handgun class

[rockriver]

is for ladies.
a lady friend attended and gives a good report. she's had nearly nil instruction and just
the classroom portion increased her confidence and knowledge.
--
i need to get some instruction too!
rr

[rockriver]

lady showed me her final target.
man sized target. from ?? 3 different distances.
anyhow... there was a new confidence...
--
she wants to put it on her front door!

[1Admin]

That's awesome! Tell her congrats!

[huckridge]

That's great. Hope this becomes a trend for the ladies.

[CLT46910]

I couple of the training companies here in Indiana have ladies only training classes. Some woman seem to be more comfortable with training with other women instead of mixed classes.

Nothing beats training, but remember, it is something that will deteriorate in time so follow up or continued training is needed by everyone that wants to take the responsibility of handling or carrying a handgun.

[1Admin]

Personally, I find it easier to train women than men.

They usually have no pre-conceived notions about shooting. Their is none of the "my grandpappy taught me how to shoot when I was 10 and I don't need no training" BS with them. Also, usually the ego and pride issues aren't there that are there for a LOT of men.

The biggest thing is recognizing the personality type of the gal and how she learns. Shoot a little less, talk a little more than you would in a class dominated by men.

Sometimes it's easier if the husband is not around for the class. I've seen a lot of women that got frustrated really easy cause their husband was right there "looking over their shoulder" -either literally or just in the woman's mind- while they were training.

One gal had a very domineering husband and refused to shoot with him around. She lacked a lot of self confidence because of the way the husband was with her. I gave her a private lesson and to be honest, I purposely shoot bad during the warmups. Why? Because she was for some reason used to relating/comparing her performance with her husbands. I figured that out really quick. So I basically shot a big circle on the target- upper left hand corner, middle left hand side, lower left, middle, lower right, middle right hand, upper right hand. She looked at my target before she ever looked at hers. I gave her a lot of "attagirls" to try to build her up. It was only after all that and a lot of just talking while setting up targets, etc. before she relaxed enough to really learn anything.

This is why the cookie cutter approach to training doesn't always work. It's not always possible due to time constraints, etc. to hold everyone "by the hand" but this was a "friend's" wife and I did that to try to help him and her.

Sometimes you have to tailor the training slightly. Here again is where being flexible and being able to recognize these sorts of things beats the analytical "everything by the book" approach IME.

[MustangGal]

Personally, I find it easier to train women than men.

They usually have no pre-conceived notions about shooting. Their is none of the "my grandpappy taught me how to shoot when I was 10 and I don't need no training" BS with them. Also, usually the ego and pride issues aren't there that are there for a LOT of men.

That is EXACTLY what my DH (cert. firearms instructor) says.

[rockriver]

the rest of the story--
this class was sponsored by the local sheriff's dept.
-
the sheriff in your county may have a similar program.

lady did not realize this was set up to be a basic for a concealed cary permit.
sheriff dept employees did the teaching.
the sheriff attended.
lady knew some of the employees but barely knew the sheriff. he's new.
folks,
getting to know the sheriff and crew is a good idea.
lady has asked if they have an advanced class. they do. but it is seldom operated.
she has encouraged other ladies in class to request the advanced class and attend. and suggested that
the ladies offer to contribute $$ to help offset the sheriff's costs.
--

[SCinPNW]

RR, that is great your friend went to the class and had a positive experience. I love hearing that! In my mind, training is imperative. My husband and I had both grown up with guns, but other than his .22 rifle he used in Boy Scouts we did not own any guns. So when we decided it was time to start buying guns, I was adament that we received training. It makes a world of difference. The only guns I fired as a kid with my dad were .22 rifle and .22 revolver handgun, so the first time I fired a semi-auto handgun it scared me because I did not understand how it worked--especially when it jammed, but after my basic class we spent the first half of the day focusing on revolvers and the second half of our day on semi-auto's. By the end of the class I felt so comfortable with the semi's that I knew that I wanted a semi over a revolver.

As far as training with women only verses mixed classes, I have taken both and will admit I prefer women only classes if possible. Not because the men have not been nice, supportive, etc., there is just more camaraderie with women. Especially in the shooting leagues I have been in. The local school I have taken classes from offered a women's shooting league for three years which I participated in and loved it. We had great fun and it helped to improve my skills tremendously. We had competition, but it was only light and fun competition, it was more about learning and improving our skills, i.e., speed reloads, tactical reloads, clearing, shooting one handed, shooting with the off hand, shooting while holding a cell phone, etc. However, after I took their level 2 class and moved up to the level 2 shooting league which was both men and women I actually did not like it as well. Mostly because I would show up and it would be 12 guys and myself or 12 guys, myself, and one other woman. The competition was more intense, everything was timed which is not a bad thing, but I felt I needed the time to be a little longer until I was able to move up to the times they were doing. So it just was not nearly as much fun and I have stopped going. So now I go to the range with my girl friend and rather than shooting weekly I am shooting once or twice a month. Unfortunately, we are not running through the drills as we did in the shooting league so I would say my skills have definitely atrophied.

I am not sure if anyone else has seen this website, but I have followed it for a few years now and the owner has just started updating it. It is called "Cornered Cat", it is all about shooting for women, i.e., owning guns, holsters, carrying, types of guns, etc. Here is the link: http://corneredcat.com/

Have a great day!
SC