Does anyone have a good basic, yet complete training plan geared to 13-14 year olds?
My idea of training usually winds up too long (guess that's the Marine comming out in me) anyway, I need help putting together a good annual training plan for my shooters who are starting into competitive matches.
This will help my bunch understand that a good plan will enable them to gain the skills they need to be competetive yet not so overburdened with training that it is no fun anymore.
I've been to 4-H instructor school and a CMP camp yet I still have a hard time getting a good training plan put together.
Training plan?
Moderators: pilkguns, Marcus, m1963
I have had success with the NRA Distinguished Expert program for the smallbore program I'm involved with. We do the 4P version, but put an emphasis on 3P.
We start with prone because it gives a great basis for trigger control, sight picture, and follow through. And since the DE program only requires 25s for it's lowest level, it gives the kids instant gratification.
The key is to go out of order when the kids get to the bars. I strongly suggest that they devote at least half of their practice time to standing until they have finished all their standing bars. If they do sitting and kneeling and leave standing for last, they'll get frustrated that they can't get any scores. A lot of coaches suggest teaching standing before any other position, but I believe the frustration of seeming to not achieve anything is a strong negative aspect of that. This way, they get the fundamentals down, become proficient with standing, and then kneeling and sitting are easy after that.
Since their participation in matches is a goal of yours, you should have them get through SS on the DE, then introduce them to standing and kneeling in the same practice. MAKE THEM USE A SHOOTING DIARY STARTING HERE!!! You don't want to overload them right off the bat with writing things down, but when you have three positions to keep track of, it starts to help a lot. Also, don't throw them into a match with strangers right off the bat, have little matches between the kids first. Break it into age groups so everyone gets an award. It's very important that the kids feel a sense of accomplishment as much as possible.
Keep the lectures on mental management and how to prepare for matches to a minimum at first. Making shooting too much like homework takes away from the fun and will scare kids away. Before the first match, tell them what to expect (time limits, change overs, scoring), when to be there (1 hour prior to commence fire), and what to bring (enough ammo). Really, that's it for the first match, they'll be excited and won't absorb anything more anyhoo.
During the match, take notes on things you see for each kid. This may be only one or two things per kids if you have big numbers, but a little feedback (make it all positive) goes a long way. Have their second match two weeks to a month later. After that match, compare their scores, and look for info in that to SHOW them. If the numbers aren't in front of them, they won't get anything out of it. Give them one criticism here they should work on. Now they can take a bit of it.
At this point, 90% of you kids will see what they need to work on and do it themselves, the other 10% will need a bit of guidance, but that's what you're there for. Still have them devote 50% of their practice to standing, with about 30% kneeling, and 20% prone. They will love shooting prone because of the high scores, but you have to keep them from shooting it too much. A stat that will likely appear in the match results is that the people who have the winning scores in standing often win the match (or place highly). In addition, finals come in later, but don't worry about that yet. Also, never refer to standing as the hardest position, or as more difficult than the others. Say it's a higher position.
Keep having regular matches between just the kids on a regular basis. After the second or third match, start encouraging them to go to local matches, but don't stop the regular team matches. Make sure you or another coach attend as well just in case something goes wrong, there is a friendly face to work things out.
About the time the kids get to working on the DE strings in 4P, or EX in the American Rifleman 3P version, move the practice break down to 60% standing, 20-25% kneeling, and 15-20% prone depending on how they do in prone. If they're strong in prone, drop it to 15%.
After they have finished DE, I suggest kids shoot 70% standing, 25% kneeling, and 5% prone. But make sure they are looking to shoot 100s in prone. Have them do a prone intensive practice every 2-3 months (or as needed) in addition to shooting prone only matches. We coaches have started to put a heavy emphasis on standing at the expense of prone. Only 2 people cleaned prone at the NCAA Championships this year. That's free points going out the door. We tend to concentrate on standing since that's where the largest number of points can potentially be made up. There just isn't enough time in practice to do it all.
A note on rejecting shots. I follow this pattern. I first have the kids just shoot to get a feel for what a 1 looks like, what a 5 looks like, what a 10 looks like. Wait for them to shoot a 10, ask them if that looked different, and when they say yes, tell them to do that again. Tell them to make the shot look like that one every time. Once they're getting everything on the bull, start talking to them about rejecting shots.
Intermediate shooters are who I have rejecting the largest number of shots. Talk to them about shot selection, putting the rifle down when the shot doesn't look or feel right, or when a negative thought creeps into their mind. This is the start to good shot discipline. Let them go with that for a while.
When you feel they have better than average shot selection, start concentrating on them rejecting fewer shots. Put another way, you work on them preparing for every shot perfectly. Rejecting lots of shots can lead to less than stellar shot preparation. In addition, I don't like my kids using their entire time limit in any position in case something goes wrong (mentally or mechanically).
Well, there's a nice long "basic" training plan. I feel like I've miss a lot, but I don't want to overload the board. Lemme know if you have any questions.
We start with prone because it gives a great basis for trigger control, sight picture, and follow through. And since the DE program only requires 25s for it's lowest level, it gives the kids instant gratification.
The key is to go out of order when the kids get to the bars. I strongly suggest that they devote at least half of their practice time to standing until they have finished all their standing bars. If they do sitting and kneeling and leave standing for last, they'll get frustrated that they can't get any scores. A lot of coaches suggest teaching standing before any other position, but I believe the frustration of seeming to not achieve anything is a strong negative aspect of that. This way, they get the fundamentals down, become proficient with standing, and then kneeling and sitting are easy after that.
Since their participation in matches is a goal of yours, you should have them get through SS on the DE, then introduce them to standing and kneeling in the same practice. MAKE THEM USE A SHOOTING DIARY STARTING HERE!!! You don't want to overload them right off the bat with writing things down, but when you have three positions to keep track of, it starts to help a lot. Also, don't throw them into a match with strangers right off the bat, have little matches between the kids first. Break it into age groups so everyone gets an award. It's very important that the kids feel a sense of accomplishment as much as possible.
Keep the lectures on mental management and how to prepare for matches to a minimum at first. Making shooting too much like homework takes away from the fun and will scare kids away. Before the first match, tell them what to expect (time limits, change overs, scoring), when to be there (1 hour prior to commence fire), and what to bring (enough ammo). Really, that's it for the first match, they'll be excited and won't absorb anything more anyhoo.
During the match, take notes on things you see for each kid. This may be only one or two things per kids if you have big numbers, but a little feedback (make it all positive) goes a long way. Have their second match two weeks to a month later. After that match, compare their scores, and look for info in that to SHOW them. If the numbers aren't in front of them, they won't get anything out of it. Give them one criticism here they should work on. Now they can take a bit of it.
At this point, 90% of you kids will see what they need to work on and do it themselves, the other 10% will need a bit of guidance, but that's what you're there for. Still have them devote 50% of their practice to standing, with about 30% kneeling, and 20% prone. They will love shooting prone because of the high scores, but you have to keep them from shooting it too much. A stat that will likely appear in the match results is that the people who have the winning scores in standing often win the match (or place highly). In addition, finals come in later, but don't worry about that yet. Also, never refer to standing as the hardest position, or as more difficult than the others. Say it's a higher position.
Keep having regular matches between just the kids on a regular basis. After the second or third match, start encouraging them to go to local matches, but don't stop the regular team matches. Make sure you or another coach attend as well just in case something goes wrong, there is a friendly face to work things out.
About the time the kids get to working on the DE strings in 4P, or EX in the American Rifleman 3P version, move the practice break down to 60% standing, 20-25% kneeling, and 15-20% prone depending on how they do in prone. If they're strong in prone, drop it to 15%.
After they have finished DE, I suggest kids shoot 70% standing, 25% kneeling, and 5% prone. But make sure they are looking to shoot 100s in prone. Have them do a prone intensive practice every 2-3 months (or as needed) in addition to shooting prone only matches. We coaches have started to put a heavy emphasis on standing at the expense of prone. Only 2 people cleaned prone at the NCAA Championships this year. That's free points going out the door. We tend to concentrate on standing since that's where the largest number of points can potentially be made up. There just isn't enough time in practice to do it all.
A note on rejecting shots. I follow this pattern. I first have the kids just shoot to get a feel for what a 1 looks like, what a 5 looks like, what a 10 looks like. Wait for them to shoot a 10, ask them if that looked different, and when they say yes, tell them to do that again. Tell them to make the shot look like that one every time. Once they're getting everything on the bull, start talking to them about rejecting shots.
Intermediate shooters are who I have rejecting the largest number of shots. Talk to them about shot selection, putting the rifle down when the shot doesn't look or feel right, or when a negative thought creeps into their mind. This is the start to good shot discipline. Let them go with that for a while.
When you feel they have better than average shot selection, start concentrating on them rejecting fewer shots. Put another way, you work on them preparing for every shot perfectly. Rejecting lots of shots can lead to less than stellar shot preparation. In addition, I don't like my kids using their entire time limit in any position in case something goes wrong (mentally or mechanically).
Well, there's a nice long "basic" training plan. I feel like I've miss a lot, but I don't want to overload the board. Lemme know if you have any questions.
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WRC
The NRA Qualifications program is also the core of our junior club, but once the kids can shoot dime sized groups in prone, we make sure to get them started in the other positions. The Qual program keeps them in prone for a "long time" & it sometimes acts as a deterrent to moving to the other, "more shaky", positions. So we mix it up as soon as possible.
For reference, the program is now called Winchester/NRA ...
see the NRA blogs about it:
http://www.nrablog.com/?tag=/winchester ... ip+program
For competition, they are all invited to fire in our winter 4P league, regardless of knowing all positions or not. They just shoot what they know. It gives them a little taste of competition, on friendly terms, with familiar faces.
For reference, the program is now called Winchester/NRA ...
see the NRA blogs about it:
http://www.nrablog.com/?tag=/winchester ... ip+program
For competition, they are all invited to fire in our winter 4P league, regardless of knowing all positions or not. They just shoot what they know. It gives them a little taste of competition, on friendly terms, with familiar faces.
Training Plan
I found prety much what I was looking for on targetshooting.ca (under documents library / manual #7) it is a basic 27 week training plan for Canadian Cadets. It is not just for new shooters but a good cycle plan for all skill levels, pre and post match. This one looks like it would be easily modified to fit time constraints. Thank you everyone for your input. ya'll make being a 4-H Instructor a little easier!
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2650 Plus
Training Plan
About a year ago Stave Swartz posted the best training plan I've seen. for begining shooters, With lots of fun things to keep your shooters interested and comming back to your range for more learning and shooting. Good Shooting Bill Horton