TargetTalk

my daughter has shot smallbore with me for 3 years now and just start precision air rifle she shoots very well and her coach suggest she practice some .......i dont force her but it is like pulling teeth to get her to practice twice a week for 1/2 hour(at home holding drill) any thoughts

If you want her to stop shooting, you can force the issue of practice.

Why don't you start with finding out what HER goals are in shooting. Perhaps she just wants to have fun with being around you with something you enjoy.

When (IF) she decides she wants to be a better shooter, she will be more open to practice.

Try her on metallic silhouettes. It really is more fun than paper punching, especially if she does it with friends.

Then tell her that target shooting will perfect her performance.

First of all, realize that there is no "one size fits all" solution .... every kid is different and you have to tune into why they are shooting at all.

The first step will be to find out the "real" reason your daughter shoots, and then to try and reinforce that

A long time ago,
I remember when my dad wanted me to learn how to shoot. We lived in Maine and the instructional period took place in the dead of winter. The thought of going out into a frigid below-zero night, driving 30 miles, and shooting was not easy to swallow as a 10 year old.

I was active in many sports that I liked more than shooting at the beginning so when my dad continued to "drag" me to the range on Tuesday nights for 3-4 hours, I wasn't really as gung-ho as he wished I would be. THEN...when I started making progress through the NRA qualification badges, I got some cool medals and patches. Simple reinforcement but then he added the real incentive. Each time I shot a score higher than the last, we would go by our local diner on the way home and get a piece of the best Boston Creme Pie anyone ever tasted.

I was a Distinguished Expert by the age of 12. National Prone Champion (Perry) at 13.

I think the next biggest reinforcement (that replaced the pie) was my first trophy. Something about trophies hits a switch in kids.

Today,
I teach martial arts. When my daughter turned 4, she started her training. She wasn't really keen on two classes a week until...she entered a tournament, competed against kids her own age, and won her first medal (for placing 6th or something). From that point on, she was determined to earn a trophy the next time. Long story short, she is 12 years old, a black belt, and wins some portion of every tournament she enters. Eventually, she won so many awards, they became obsolete and now she trains and competes for her own reasons.

Sometimes knowing there is a small, but effective "prize" at the end of the process can make a big difference. Not to say the cream pie will work with your daughter, but I bet there is something that will suffice.

Of course...you ARE dealing with a TEENAGER. Argh! :) Good luck.
BParnall

Bart makes a good point ...

We use the USA Shooting passport program ... like the Nra Qualification program it has pins to reward the kids at certain levels of accomplishment.

The kids will start out being motivated by the external things ... once they can shoot a match and be satisfied with their own internal motivation ... that's a really neat day for the coach and/or parent.

we did this way if she was practiceing she did not have to help with the chores around the farm after school ..plus she got out of some of the dirty work that her grandfather whould have her do when he was there ..so it was a great way to keep her practiceing ..

Sometimes it's more fun if it is something THEY want to do that you (as dad) won't or can't do. As a 13 year old, my dad would bring me to weekly practice and sit outside (it was an indoor range) while I did my thing. Then it was up to me and my rifle, while the rest of the world stopped for a while and I could totally focus on that little black circle for a bit. Extremely thereputic for a kid who was stressed out most of the time.

31 years later, my dad is a smallbore shooter too, and we both go to our two ranges (in different states) for the same reason.

It's also been said that parents make lousy coaches, and that's for a reason. I was able to successfully coach two of my own kids, but as a Boy Scout leader I learned that there's a time to take off the Dad Hat and put on the Scoutmaster Hat, and then your kid is only one of 40 other youth. If you're unable or it's too uncomfortable to take off the Dad Hat, it's better to find almost anyone else to work with your child or there's a good chance you're going to wind up chasing them away from reaching their potential.

i never been a socalled good coach type i can get the basic across to the person but some kids need a better person than me at times to get them to the next level of shooting ..

i teach them the basic markemanship training i learned from the us army but my wife is a better coach than me and she does great with the kids when she got out there in the barn training with them ..

A friend and I are starting to teach his young son the basics of conventional pistol. What the kid really wants to do is just blast away with a lightweight .22 and have some fun. What I've been doing is having him shoot slow fire with proper form and then at the end of a range session let him blast away a little bit to his heart's content.

Reading this thread got me to thinking that I'm going to drop the "program." If he's allowed to just blast away and have fun I don't think it will be too long before he gets bored with just blasting away and wants to actually hit the bull center like his dad does. Like lots of things, the answer might be to just lead by example and let the kids have some latitude to find what they want. If you practice with a rifle for a half hour twice a week and your daughter sees you doing that she may join in with her rifle just to be doing something with her dad and sort of imitate her dad. Kids do that.