IDEA: What about a website offering online shooting classes?

[mwhc00]

I'm super new to shooting and I wonder, what if there's an online video course to teach people how to shoot. From beginner level to advanced. This video courses can be like those on Udemy, https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?r ... ts&lang=en

Do you think that is a good idea? Comments (good or bad) are most welcomed

[Pheyden]

Learning is all about "retention". Generally, we remember much more of what we read, rather than hat we see or hear.

I believe the basics can be garnered by reading any number of excellent books and or from the internet. There are many technical items about adapting a a pistol or rifle to your own personal needs.

The real important part is getting good instruction on the correct things to do. That way you do not have to unlearn bad habits later.

Perhaps the best thing that happened to me is having a personal trainer. Mine happened to be in Australia, on the other side of the world. I managed this by video conferencing using Skype. That combined with voracious reading of almost any material that I can get my hands on.

So, to answer your question, I am not entirely sure that a video would provide the personal instruction that I believe is important.

[javaduke]

This is actually a very bad idea. This is what NRA did last year, they killed the FIRST Steps pistol course and changed the Basic Pistol course format so that it now requires the classroom portion to be completed online. At least in my personal experience it caused nothing but a steep decline in the number of participants, because of the added cost ($60 just for the online phase, on top of whatever instructors normally charge for the class) and more time required to complete both online and live fire classes.

[SPPcoach]

I wonder, what if there's an online video course to teach people how to shoot.

USA Shooting does have a program to further develop COACHES. This is a hard area to develop since demand is limited compared to other sports. Shooting sports do not have the infrastructure the way gymnastics or soccer or many other team sports has. There are thousands of kids in those programs in every city. The pre-req for the USA Shooting program is that applicants must have a Level 1 NRA Coach certification. From that foundation they can take USA Shooting online classes that focus on specialized areas of individual shooting sports. After that there are in-person 'ground classes.' How far you progress in their ratings will depend on what you have accomplished as a coach.
Been to Nationals?
Volunteered at Nationals?
Taken you team to Nationals?
Had your athletes on the National Development Team?
Not exactly the answer you were looking for but just to let you know that others are thinking along the same lines.

I know many are against the on-line programs but it is an inevitable future. Hunters Education, driving classes, college classes are all available on-line and those programs process a lot of people. It is not ideal but the alternative is to have people that have never had drivers safety or hunters ed.

[jhmartin]

.... Hunters Education, driving classes, college classes are all available on-line and those programs process a lot of people. It is not ideal but the alternative is to have people that have never had drivers safety or hunters ed.

Bill, you at least hit the nail on the head pointing out even though they >>PROCESS<< a bunch of people, it should be loudly stated that they DO NOT come out with the same level of retention after even 3 hours as if they were in a "live, hands-on class".

[Chia]

I think a video series on grip and proper execution of the fundamentals would be very helpful, but I don't think that it's really possible to teach someone how to shoot online. I'd read about sight alignment for almost a year before it really hit home what the heck everyone was talking about with the sub six target hold. And even then, that was only because I screwed up enough to figure out that my sight picture was a big part of the problem.

You can give them basics, but it's their body and they have to figure out what works and what doesn't on their own.

[SPPcoach]

Bill, you at least hit the nail on the head pointing out even though they >>PROCESS<< a bunch of people, it should be loudly stated that they DO NOT come out with the same level of retention after even 3 hours as if they were in a "live, hands-on class".

You and I are in complete agreement on that.
I hope that we also agree that these Web based training programs do have SOME value. It CAN be better than no training at all. That has to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. My point is that there can be very good training with no human-to-human contact at all. Otherwise books from Ruby Fox, Steve Reiter and Bob Hickey would not sell at all. There is NO human-to-human contact in that interaction and yet people regularly tout the virtues of that media format, me included.
Web based training is TRYING to bridge the gap and I see a HUGE gap right now in the field of shooting sports advanced training. There are VERY few opportunities for advanced training when you compare our infrastructure to baseball, football, gymnastics or many other sports that our youth pursue. This limits our potential! USA Shooting is trying to be a solution to this issue with their new program.
In 2012 the NRA offered 6 pistol Coach classes in the U.S. for a total of 22 students. That will not fill the void! In 2013 the NRA 'adopted' our SASP program. Last year I personally taught 6 classes with over 60 students. 10 classes were taught Nationally by our program. Even with our added effort that will BARELY scratch the surface of the need.
So how do we broadcast a bigger net, train more athletes, train more Coaches, capture a bigger audience, convert public opinion, save our sport? I am not saying it is the 'end all' answer. We do need to remain open minded to new technology or we as a sport and a lifestyle will become as extinct as others have that could not evolve.