Are the best instructors officially qualified?

As a fairly experienced sporting shooter, my only interest with tuition would be to improve my score. From what I have seen, much of the instruction given at the more established grounds is not always best suited to serious competition shooters. I have seen a lot of instruction given that majors on style, etiquette, safety and other things such as rather game- shooting methods, such as totally gun-down hold etc.Lets not get into which methods and tips are right, as there are several other threads on this site doing that nicely! My point is this: The CPSA and others imply that the formal coaching from qualified individuals is the be all and end all. I think that I would be much happier (in my personal quest to raise my average and hit AA) to use somebody who has been there and done it, such as Ed S, Richard Faulds, Carl Bloxham, Ben Husthwaite or any of the many other top shots who have turned to coaching. Are these guys CPSA qualified? Or is it the case that almost none of them are? If so does that make a mockery of the formally qualified coaches? I know a good few qualified coaches that couldn't get near my scores (or don't even shoot competitions) and I would struggle to take their advice, knowing that I could outshoot them. DiscussRegards CSC3

Oh boy here we go again. I've answered this one many, many times before but never on this site so here goes.I should however say that I fully understand why this question crops up a lot. Firstly, only judge a Coach by his results at coaching.  Ask lot's of other shooters in all classes what they have gained by going to that particular coach.I know an awful lot of top shots that will admit to being totally useless at coaching.I know several mediocre shots that are very good coaches indeed.I know some top shots that are very good coaches.I know some mediocre shots that absolutely disgust me and yet are qualified coaches.I know some very good coaches that are unqualified like many of the old boys out there.I'm a highly qualified coach but in truth it means absolutely nothing, it's your coaching skills that matter.I only got my qualifications because of the insurance you need to do it. I'd been coaching for nearly ten years before I got my qualifications.I use to be an AA class shot and have hit 96 on several occasions and even a 97 once in registered shoots but that was years ago because I gave up shooting competitions because of a long term illness I still suffer from and trying to bring up three children earning no where near enough to do it. I'm not the coach on several of the top shooting websites for nothing. It's purley from reputation I'm very proud to say. Although my illness stops me from shooting in the 90s any more, I can still get you or any other dedicated shooters up there. I get regular England and GB shooters for brush ups including a current World Champion Fitasc shooter that I go out with when he's having a bad spell.  What I'm trying to say is though is it's the results the coach get from you, not the qualifications as most of them are pure BULL**** anyway. If you went into your local pub one night and started chatting up the barmaid and you told her that you had a lousy score at the registered shoot today because your crap on teal and rabbits. She then replied by giving you an answer that sounded quite feasible on how to hit the teal even though she had only shot to C class and then gave up. Then you went out at the weekend to practice the teal but still couldn't hit the bloody things, you would most likely give it a go what the barmaid had said. Now if you suddenly find that your smoking them, I'll bet you will be back in the pub asap to ask her if she has any tips on rabbits etc. I know I would.In other words, it not the way you shoot, it's the way you teach/coach. You need to be able to get across to the shooter what needs to be done in order to hit the target consistently. But also in a calm relaxed and encouraging way, never a negative but always positive approach. If the coach is not doing that then it's time to find another. But keep in mind that all coaches will tell you if they are honest that once in a while we will get someone that just can't hit a certain target consistently but thankfully it's very rare. Also remember that even big George misses a few.You don't have to go for an ex or even a current world champion for a coach but it's perfectly understandable why some shooters may think that way.  Rob. /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-wink.gif

Hi,My question was actually fairly rhetorical as I have some firm opinions about it. I agree with everything you say. Certainly being a top shot does not make you a good teacher; especially if you have no issues with eyes to understand etc., but being a bad shot cannot be a help either.. The main issue is that giving the cpsa £1000 in exchange for an orange badge does not suffice in my book. The proof of the pudding only comes from eating it..So, a still unanswered question.. The top shots who coach, are they qualified??CheersCSC3

Ah sorry, this awful cold is slowing me up something rotten today. My apologies.I'm not necessarily talking about the CPSA here but….I personally know some that are and some that are not but definitely no, not all.I'm aware of several that are not but are honoury members so they are…….yeah right./wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-wink.gifCome to think of it now I know a couple of honoury coaches that don't even coach at all……what's the point ?Do the honoury members have to pay the £1000 I'd like to know ?Just because they can shoot well does that mean they can be honoury coaches. ? As I've said before there are a lot of top shooters out there that can't coach for toffee and will admit it. Hmmm! maybe that's why that couple don't coach at all./wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-wink.gif

The root of the problem is that the CPSA courses teaching people what is undoubtedly some very useful things, should never have culminated in a COACH badge of honour quite so readily. I agree wholeheartedly with where Rob is coming from, yet can also understand Clever's reservations.  Over the years like everyone else I've come across qualified coach dudes /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-wink.gif who ask me where they're missing, and of course it's what they're doing wrong that matters.  The simplistic route is this: almost any old coach or even club official with an interest and peoples skill is good enough for newbies, gun handling and safety come first, confidence soon builds once you get them hitting straight forward stuff. Then come people like Clever who can shoot almost anything well but need fine tuning to close the gaps in their game, and that needs an entirely different breed of coach and approach. If I wanted to get RF or CB etc to coach me on problem areas, I would not be in the least bit interested whether or not they had a certificate. I've already seen their qualifications over the last 25 years. Top end shooters and those who've shot 90+ can SEE flaws in about 30 seconds.

An interesting one this, and most of the points have been covered above.For me it comes down one main point- how far do you want to go?For intro/basic club work, you won't go far wrong with an experienced cpsa/basc coach. empbasis on the experienced- I have seen some recently qualified cpsa "coaches" who I wouldn't want teaching a dog how to crap in the grass but that's another matter. If you are looking to get am England badge, or hit AAA then in my view you need to see a coach who has proven pedigree both on the circuit and in relation to instructing. This is because a lot of the smaller points (which are very important) can only be gain throug first hand experience, not learnt out a book or at a 2 day coaching workshop. Being a good shot does not make you a good coach, but equally I don't believe a man in c/b class can take a student to AAA. If I wanted to learn golf, I wouldn't expect to be taught by tiger woods, yet if I knew the guy telling me how to do it couldn't hit a ball 150 yards in a straight line I'm not sure how much I'd want to listen!The one thing you should be interested in if looking for in a coach is results, not badges. I always encourage anyone talking to me about lessons to speak to those who I do/have worked with and ask what they get out of it and how far they have progressed. If people see clients making it to AA/AAA they aren't so fussed about how many CPSA Stickers you have!