T. O'Heir, you just hit one of my personal little hot buttons. (Congrats!
) ... but it's off topic for the thread, so please excuse me for throwing a link at you and moving on. Happy to discuss it more, later, if you'd like. Anyway, the link:
http://www.corneredcat.com/women-make-better-shooters-than-men-or-do-they/
Oh, wait, one more thing before I do move on. I've worked with both men and women in formal, professional firearms training classes for more than a decade now -- teaching both coed classes and women only classes over the years. I would
never say of my male students that they don't listen or aren't trying to listen. Sure, "that guy" does exist, but he's an exception rather than the rule. At least for students in classes I've taken and taught. (Maybe I've just been lucky.)
Kimio, those are good and important questions. Before even taking half a stab at answering them, let me first give you a list of things that all women have in common.
That's about it.
One woman differs from another woman
exactly as much as one man differs from another man. This might seem like an obvious statement, but sometimes we take shortcuts in conversation that let us pretend it isn't true. It's easier to assume that everyone fits in the middle of the curve than it is to constantly acknowledge the exceptions at both ends. But those exceptions are women, too -- and nobody likes being treated as a rule of thumb when they are in fact an individual. (I'm talking to myself, here, mostly -- since I'm about to use a bunch of glittering generalities!)
When you teach groups of women and also mixed groups of both sexes, you soon notice a few trends about the two types of groups. In a group of women on the range, there are some questions that always, or almost always, get asked -- and those same questions rarely get asked in a mixed group. Female students usually won't ask those questions of a male instructor, though they will pull another woman aside to ask these questions quietly in private. If the only other woman on the range is another student (or if the female instructor is at the other end of the line), they will ask the other student rather than asking the male instructor.
This leads me to
glittering generality #1: if your student does not feel comfortable asking you an embarrassing question,
you won't know it, because she simply won't ask you that question. So you'll need to either proactively address that subject without her asking, or decide that she can find that information from somewhere else.
These questions include (but are not limited to):
- How can I safely use the bathroom while wearing my holstered gun?
- My boob gets in the way when I draw. What should I do?
- You know how you keep telling the people shooting Weaver stance to bring their elbows in (or point them at the ground rather than out to the side)? It makes me uncomfortable to do that.
- How can I carry a gun in a holster on the belt when 90% of my pants don't even have belt loops?
- What do you think about that bra holster my friend told me about?
- My long fingernails are getting in the way, and you just told me I should trim them. We both know I'm not going to do that. How can I alter my grip on the gun to make my long fingernails less of a problem?
Because it's a critical safety concern, that first question on the list should be addressed every time you work with someone who expresses an interest in concealed carry -- male or female. But the guys won't ask anyone, ever (and if the subject comes up, they'll swear they never sit down except at home), and the gals won't ask in mixed groups. So you'll have to bring it up yourself.
Here's
glittering generality #2: When you work with female students, most of them prefer to have someone use words -- sometimes a lot of words --
before the shooting starts. This is the opposite of how most guys seem to be wired; they seem to prefer to dive right into the doing and
then hear an explanation of what just happened or how they can improve.
But that's a group dynamic. Any individual can fall on either side of that preference and if you the instructor get it wrong, you will have either frustrated students (you moved ahead too fast) or irritated ones (you moved ahead too slow). Best advice here is
watch your student(s)' body language. Adjust your speed to fit the person.
Glittering generality #3: All things being equal, a group of female students will usually shoot slower but more accurately than a group of male students. (Also, all things being equal, both types of student will believe they're doing it better and making better choices than the other type.
)
So: challenge your slow shooting students to push the speed limits as soon as they know how to work a trigger. Challenge your fast shooting students to push the accuracy limits once they've proved to themselves (and you) that they can go fast.
More glittering generalities.
- Women often have smaller hands than men, but not always. Be prepared to explain gun/hand fitting dynamics to every student no matter what their hand size.
- Women often need better instruction in running the slide than the guys do. That's because guys can often get away with a less efficient technique.
- Some women may be afraid of hurting the gun when they rack the slide. Address this as a general principle rather than waiting until she either asks about it or it's obviously a problem.
- Many women have no trouble racking the slide, but struggle to lock the action open. Be prepared to address this challenge -- and consider how to address it for those with longer fingernails.
- For women, holster choices aren't just about the holster. It often hits pretty close to home with body image issues. Tread carefully here. Also: her clothes are not like your clothes. Most of her clothing doesn't have belt loops, doesn't have good pockets, is designed to cling to curves (and thus won't conceal the lump of a firearm), and fits more tightly than most of your clothes.
- Hot brass problems happen more often to women, but every student needs to know what to do if a piece of brass gets into their clothing (or eyewear!) and starts to burn. It's not about avoiding a little blister; it's about avoiding a bullet hole. Wearing a high collar shirt to the range helps, but it sure isn't the end of that story.
There's probably a ton more.
Here's an article I wrote awhile back about why women-only classes work well even for experienced shooters. It's not 100% on topic for exactly what you asked, but you might find more to think about there.
pax,
Kathy
ps -- Your friend was right about the shoulder tension. You can see it when you're looking at a group of students from behind the line: some will have tense shoulders, some won't. Some will be tense, but in a good way or only while they're shooting. The ones that never relax their shoulders may also have trouble shooting well, but more than that, it's a safety issue, because unrelieved tension impairs good blood flow to the brain. They'll end up with bad headaches and fatigued, blurry thinking much sooner than the more relaxed students. Something to watch as the day goes on.
