Lee invited Brian to join him on That Weems Guy Podcast to talk about Deliberate Coaching and a good time was had by all!
Great conversation and great questions with 2 great friends.
The following courses of fire challenge the armed citizen to perform the most common technical skills from a concealed draw. A well-designed interlocking curriculum provides a platform for building and evaluating core skills, efficiency, effectiveness, and mental fortitude.
I use martial art belt ranks as the basis for the patch system. I have taught and developed this curriculum for four decades, and I have a deep understanding of the developmental process of athletes.
#1. The Bullseye course checks shot calling, dot tracking, and accuracy using an extended prep and press to work on hand stopping (95-5, 90-10, 80-20) vision cues (flash, floating, focused), and trigger speed (quickly, carefully, precisely).
#2. The Trifecta is a simple test to measure the shooter’s ability to adjust hand, trigger, and vision speed relative to the target size with maximum efficiency.
#3. Mixed Six is a basic course of fire with par times to teach different hand position that armed citizen may need to employ.
#4. The Core Four establishes a baseline for current level of skill in common shooting drills. It also provides a percentage rating for the belt test patch.
“Complete Combat Ant Rank Patches“
First time clients attending our pistol courses will receive a 2.5″ WHITE “Complete Combat Ant” rank patch”! Maybe you are starting your training journey with The Complete Combatant or maybe you have challenged yourself TO YOUR FIRST PROFESSIONAL FIREARMS CLASS…good for you! We are very proud of you and this first step needs to be recognized! Accuracy standards, measuring progress and challenges are a BIG part of our classes.
The BLUE Standards = passing the 4 scored drills (% or score) that gets more challenging as the rank advances. Blue, purple, brown and black Complete Combat Ant Rank patches will be awarded after each standard has been met. Each 1 day class will have one or two of these drills. All 4 scored drills are usually offered for rank advancement in our 2 day classes or the Pistol Proficiency class.
Here is my approach to helping shooters/athletes improve. A couple years ago I took Modern Samurai Project‘s Red Dot Instructor class with Scott Jedlinski, which I highly recommend. Part of the curriculum is doing “teach backs”. I was fortunate enough to work with a very good instructor, Aaron Acklin, owner of Aaron’s Gun Cabinet in Arkansas. We were discussing how we diagnose shooting errors and that lead me to asking a simple question “Where do you start”? I think that questions asked should be “exploratory learning experiences” where we change knowledge to wisdom by practical application.
Your first student is YOU. Whether or not you teach others, it is important to keep in mind that you will always be coaching yourself, therefore everyone will benefit from having a better coach.
Some coaches start analyzing shooting errors by looking at the target first, then the gun, then hands, and so on until they work their way back to the actual student. This may have been the way that THEY personally made the greatest improvement. Skill is born of struggle which means we tend to emphasize our hardest struggles. This is the approach I term personality driven instruction. “If it worked for me, then it will work for you” or “we have always taught this way”, anyway you get the idea. It does work for some of the shooters some of the time if they are able to adjust to the coaching style. If you have compatible communication styles this works well, but what if you do not? How much time is wasted in the process and what happens to the athlete that does not understand your personal preferences?
The other style is principal based teaching. The burden is on the coach to understand how the body works, to research deeply into the subject, and how best to communicate with the shooter. Of course, this approach is labor intensive up front, meaning that the coach must observe the athlete from the moment he sees them, and then must quickly intuit how to communicate with them.
There are 3 categories of body language- the looker, the listener, and the feeler. The looker will always make eye contact with you, the listener will tilt their head without eye contact to better hear your words, and the feeler will shake your hand, hug you, or touch you on the shoulder or arm. The coach should ask questions that are open ended to gather further information. Their words will be descriptive to their particular style of interaction, such as “I see what you are doing”, “I hear/understand you”, and “I feel how that works”. Now simply use the proper descriptive words when you coach them, make sure your demonstrations are expressively visual, descriptively rich, or touch centric. Most of us will have some crossover in the styles, but the coach must bridge the gap.
Next, imagine what each person would perform like if they were the best athlete for their body type, hold that image as you teach them, and look for what does not belong. Look deeply for what is out of place instead of adding more components as they begin to grasp the fundamentals. Change the one area that will have the greatest impact instead of everything you notice. Is it the grip, the vision, or maybe the decision process? Athletes often understand the technical aspects of shooting but make compulsive/suboptimal decisions.
We each have our own role to play on this collaboration. The shooter performs, observes, and evaluates. The coach observes, connects, and advocates. The athlete must adapt to the structure and safety requirements there the coach must effectively observe without bias, and communicate effectively to create a partnership with the shooter.
A large majority of practice should and will be on your own. Many of us have an internal dialogue that criticizes our performance. This voice is often the most negative or demanding parent or teacher. The problem is this style of coaching probably did not work for you in the first place, so you just keep trying the same corrections harder. Now think of the best teacher you have ever had and emulate their style. Correct yourself without the head shakes and insults. Model the best shooters, correcting one area at a time, with both patience, and focus geared to your style-visual, descriptive, or kinesthetics. This changes the dynamics of learning allowing you to become the best version of yourself, and/or to help others reach their potential.
Join me in our new 3 day Instructor’s Course called “Deliberate Coaching: Diagnostic. Predictive. Adaptive“. These 3 days will be like no other instructor program out there because I will be sharing over forty years of coaching and instructor development. This chosen path has given me a unique insight and experience over a broad range of training philosophies.
The art of teaching is a calling to help people become the best versions of themselves. The question is, how do we become the best coaches possible?
Coaching requires a multi-discipline approach applying diagnostic skills, cognitive interviewing, understanding the decisional process, predictive analysis, and adapting to the clients’ unique needs.
Deliberate Coaching will cover physiological, psychological, and technical aspects of client development. Identifying and understanding the shooters learning style and more importantly, their blind spots. Predictive analysis through posture, speech, body language, and goal setting. Adaptive drill development with measurable results. Curriculum development through deliberate practice and focused methodologies. Understanding of biology under stress and how to enhance performance.
If you have the passion for teaching, now develop the mastery on how to best help your clients.
Measure. Refine. Perform.
Brian Hill
“Deliberate Coaching: Diagnostic. Predictive. Adaptive.” is Brian Hill’s Instructor Certification program. These 3 days will be like no other instructor program out there because Brian will be sharing over forty years of coaching and instructor development. This chosen path has given him a unique insight and experience over a broad range of training philosophies.
The art of teaching is a calling to help people become the best versions of themselves. The question is, how do we become the best coaches possible?Coaching requires a multi-discipline approach applying diagnostic skills, cognitive interviewing, understanding the decisional process, predictive analysis, and adapting to the clients’ unique needs.
Deliberate Coaching will cover physiological, psychological, and technical aspects of client development. Identifying and understanding the shooters learning style and more importantly, their blind spots. Predictive analysis through posture, speech, body language, and goal setting. Adaptive drill development with measurable results. Curriculum development through deliberate practice and focused methodologies. Understanding of biology under stress and how to enhance performance.You have the passion for teaching, now develop the mastery on how to best help your clients. Brian Hill
NORTH GEORGIA: Deliberate Coaching is offered in the beautiful North Georgia mountains. If our range is not open yet then it will be held at one of our two favorite ranges. It will be in Eastanollee, GA or Jasper, GA. We will let you know when it gets a bit closer.
JUNE
Friday, June 3rd, Saturday, June 4th and Sunday, June 5th, 20229am-6pm each day REGISTRATION OPEN
SEPTEMBER
Friday, Sept 16th, Saturday, Sept. 17th, and Sunday, Sept. 18th, 20229am-6pm each day REGISTRATION OPEN
JANUARY in OCALA, FL:
Friday, Jan. 14th, Saturday, Jan. 15th, and Sunday, Jan. 16th, 2022 – 9am-6pm each day
APRIL in MANHATTAN, KS
Friday, April 8th, Saturday, April 9th, and Sunday, April 10th, 2022 – 9am-6pm each day
WANT TO WIN A GLOCK, A RARE PURPLE ENIGMA, A CONCEALED CARRY PURSE OR EXCESSORIES? CLICK HERE to The Mingle’s 2021 Fall Fundraiser catalog and purchased tickets!
What are the two 2021 Fall Fundraisers? This year we decided to do something a little different in 2021 due to COVID, lack of ammo and limited traveling. As always, the proceeds from these two fundraisers will be split between Racheal’s Rest and The Mingle 2022.
On October 6th, 2021 we opened up 2 (two) GIVEAWAYS!
What is The Mingle? “The Mingle” is an INVITE ONLY VIP event for women in the firearms/self defense industry. This is a 2 day event with sponsors, guest speaker, door prizes, catered lunches, special block on Saturday shooting HKs, a full day on the range Sunday with “blocks” of firearms training with top tier instructors at our range in Dahlonega, GA! There are only 50 spots available on Saturday and 32 spots available on Sunday so we use the “first come first serve” system. “The Mingle” 2021 was held in North Metro Atlanta, GA on May 22nd and May 23rd, 2021.
We lend a hand in helping women in the firearms industry gain knowledge and meet MORE ladies in the biz. What a fantastic opportunity to be able to “pick the brains” of the ones that paved the path before us and meet ladies who offer NEW ideas. The relationships we build here can strengthen our business, help reach personal goals PLUS the knowledge bombs received can be passed onto others. NEVER STOP BEING A STUDENT….no matter what level of experience you have. NEVER STOP BEING A TEACHER….no matter what your job title is.
With the help of sponsors, The Complete Combatant will offer a place for women to meet “like minded” ladies. Instructors can continue their education and build relationships to support business, networking to expand contacts and to explore our own personal growth in business, tactics, self-defense, marksmanship, professions & MORE! These special ladies are all patriots that will influence, support, and fight for self defense rights!
If you are a professional lady in the firearms/self defense industry then YOU ARE INVITED to attend our event. Just CLICK HERE to get details on The Mingle and how to be added to the event’s VIP invite ONLY list. Please make note that I open event registration on January 5th of each year and we usually sell out QUICK so don’t hesitate.
What is Racheal’s Rest? We are super excited to to support our featured charity, Racheal’s Rest for the 5th year in a row! Racheal’s Rest, is a 5 day restorative retreat program that is designed to address the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of survivors. We exist to help women and children who experienced sexual abuse or acts of violence regain their balance in life.
Dr. Karen McDonald has been working closely with Broken Chains International for several years and we are a GREAT FIT! We are so happy to announce that that Racheal’s Rest has merged with Broken Chains International. BCI is now sponsoring our Racheal’s Rest retreats.
CLICK HERE to The Mingle’s 2021 Fall Fundraiser catalog and purchased tickets!
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