New Shooters

[mongo404]

Even if you are not interested in the competition part of this. Your gun handling skills will greatly increase! Plus your Speed and Accuracy!

 

[machete]

A summary of what we've learned and discussed in this tread is important.

Clubs can attract new shooters by

• advertising their events and disciplines more. Many new shooters don't even know that there is a club that holds regular, organized events.
• offering discounts to new shooters/first match free
• offering discounts to junior shooters
• hosting open house events where new shooters can learn about the facilities and disciplines offered in a safe, stress-light (nothing is free, folds) environment.
• creating and promoting new shooter mentoring programs.
• examine rimfire events and how they serve as gateway programs.

Experienced shooters can attract new shooters by

• offering their skills and advice through formal mentoring and/or coaching (there is a difference).
• loaning extra gear to new shooters who are interested, but haven't made the investment in equipment.
• provide encouragement to new shooters at matches.
• actively seek out new shooters and bring them along to matches they regularly attend.
• helping them understand that it is only an equipment race if they choose for it to be one - stock gear is competitive for a long time for most shooters.
• remember that there a probably more shooting sports that you DON'T participate in than those you DO.

New shooters can help themselves by

• taking the first step. Understanding that most anything worthwhile is going to have a learning curve - shooting sports are no different.
• asking LOTS of questions
• learn about the sanctioning bodies and disciplines. There is NOTHING that says that if you tried USPSA and didn't like it that something like NRA 2700 or International Pistol matches might be more to your liking and temperament.
• not being afraid to help. Matches take time and muscle to setup, run, and tear down. Many hands...
• understanding that after SAFETY, FUN is the most important thing. If you make it competitive, that's up to you. No one will ever force your to care about a score.
• understand that sport shooting can be VERY EXPENSIVE. How expensive is entirely up to you. World titles have been won with stock Glock 17s as well as $3k 2011s. All else being equal software > hardware.

There might be many things missing, but that hits on most of the ideas shared here.

yall are putting the cart before the horse... if you want to get people shooting any sport,,,you have to get people SHOOTING!!!!!!

once they shoot,,,then theyll feel better about actually hitting something,,,so they MIGHT--MIGHT--MIGHT have a desire to explore something beyond emptying a mag of 9s at a 5 yard target which is what i usually see people do with their guns...

once theyre shooting,,,you can have an experienced shooter invite them off the line and say ---hey want to try this--- and have him try a falling plate or something,,,then,,,if the shooter likes that,,,invite the shooter to an untimed shoot through a course...

of the total amount of gun owners,,,only a relative few shoot...of the few that shoot,,,very VERY few move into any sport...thats why NSSF calls hunting and target shooting---sports,,,so they can get the number of sport shooters up...

most shooters in Indy have no idea where they caan shoot,,,and they think of Dons,,,maybe Pops... most gun counter workers have no idea where a guy can shoot,,,and they make no effort to sell guns from a sports perspective...

MCF&G has a locked gate,,,a membership requirement which scares off a TON of shooters,,,and Eagle Creek is expensive and not open much...Martinsville wont take new members...most guys just buy the gun and keep it around the house,,,where it sits for years until he gets rid of it,,,and i see a 20 year old gun in unfired condition... and im sure im the only one whose ever seen an unfired gun,,,right?????

EVERYBODY is dropping the ball on this...

dom,,,highpower is cheap??? a Rock River two stage lower is 350,,,a White Oak upper is 700,,,a turner sling is 50,,,thats 1100... plus mags and a spotting scope,,,thats cheap to you??? must be nice to be you,,,, let the average guy try to sell a 1100 dollar sport to his wife,,,RIGHT!!!

hell get told that a set of golf clubs,,,with bag,,,at Dicks is 200---merry christmas honey---go have fun...and get some exercise...

Nicklaus EZ UP Geo Complete Set With Stand Bag - Dick's Sporting Goods

Duncan had a post on this this morning,,,until we get our men ALL OF OUR MEN confident enough to leave the house and do their own thing,,,well have all our shooters stuck with family obligations that keep them from getting any range time,,,much less moving off the range into a sport...

 

[opus1776]

snip...

MCF&G has a locked gate,,,a membership requirement which scares off a TON of shooters,,,and Eagle Creek is expensive and not open much...Martinsville wont take new members...most guys just buy the gun and keep it around the house,,,where it sits for years until he gets rid of it,,,and i see a 20 year old gun in unfired condition... and im sure im the only one whose ever seen an unfired gun,,,right?????

...

About the part that I put in red--- wrong, Wrong, WRONG!!!

Every year for the at least the last 5 years, Martinsville has taken in between 100 and 150 new members--EVERY year. The club has a cap at 500 members. When the club opens up for new memberships in January it is first come first served---sometimes it only takes 7 days, other times it takes 3 months..

======================================
"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" K. Moss

You can NEVER be too rich or too thin.

Life is not a journey, but a series of unplanned detours...

Perfection: is not a goal-- it's an demanded expectation.

 

[mongo404]

The only thing that we can do is try to get new shooters out and give it a try. That is what we are going to do. TRY!!!!! If someone wants to shoot they will if they dont they will have more excuses than Betty Crocker has reciepes! PLAIN AND SIMPLE. I am going to do my part ARE YOU? Thats what this thread orinally was for, not to find reasons not to shoot!!!!!!!
Also your really not going to be able to do anything about the poor little whipped boys out there that are being lead around by their mommy or wife.
Family obligation is a completley different thing that is a must.
Also I have a gently used set of clubs if anybodys interested Ill make you a hell of a deal on them

 

[machete]

About the part that I put in red--- wrong, Wrong, WRONG!!!

Every year for the at least the last 5 years, Martinsville has taken in between 100 and 150 new members--EVERY year. The club has a cap at 500 members. When the club opens up for new memberships in January it is first come first served---sometimes it only takes 7 days, other times it takes 3 months..

we dont live in a wait seven months world...

darn certain the casual shooter dont...hes moved well down the road by then,,,and hes not going to make a mark on a calendar to come around on a certain date and hope hes let in...and get really embarrassed and insulted if hes not...

only the hardcore people do that...most people dont like to be embarrassed,,,so they wont try for something they dont know is already coming to them...

Martinsville needs to get off that cap and do the gun world a favor... we need more shooters from Bloomington,,,but the closest range is effectively closed... if the time ever comes where that club will need support from the community and will have to justify its existence to a public body,,,that cap will give people a lot of ammo against it... other clubs that throw open their doors build up a lot of goodwill...

they dont even want you shooting pins there if you arent with a member...

not smart...

 

[slow1911s]

yall are putting the cart before the horse... if you want to get people shooting any sport,,,you have to get people SHOOTING!!!!!!

Machete - ok. You've made it clear that all of us are clueless. What's your solution? You've poked holes in about every idea posted here. How would you attract new shooters? Explain.

I like poking holes in ideas as much as anybody. But there comes a point when if you're going to do that, you need to also bring a solution to the table. Now's your turn.

 

[machete]

Machete - ok. You've made it clear that all of us are clueless. What's your solution? You've poked holes in about every idea posted here. How would you attract new shooters? Explain.

i thought i just got through doing that???

are you with me that we need to attract new shooters first,,,and then worry about making them sport shooters???

we need to make sure were together on that before we go any further...

 

[BillD]

we dont live in a wait seven months world...

darn certain the casual shooter dont...hes moved well down the road by then,,,and hes not going to make a mark on a calendar to come around on a certain date and hope hes let in...and get really embarrassed and insulted if hes not...

only the hardcore people do that...most people dont like to be embarrassed,,,so they wont try for something they dont know is already coming to them...

Martinsville needs to get off that cap and do the gun world a favor... we need more shooters from Bloomington,,,but the closest range is effectively closed... if the time ever comes where that club will need support from the community and will have to justify its existence to a public body,,,that cap will give people a lot of ammo against it... other clubs that throw open their doors build up a lot of goodwill...

they dont even want you shooting pins there if you arent with a member...

not smart...

It's amazing to me we have lots of folks on here who actually own and shoot guns weekly if not more often than that. It seems so troublesome and possibly embarrassing.

A few years back I moved to the Indy area. I was a member at Wildcat outside Lafayette. I found out about the Martinsville club, waited until the time to apply and got my membership. Then I started going there. In the months between those times, I freaking drove 150 mile round trips once a week to go shoot at Wildcat.

Machete, you seem to want it handed to you.

You seem to want a nice close place to shoot, cheap ammo and gear, a mentor, someone to hold your hand and make sure it's a very nice experience for you, save you any possible embarrasment. Man up

I doubt the Martinsville club is going to need any public body support from Bloomington.

You nitpick a lot but you sure don't put forth any effort that I've seen. Except for worrying about being embarrassed. You seem to do a lot of that. Maybe competition is not for you.

Possibly YOU should see what it takes to open a range in Bloomington, get all those kids off the computer and out of Mom's basement.

Nah, you'd rather sit back and whine about all that is not right with your world.

New shooters are going to have to have interest and be willing to put forth some effort. We can't give them guns, ammo, rides, training, etc, if they don't put forth some of the effort themselves.

If the average gun owner doesn't care anymore about shooting than to give up at the first roadblock, I'm not going to waste my time and effort trying to get him somewhere he's not sure he wants to go.

 

[machete]

Machete, you seem to want it handed to you.

i was going to call you a LOT of bad names for being so THICK,,,but i walked around the house and got my temper under control...

you need to read more closely,,,and think it out a lot better,,,because that was pretty thickheaded

if you want new shooters,,,and if i already shoot,,,and if im talking about all those people out there who dont shoot,,,then we aint talking about me now,,,are we???

if you want new shooters,,,you have to do what it takes to get em,,,how many people would go bowling if the closest alley was 75 miles away???

quit ignoring the basic concepts of marketing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Possibly YOU should see what it takes to open a range in Bloomington, get all those kids off the computer and out of Mom's basement.

yeah,,,go ahead and keep insulting computers,,,social media,,,Bloomington,,,and young people...that will make you REAL cool to new shooters and younger folks....

theyll REALLY want to hang out with a guy like you...

 

[mongo404]

What should be done to recruit new shooters into the shooting sports? I want to see ideas, concepts from existing competitive shooters. I would like to hear from those thinking about competing but have not done it yet? What is holding you back? How do we get younger shooters involved? When I say younger I am talking 15-23 years old.

Well???????

Here is what started the thread!!!!!!
Its my opinion that some of us are talking about 2 diffrent things. I dont think that when this started we were refering about getting people that had never shot before into shooting sports. I think we were mainly refering to getting people into it that is already shooting. Dont get me wrong we have NEW shooters trying it all the time that have never shot anything before. And there is nothing wrong with that you have to start somewhere. And it is awsome to watch how they progress after just a little time. Maybe it was titled wrong I dont know cause I didnt start it. But I think its a bunch of crap with all the bull sh**! WE are here to find a solution or an Idea that works not throw stones. This is the kinda Crap that will drive people away from it!!!!!!!

 

[slow1911s]

i thought i just got through doing that???

are you with me that we need to attract new shooters first,,,and then worry about making them sport shooters???

we need to make sure were together on that before we go any further...

I agree that we need to get more non-shooters turned into gun owners and shooters. And, yes, they probably need to make that step before their name appears on a score sheet.

But, you and/or your arguments ignore the people who already own guns (many of which are suitable for competition at some level in some discipline) but are not involved in a shooting sport. Why? That is low-hanging fruit. And, those are the very people who are most likely to turn a non-gun-owner into one. That's the market.

On this board, there might be three dozen people actively involved in a defined shooting sport (IDPA, USPSA, Steel, Highpower, Int'l, etc.). There are over a 1000 on here who own a pistol -probably purchased in the last three years - who have no idea that there are fun and challenging ways to use it above and beyond dusting it off on family holidays.

 

[BillD]

i was going to call you a LOT of bad names for being so THICK,,,but i walked around the house and got my temper under control...

you need to read more closely,,,and think it out a lot better,,,because that was pretty thickheaded

if you want new shooters,,,and if i already shoot,,,and if im talking about all those people out there who dont shoot,,,then we aint talking about me now,,,are we???

if you want new shooters,,,you have to do what it takes to get em,,,how many people would go bowling if the closest alley was 75 miles away???

quit ignoring the basic concepts of marketing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





yeah,,,go ahead and keep insulting computers,,,social media,,,Bloomington,,,and young people...that will make you REAL cool to new shooters and younger folks....

theyll REALLY want to hang out with a guy like you...

I quit worrying about being cool a couple decades ago.

I'm glad you're able to control your temper.....

 

[machete]

I agree that we need to get more non-shooters turned into gun owners and shooters. And, yes, they probably need to make that step before their name appears on a score sheet.

But, you and/or your arguments ignore the people who already own guns (many of which are suitable for competition at some level in some discipline) but are not involved in a shooting sport. Why? That is low-hanging fruit. And, those are the very people who are most likely to turn a non-gun-owner into one. That's the market.

On this board, there might be three dozen people actively involved in a defined shooting sport (IDPA, USPSA, Steel, Highpower, Int'l, etc.). There are over a 1000 on here who own a pistol -probably purchased in the last three years - who have no idea that there are fun and challenging ways to use it above and beyond dusting it off on family holidays.

good post!!!!!

early on,,,i gave the reasons why people dont move into the sport part of shooting...

you first have to realize that not all shooters will become sport shooters...

its takes a lot of new shooters to make one new sport shooter... the only way you get lots of new shooters is if the ranges are full...

how do you get the ranges full??? that takes marketing and continued effort

 

[slow1911s]

yeah,,,go ahead and keep insulting computers,,,social media,,,Bloomington,,,and young people...that will make you REAL cool to new shooters and younger folks....

Oddly enough, a PhD Computer Science student at IU-Bloomington, who was new to the sport just a couple of years ago, regularly squads with Bill at our matches. I think they've even shared a hotel room or two on road trips to major matches (could be wrong on that).

A thread full of personal jabs isn't going to win over a bunch people, is it Machete? Keep it civil.

 

[mongo404]

good post!!!!!

how do you get the ranges full??? that takes marketing and continued effort

Do tell

 

[Mike Elzinga]

There is no deep chasm between "shooters" and "sport shooters", the only difference is which ones show up on match day. There is no requirement to have a competitive nature or different mindset to be a "sport shooter", it is perfectly OK to show up to a match, have fun, end up with a last place score and be happy with that.

And FWIW, to the truly brand new shooters, you wont ever come in last. I tell this to every person I have ever brought to a match and I havent been wrong yet. You will beat someone at your first match.

 

[BillD]

There is no deep chasm between "shooters" and "sport shooters", the only difference is which ones show up on match day. There is no requirement to have a competitive nature or different mindset to be a "sport shooter", it is perfectly OK to show up to a match, have fun, end up with a last place score and be happy with that.

quote]


Good post Mike

 

[riverman67]

I'm not shooting anymore.....I just realized that I have been embarrassing myself and I'm not cool

Damn

 

[crispy]

You guys are doing the right things. Having a table at the big gun show is "marketing" to your core. Everyone that goes to the 1500 is probably already interested in firearms and probably already owns guns. In other words, they're already "shooters". Just stress "ease of entry" with existing guns and the FRIENDLY/HELPFUL ENVIRONMENT.

Trying to create NEW shooters so you can funnel them into shooting sports will be 10x more difficult, although that is exactly what I am.

Machete, why don't you go work on that? Throw some commas and run-on sentences at them. That will probably convert the young crowd that use poor grammar...

 

[machete]

There is no deep chasm between "shooters" and "sport shooters", the only difference is which ones show up on match day. There is no requirement to have a competitive nature or different mindset to be a "sport shooter", it is perfectly OK to show up to a match, have fun, end up with a last place score and be happy with that.

sure but thats chicken and egg,,,all are welcome,,,but only the ones with a competitive nature will show up...

most shooters are very happy just shooting,,,some would have fun in a race to knock five pop cans off a fence post against their buddy,,,far less will show up to a match... you can move some of the range shooters and pop can shooters to competition,,,but if it isnt in their nature,,,it wont stick...