Female Shooter Requirements

Female shooters seeking training should give consideration to the background of the person who will do their training.  In a previous post I mentioned that there are four training models being employed by various trainers, namely law enforcement, military, competition, and self defense.

Personally, I do not believe an instructor who uses a training model based on a law enforcement or military training model will provide the best learning experience for a female shooter who is planning on using her firearm for self defense. For the most part these models assume a shooter will be proactive when engaging a threat.  Their assumptions concerning rules of engagement and backup availability do not apply to many self defense situations. 

A trainer using the competition model will teach shooting techniques that are target shooting based. In these classes the students will learn good shooting techniques that will enable them to shoot tight groups in paper targets.

In my opinion instructors who operate with the self defense model will be the ones most likely to provide a female shooter with the training they need to employ a pistol for self defense.   They will deal with all aspects of the fight since an assault that involves firearms is really a gunfight.There are many aspects of an assault that are specific to a female who is being attacked and the instructor should be aware of these factors and cover them in their classes.  Take a look at my Self Defense Shooting for Zero to 25 Feet to see a course that provides training in the close distances where assaults are most likely to occur.  This also is the distance where a home invasion engagement  is likely to occur.

I recommend that a prospective student ask their instructor what experience they have in training female students.  One initial way to determine this is to see if the trainer offers women only classes.  While this is not an absolute guarantee that the training experience will meet female shooter needs,  it at least suggests that the trainer has had to come to grips with factors that make a female shooter different from a male shooter.

JB Training LLC offers female only classes and has trained many female students.  If necessary we can call on female assistant instructors to assist us in our classes.  

One of the most outstanding web sites that deals with the subject of a female shooter is
http://corneredcat.com/TOC.aspx

This material has been developed by Kathy Jackson who is a well known female in the shooting world.  

I highly recommend female students access and read this material as it will answer a lot of questions.