@Kehaulani said in WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME AN EXPERT?:
@Rapier232 said in WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME AN EXPERT?:
Well, for what it’s worth, I was a National Police Firearms Instructor for 20 years. I taught people with absolutely no experience whatsoever from basic level all the way to very advanced close protection and hostage rescue teams. I found some people, including me, were absolute naturals at all shooting disciplines. Others found the skills difficult and some found them impossible and failed to reach the necessary standards required. So I’d disagree, natural talent/ability does exist, and those with it will out perform those without.
That's funny. I recalled that, as an enlisted man who had never held a firearm in my life, I scored an A.F. Rifle Marksmanship Medal the first time out and, years later, after never having ever shot a handgun, I also earned a Side-Arm Marksmanship Medal. Likewise in your experience, while I was shooting there were others that just sucked at firearms no matter how hard and how often they tried.
I can only second that, as a qualified Shooting Instructor in sports. I've trained many a beginner, starting them off on small-bore pistol. Most of them became decent, if not remarkable, shooters. Safe to bring them on the range after a couple of months or so. A few became top shooters within weeks. I took a team of four of these rookies to our regional championships. First competition for every one of the four. And we took the cup by a wide margin. Second came a team of grizzled veterans who had been doing this sort of thing for decades.
And then there was one exceptional guy who took to shooting within half an hour. Never had any connection to firearms before. He had learned all the safety rules before (as every one has to have before they are first let loose on the range with a "hot" gun) and scored bull's eyes on the first go, with both eyes open. Later, we discovered that he was a natural two-handed shooter as well - able to hit two targets yards apart, with a gun in each hand, at the same time. In civilian life, he was a karate instructor and organist at the local church.
When we discovered about his ability with firearms, he founded a security business and now owns twenty-nine armoured vans for bank cash transfers, has 90+ employees and has been tasked with add-on Personal Protection duties for state visits. Proudest moment of his life was when the Secret Service approached him for assistance during President Obama's visit to Germany...
