Week before last, Greg Moats’ coverage of a Youth 250 Defensive Pistol for youths began here. Coverage continues with an explanation of how Cooper’s program evolved and how the doctrine is applied to youth practitioners.
Evolution of Equipment
The “heavy duty pistol” at one time was synonymous with the 1911, .45 ACP. As bullet design and propellant characteristics have evolved, so has the definition of the “heavy duty pistol,” and now the 9 mm is the most prolific handgun cartridge in the world. Gary Smith, the Rangemaster for all of Gunsite’s Youth programs, makes the point that the “heavy duty pistol” is now defined as “the biggest caliber that you can control.” Therefore, Gunsite allows the use of the .22 rimfire by students in the Youth-class, although that’s a choice that is seldom selected.
While a teenager’s lack of shooting experience means an absence of bad habits, it also means that they’re almost certainly using equipment that was selected for them by someone else. What’s appropriate and/or practical equipment for mom or dad may be a poor choice for a young neophyte. Take for example the Double-Action/Single-Action semi-automatic handgun. The dramatic difference in trigger-pull weights when transitioning from DA to SA severely complicates a new shooter’s mastering trigger control. In the class that I observed in July of 2023, two of the teenagers started the class with DA/SA pistols and had abandoned them in favor of striker fired handguns by the first afternoon! Similarly, a few students were sent to class outfitted with full duty rigs including holsters with advanced levels of retention. While certainly serviceable, they added a slight complication to the five-step presentation (draw) that Gunsite has taught since its inception.
Evolution of Instruction
As instructor for all four of the currently offered Youth classes (basic pistol-250, intermediate pistol-350, advanced pistol-499 and rifle-270), Gary Smith has implemented some alterations that have proven successful with teenagers. For example, he conducts a derivation of a standard accuracy dot-drill at 3 yards by substituting a Tootsie Pop for the dot. Much like a falling steel target, a fragmenting Tootsie Pop is visually gratifying to see being shattered. There is therefore a subtle inclination for the shooter to focus on the target instead of their front sight making it a challenging target, even at 3 yards. Pressure is added by having one student shoot at a time while the entire class watches them. On Wednesday they have three shots to try to hit the target, on Thursday, two shots and on Friday only one. When they hit the target, they get to pick a prize from a reward-box. On Friday, Gary adds some psychological pressure that helps students realize that they can shoot under pressure and as a result, this class had a 72% first round hit on the Tootsie Pop.
Those of us that are old enough to have shot in a tournament conducted by Colonel Cooper or taken a class from him know that almost every session or match ended with “man-against-man” competition. This tests not only mastery of the elements of the modern technique of the pistol but also the ability to function under stress while maintaining one’s mindset. While never appearing rushed or hurried, the pace of the Youth-class was quick enough that they conducted their first “man-against-man” competition prior to the lunch break on Day Two of the training! Considering the almost complete lack of practical shooting experience the teenagers possessed prior to the beginning of class on Monday, that’s extraordinarily quick progress.
Wednesday afternoon has always been devoted to a classroom lecture on Mindset, the main tenet being Colonel Cooper’s “Color Code.” At the end of a long day of training in 105-degree temperature, the students watched a video of Cooper delivering his famous Mindset presentation. I was astonished at the rapt attention that all 24 of the teenagers paid to the video; a testament to the environment that the instructors had created in only three days.
Prior to the Mindset session, a non-shooting orientation is conducted on basic room clearing tactics at an indoor simulator (house) and a non-shooting intro to a ravine clearing exercise at an outdoor dry-wash gully. Here the concept of “pie-ing” a corner, identifying threat from non-threat adversaries, the efficient use of cover and using a command tone of voice are covered and practiced. Each student does a total of two live fire runs through both the ravine and the house-clearing, one on Thursday and one on Friday. Ask any Gunsite graduate and they’ll almost certainly agree that these are the most enjoyable and engrossing portions of the training.
The culmination of the class is the final man-against-man shoot off. Those who have ever participated in a shoot off know that the pressure can be intense. Colonel Cooper, in his earlier writings stated that he knew some competitors that felt that the pressure was even greater than the pressure that they felt in actual combat! A 14-year-old young man named Connor bested the field of 24 students. Simultaneously, on a different range, a standard 250 class was being conducted. The winner of each class’ man-against-man event met for an inter-class championship. Connor bested his adult opponent in two consecutive bouts adding credence to the comments that the instructors had been making all week that these kids were shooting better than most adult classes.
Students of Colonel Cooper are familiar with his “Combat Triad,” which consists of marksmanship, gun handling and mindset. The skill, poise and confidence that I observed at the final shoot-off was a fitting tribute to the Colonel and the regimen that he established. I had two grandchildren in that July Youth-class. Watching them perform tactical reloads with the textbook perfection of Tom Selleck in a Jesse Stone movie was indeed gratifying and solidified my opinion that Jeff Cooper was an “influencer” for the ages. For information contact: www.gunsite.com.
— Greg Moats