Range tips for beginners

Thought I might post a few range tips for any new shooters. They are entirely my own and from my personal experiences, training and tens of thousands of rounds down range. Feel free to tell me I am an idiot or post your own tips!​Have a plan - Shooting that bulls eye is fun but don't spend 2 hours tossing away hundreds of dollars down a hall way and come away from it with nothing to show. Google some drills based on your level of ability and what your range will allow... and ACTUALLY follow them.​You are not a SEAL - Stop putting that target at 25 yards, hell...even 15 yards is to far for most new shooters. I see so many new folks put that target out at 10,15,20 yards and blast away. That 19" grouping looks GREAT! NOT! Start at 3 yards and work your way out while maintaining accuracy, speed, control and safety.​Print up your own targets - Those sweet IDPA targets off Amazon are great but there are also some awesome (and free) targets off the net. Use em and if anything, just shooting and hitting a blank piece of paper is good practice. (My very first tactical shooting class was entirely done on plain pieces of paper. We were told if you can keep all your rounds on a 9x11 piece of paper, you were in a good place)Take it slow - You don't have to go at it round after round. Stop, breathe, stretch, do some dry fire, look around, field strip your weapon and rebuild. watch other folks shoot a bit etc... TAKE it easy, slow down and have fun!​You are not that good and no one cares - Don't over focus on marksmanship alone or trying to maintain a tighter group then the person one lane over. No one really cares! Shoot for yourself and work on things YOU need to work on, not what you think others are judging you on. Trigger control? Work on it! Grip ride? Work on it! Reloads? Work on it! You do you!​The range is stressful! - No way around it, you are generally in closed quarters with a bunch of strangers shooting guns. You have literally and exponentially increased the chance of dying today! The explosion going off in your hand is stressful and your body will resist it (flinching) You are pushing yourself and your skills, you are spending a good chunk of money and you are working on something that most of us are inherently bad at. Yes, absolutely, in time shooting becomes FAR less stressful and FAR more enjoyable but when you are new, when you are at the range for maybe your 2nd or 8th time... it can be stressful. Don't overthink it, stick to your drills, your goals and bettering yourself. Fun will come later, sooner than you think!​Shooting with friends! - If you ever find a range that has a league or even just a lose group of folks that meet up every other Wed. join in or find out how to join, you may feel awkward at first but that gets replaced by fun and friends pretty quick! It is also a great way to learn, both about technique and other firearms!​Take classes, take every class you can that you feel would benefit you... which, is pretty much all of them.​Have some fun. via /r/CCW http://bit.ly/2VDS0Gq