Current State of Training: Class Attendance

[BarryinIN]

A class I had been looking forward to for months was canceled due to the instructor being recalled to active duty with the USAF.  
This was a revolver class, which aren’t easy to come by, so I was a sad puppy to lose it.   

Another class I wanted to attend was to be held tomorrow, but was cancelled due to lack of students. This was a one-day shotgun class.  Defensive shotgun classes can also be hard to find, so I was disappointed to lose that opportunity.    

I'm signed up for a Close Quarters handgun class in October.  Last week I talked to the guy who arranged to host this class, and he tells me that only four people have signed up so far. It is likely to be cancelled also if that doesn’t improve quickly.

I’m also signed up for another shotgun class in October. This one is by a local instructor who is excellent but probably not known outside the immediate area. It filled up, and filled quickly.  Thats a mix of odd and amusing to me because tomorrow’s cancelled shotgun class was to be done by a former Magpul instructor who has been written up in some magazines and has videos and interviews online.  While the somewhat “known” instructor’s class was canceled due to lack of interest, the class by the local guy filled up pretty quick.  Go figure. 
 

But that’s the only class I’ve heard of lately that filled easily. 
 

Overall, there is a bad trend in the works. The class that was canceled because the instructor was called up is a different situation, but I’m seeing a lot of classes being cancelled due to low numbers.  My friend hosting the QC pistol class hosts a few other classes. He said he’s been having trouble meeting the minimums all year.  Not just filling classes, but meeting the minimums.  
 

The little NRA Basic Pistol classes I do at our gun club aren’t on the same level as what I’ve been discussing, but I expect to have no more than two people in each of them.  I don’t mind; I’ll do it with one student, but that’s how it is. 
 

It didn’t only start this year.  I took a class last year put on by another local instructor who teaches at the state police academy.  There were only three of us in it, and I was a late signup.  
 

The downward trend started well before that.  I’ve been seeing it for maybe five years.  
 

I think we’ve become saturated with instructors and classes.  And sad to say, many instructors are “instructors”: people who have taken enough classes to feel they know enough to teach.  Knowing some info doesn’t make one a teacher, and it sure doesn’t give one the ability to diagnose shooter problems. That is a great skill, if not a gift.  Luckily, while there are plenty of these types, they seem to be the exception.   It’s just that there are so many instructors, schools, and classes they are easier to see. 
 

There are SO MANY classes now!  
 

Saturation.

I think we are going to look back on this as a high point for students as far as training availability.  For most of my life, if you wanted training you had to go to one of two or three schools.  Those were your only choices.

Things had started to get better by the late 90s. We were seeing traveling trainers holding classes around the country.  
Since 9/11, demand for training jumped.  A lot of the well-known trainers were basically hired full-time by .mil and .gov agencies, but that vacuum didn’t last. It was filled beyond overflowing by new trainers and schools popping up, happening then and soon after.  
 

That bubble is bursting now. 
We’ve still got all those trainers and schools, and the earlier ones are back in full public circulation, but student interest has dropped.  

In a way, that’s understandable with the sheer numbers of classes offered.  It seems like everyone teaches something. On the other hand, look at how many new gun buyers we’ve had in the last few years.  Millions.  If you look at that, the demand for training should still be at least as high as ever.

But it’s not. 
Within a couple of years, I think there will be a fraction of the training opportunities available.  Not long after, a lot of us will be looking back on the present and wishing we had taken advantage of it when we could’ve.

I’ve preached on here before the benefits of training.  A lesson or two from a good class more than pays for itself in ammo saved by not doing things wrong.  
 

But I’ll say it again: Go.  Go now while you have the chance.  
Now is a perfect time.  There are SO many classes out there.
I know it may not seem easy to go, but in the future if there are only 20% as many classes around as the present, things now will look pretty good.  

I know ammo is not as cheap as it was, and never will be, but it’s probably as good as it’s going to get right now.  Plus it’s mostly available.  

I’ll tell you something else.  It’s a shame for the schools and instructors, but it’s a great time on the student end of things.  With fewer classmates, you get more attention, more lessons, more shooting, and more value.  

 

I hate to say it, but doom and gloom for the training industry is good for us.  For now.