Recently I had the rare opportunity to be the student instead of the administrator of clinics while I attended the Highpower clinic at the Creedmoor Cup Clinic in Butner, NC. The experience was far and beyond what I expected to get out of the clinic since I entered it as a semi-experienced shooter. Shooters often have the impression that clinics are just for beginners, and once they know the basics they often think that they have nothing to gain from a clinic, but this is where they have it wrong. Clinics are for shooters of all levels. Unless you are cleaning every position (shooting perfect scores) every time you shoot in competition, you will have something to learn in a clinic. The main thing to remember is to always be a student of the game, and you will always find ways to improve.

At the Creedmoor Cup Highpower Clinic, the instruction was from the best shooters in the country and even the most seasoned shooter would have been hard pressed not to gain something from the classes. On hand to teach the clinic were the Army Marksmanship Unit, the Marine Corps Highpower Team, Dennis DeMille and members of Team Bushmaster. The group covered everything from basics like safety and range rules to advanced position work, and the majority of the instruction took place on the range with hands-on coaching.

After the first segment of verbal instruction, we had demonstrations from SGT Brandon Green of the AMU and Lance Hopper of Team Bushmaster showing the prone position. The information they provided and demonstrated could never equal what you can read in a book. After that, we took our rifles and gear and went to the 200 yard line to work on our prone positions and slings. Due to the numbers in the clinic and the number of coaches, we each had a designated coach assigned to us for the remainder of the day. I was fortunate enough to have SSG Joel Micholick of the AMU Team as my coach, along with SGT Green who was coaching next to us. I was really going to challenge their coaching abilities and my flexibility, and I could quickly predict it would be at least a four Advil day.

The first step on the line was slinging into the rifle. This was where the individual coaching really came in handy, as each person needed a lot of help setting up a position that best fit their body size. I was ecstatic.  For the first time my sling stayed right where it belonged while getting up and down into position. I was also shown how to mark my position and my scope stand for faster set-up. After several repetitions of up-downs and dry-firing, I came away with a very comfortable and confident position.

After prone, we went back to the classroom for some instruction on the sitting position. This session was lead by Dennis DeMille of Team Creedmoor. Watching a tall man like DeMille easily fold into the crossed-legged sitting position was amazing, where my goal was just getting up and down without falling over. After the class, the group went back to the range and hooked up their slings. After watching how I usually set-up my sitting position, my coach took the opportunity to totally change things around. Since I am not a person that cleans sitting I was willing to try anything. One of the changes my coach made was putting me into a higher position, to get my head higher for better sight alignment. He also showed me the importance of position placement, which helped with natural point of aim. By the time we finished the session my position felt the best it ever had. I did not shoot a clean that weekend in sitting, but I did end up shooting a personal best.

Next we went back to the classroom to cover standing, and again on the range my position was changed for the better. These changes helped me improve my natural point of aim and I learned several new drills that will be a great help in my training.

The clinic wrapped up back in the classroom with a question and answer session. It was a long day of learning, but I could not wait for the next day to put it all into practice. The clinic really paid off when I shot a 97 standing in the last day of competition that weekend. This was testimony to the great coaching I received in the clinic. I was very honored to have these great shooters work with me. They truly cared about seeing me and all the others in the clinic improve, and their drive made each student try even harder. I have never walked away feeling so good about my shooting positions as I did that day thanks to all of my instructors. If you ever have the opportunity to take a clinic, I highly recommend it. You are never too good or too old to learn and improve, especially from the best of the best.

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