The basics:
The class was held at the Holmen Rod & Gun Club in Holmen, Wisconsin. It is a fairly large range, located right next to the La Crosse / Onalaska area. Despite being well used, the place is maintained very well. Lori and Ronny (not sure on the spelling of his name) Casper run the place. They are both extremely nice, extremely intelligent people. I felt “at home” the moment I met them.
Class was Saturday and Sunday, from 8:00 AM to ~5:00 PM. Ben was willing to stay as long as people wanted to stay. Lunch was provided both days, and Kita (Ben’s wife) surprised us all with pie for dessert on Saturday.
Enrollment was a minimum of 6, and capped at 12, students. I believe we had 8 as of Friday night, but two more signed up Saturday morning.
Weather was fairly cold. Lots of clouds, and intermittent rain. It really didn’t make much of a difference.
The USPSA match on Sunday morning was included in the class and the cost.
Who is Ben Stoeger? Short answer: back-to-back USPSA Production champion. Google is your friend.
The class:
Day 1 began with us meeting in the clubhouse. It was very brief, with a head count, some rules/policies, and introducing ourselves. There was no formal intro from Ben consisting of credentials or stories; he simply said “Let’s get to work.” Shooting began almost immediately after 0800.
We started on the “Tunnel of Love” stage, and we all shot it as we would for a match… without instruction from Ben. This was his chance to observe us and get a quick read of our general shooting skills, as well as stage breakdown and planning.
Following this, we shot a variety of drills and games. Games were simply drills where the top shooter was awarded a prize: a free copy of his latest book.
I believe we finished a little after 5:00 PM. I was exhausted.
Day 2 began with the USPSA match, also promptly at 0800. We were able to shoot the match before everybody else showed up. Ben provided feedback after everybody’s runs. I took 3rd overall in Production, and even managed to win a stage. Praise the Lord.
Following the match, we shot more drills and re-ran some of the stages. We were encouraged to try different techniques and approaches, even if they were not the ideal ones.
Several people left early, so there was only a handful of students left at the end of the day.
This is a SHOOTING class. Each student shot over 1000 rounds each, some over 1200. Every round counts. You are not hosing targets for the sake of making noise.
You also receive a copy of his dry-fire near the end of Day 2. This is the manual he wrote for himself while training. He simply compiled and published it, so clearly the stuff works.
Ben:
He is a brilliant shooter AND instructor. Oddly enough, his classes are a fraction of the cost of many other instructors… and you will learn significantly more.
His abilities + small class size means everybody gets a lot of individual attention and feedback. While there are some large general lessons, you mostly receive feedback that is tailored to YOU.
Ben knows how to pick the correct “battles.” Seriously ingrained habits, such as poor stance or grip, are not hammered. He realizes you will not change that in one day. He brings it up once, and then puts the responsibility on you to do enough repetitions after the class to fix the larger issues.
Throughout both days, he is constantly pushing and motivating you. It feels like you’re doing Mach 2000 with your hair on fire. It is both exhilarating and frustrating at the same time.
Side notes: Ben is HILARIOUS. He is also terrible at reloading ammo
WARNING:
Do NOT sign up for this class if you cannot leave your ego at home, or are easily offended. Ben can be quite abrasive at times. He will point out what you suck at. If you are good at something, he will push you until you are bad at it. He also tells you how to not suck at it, which is the whole point of taking his class. But if criticism drives you crazy, this is not the class for you.
Here's some video I shot from the second day. There's naughty language in almost all of them, ye be warned.
Ben demonstrating a good run of the Tunnel Of Love stage.
[video=youtube;Qc8q2jyELBg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc8q2jyELBg[/video]
Demonstrating a different approach to the same stage.
[video=youtube;sMW7Mr6wIFY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMW7Mr6wIFY[/video]
Here's my [second] attempt at the stage. We shot it the day prior with a different format. This was our real run. While not terrible, I really struggled getting into position at the ports... as you can see.
[video=youtube;-J0w162v6Fk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J0w162v6Fk[/video]
Ben showboating by shooting a stage entirely Weak Hand Only.
[video=youtube;7yzrQE4RntY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yzrQE4RntY[/video]
Here was my second attempt at the stage. These, and subsequent ones, were for fun at the end of the day. Had some issues.
[video=youtube;CsgY-z4gJ_8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsgY-z4gJ_8[/video]
Attempt #3. Full of suck.
[video=youtube;gJXeDvxMSHY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJXeDvxMSHY[/video]
This was the real run of a difficult stage. I won this stage. You miss a lot of stuff from the 1st person perspective, but I can only do so much.
[video=youtube;MzLxDH-k92Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzLxDH-k92Y[/video]
The class was held at the Holmen Rod & Gun Club in Holmen, Wisconsin. It is a fairly large range, located right next to the La Crosse / Onalaska area. Despite being well used, the place is maintained very well. Lori and Ronny (not sure on the spelling of his name) Casper run the place. They are both extremely nice, extremely intelligent people. I felt “at home” the moment I met them.
Class was Saturday and Sunday, from 8:00 AM to ~5:00 PM. Ben was willing to stay as long as people wanted to stay. Lunch was provided both days, and Kita (Ben’s wife) surprised us all with pie for dessert on Saturday.
Enrollment was a minimum of 6, and capped at 12, students. I believe we had 8 as of Friday night, but two more signed up Saturday morning.
Weather was fairly cold. Lots of clouds, and intermittent rain. It really didn’t make much of a difference.
The USPSA match on Sunday morning was included in the class and the cost.
Who is Ben Stoeger? Short answer: back-to-back USPSA Production champion. Google is your friend.
The class:
Day 1 began with us meeting in the clubhouse. It was very brief, with a head count, some rules/policies, and introducing ourselves. There was no formal intro from Ben consisting of credentials or stories; he simply said “Let’s get to work.” Shooting began almost immediately after 0800.
We started on the “Tunnel of Love” stage, and we all shot it as we would for a match… without instruction from Ben. This was his chance to observe us and get a quick read of our general shooting skills, as well as stage breakdown and planning.
Following this, we shot a variety of drills and games. Games were simply drills where the top shooter was awarded a prize: a free copy of his latest book.
I believe we finished a little after 5:00 PM. I was exhausted.
Day 2 began with the USPSA match, also promptly at 0800. We were able to shoot the match before everybody else showed up. Ben provided feedback after everybody’s runs. I took 3rd overall in Production, and even managed to win a stage. Praise the Lord.
Following the match, we shot more drills and re-ran some of the stages. We were encouraged to try different techniques and approaches, even if they were not the ideal ones.
Several people left early, so there was only a handful of students left at the end of the day.
This is a SHOOTING class. Each student shot over 1000 rounds each, some over 1200. Every round counts. You are not hosing targets for the sake of making noise.
You also receive a copy of his dry-fire near the end of Day 2. This is the manual he wrote for himself while training. He simply compiled and published it, so clearly the stuff works.
Ben:
He is a brilliant shooter AND instructor. Oddly enough, his classes are a fraction of the cost of many other instructors… and you will learn significantly more.
His abilities + small class size means everybody gets a lot of individual attention and feedback. While there are some large general lessons, you mostly receive feedback that is tailored to YOU.
Ben knows how to pick the correct “battles.” Seriously ingrained habits, such as poor stance or grip, are not hammered. He realizes you will not change that in one day. He brings it up once, and then puts the responsibility on you to do enough repetitions after the class to fix the larger issues.
Throughout both days, he is constantly pushing and motivating you. It feels like you’re doing Mach 2000 with your hair on fire. It is both exhilarating and frustrating at the same time.
Side notes: Ben is HILARIOUS. He is also terrible at reloading ammo
WARNING:
Do NOT sign up for this class if you cannot leave your ego at home, or are easily offended. Ben can be quite abrasive at times. He will point out what you suck at. If you are good at something, he will push you until you are bad at it. He also tells you how to not suck at it, which is the whole point of taking his class. But if criticism drives you crazy, this is not the class for you.
Here's some video I shot from the second day. There's naughty language in almost all of them, ye be warned.
Ben demonstrating a good run of the Tunnel Of Love stage.
[video=youtube;Qc8q2jyELBg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc8q2jyELBg[/video]
Demonstrating a different approach to the same stage.
[video=youtube;sMW7Mr6wIFY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMW7Mr6wIFY[/video]
Here's my [second] attempt at the stage. We shot it the day prior with a different format. This was our real run. While not terrible, I really struggled getting into position at the ports... as you can see.
[video=youtube;-J0w162v6Fk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J0w162v6Fk[/video]
Ben showboating by shooting a stage entirely Weak Hand Only.
[video=youtube;7yzrQE4RntY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yzrQE4RntY[/video]
Here was my second attempt at the stage. These, and subsequent ones, were for fun at the end of the day. Had some issues.
[video=youtube;CsgY-z4gJ_8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsgY-z4gJ_8[/video]
Attempt #3. Full of suck.
[video=youtube;gJXeDvxMSHY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJXeDvxMSHY[/video]
This was the real run of a difficult stage. I won this stage. You miss a lot of stuff from the 1st person perspective, but I can only do so much.
[video=youtube;MzLxDH-k92Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzLxDH-k92Y[/video]
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