What tips, tricks and advice do you more experienced shooters have for this student (who is waiting to devour any sound advice tossed casually in his direction).
Consider things like breathing control, different kinds of rests, where to place a rifle on a rest, difference between holding a rifle offhand and holding it on a bench, etc.
Teach me, oh wise ones.
#1... PATIENCE. This student will not be Vasili Zaitsev anytime soon. I've been shooting rifles seriously for years, and I'm not even Soviet-grade sniper yet. LOL
#2... NO BENCH SHOOTING... YET. One of my big problems was starting off with the bench. That's nice and all, but completely impractical. In addition, I think it's more effective to learn the other things (breathing, NPOA, etc., in "real-life" positions). Then, bench shooting should be a breeze, relative to the other way around.
#3... 22LR FIRST. Again, learning breathing, NPOA, and other techniques is far easier with .22LR, and far easier to transfer over to centerfire cartridges, relative to the other way around.
#4... SMALL INCREMENTS. Take several shooting trips to master shorter distances before stretching out. Start with the .22LR at 25 yards. Learn the proper techniques this way, first. Once mastered (dedicate at least 1 hour to this), move to 50 yards. Then, to 75 yards, then to 100 yards.
#5... SLING. I am not a military person, was not raised by military persons, and had no real experience in anything practical before I started shooting. I learned the importance of a decent sling far too late. I rarely shoot without using a sling these days.
#6... FOUR POSITIONS. Standing, kneeling, sitting, prone. These seem more simple to learn and master than they really are. Start mastering them @25 yards with the .22LR and a good sling.
#7... NATURAL POINT OF AIM (NPOA). In the various positions, use deep breaths to relax the muscles in your body. Close your eyes initially, take a couple breaths; when relaxed, open them. Is the rifle at the bullseye? If not, make the proper adjustments and try again. Once you're at the bullseye, move on to #8.
#8... BREATHING. Again, not as easy to master as it sounds. Steady, deep breaths. At the end of each exhale, the rifle should be at the bullseye. Fire, take another deep breath, allow the rifle to rise naturally, and fire again at the end of the exhale.
#9... REPEAT. After a few range trips, the student should be at least fairly good with positions, sling, NPOA, breathing, etc., with the .22 up to 100 yards. At this point, it should be OK to mix in some centerfire rounds and/or longer distances. However, the student will NOT have the positions, sling, NPOA, breathing, etc. mastered at this point. Each shooting trip should include running these drills again. I prefer to do them once at the beginning, and once at the end of shooting centerfires and longer distances. My range trips are usually at least 4 hours long, mind you... There probably aren't many people who have
no need to keep practicing the 25-100 yard drills with the .22LR in order to be a truly great marksman. Even Vasili would have (or, perhaps he did?) benefited from these.
#10... DON'T GET SLOPPY. Often if I'm in a hurry (like if I have an appointment at noon and don't get to the range until 9), or if I get frustrated with something silly (ie, "why did I wear my nice shoes out here in the mud?!?!?!" LOL), I start to neglect one or more of these things. My attention span is also lacking, so sometimes I just plain forget. I typically shoot alone, which may not help this. Perhaps a "shooting partner" would be beneficial for the new student. He could have someone watching him during his drills, reminding him of x, y, or z; then, even better, he'd get the chance to watch and coach the shooting partner.
***These recommendations come from my own experiences. I didn't have a guide, and may not have listened even if I did. LOL... I still sometimes feel like I'm in remedial stages of learning this stuff because I've had to start over and struggle to stick with all of this stuff at all times.