CF support to shooting sports

From Dave Grossman, author of 'On Killing' and 'On Combat':
""Stay in shape. Piss on golf. Real Americans go to the range. Choose a sport with cardio or survival skill benefit. If you see a cop carrying golf clubs, do one thing for me. Look him in the eye and say 'baaa!'" Plan A is the British Model. Disarm everyone. It's not working. Plan B is the Israeli Model. Train/ arm everyone. Israel has few golf courses and a lot of rifle ranges!"
 
http://www.internetfitness.com/calculators/calburncalc.htm

Here is some information that is quite interesting, where you can compare caloric burn with many different activities.

Israel doesn't produce many top level athletes do they? I wonder why?


I , like many other people, consider sport to be a very important part of being a well rounded individual. It teaches you many skills that you are unable to learn in any other fashion. It teaches you to respect your opponent, and not to underestimate his abilities. It teaches you to have humility in victory, and grace in defeat. It teaches you to control and focus your aggression, control fear. Sport tests your emotions, determination. dicipline, and courage. There are many other things I could list, that a human individual can benefit from participating in sport.
So, I don't think that eliminating sport, the way the quote is implying, is an efficient way of developing your citizenry.
Moreover, your post has nothing to do with whether golf is considered a sport. More of a trolling kind of thing.
 
...............FFS here we are talking about the military supporting shooting sports...........and the conversation has degraded to golf .............

no wonder the sport is going extinct

sigh
 
Golf-Ball-Launcher-L.jpg


There, now everone should be happy :D
 
It wasn't about shooting sports in particular, it was about sports in general. There is also a history of military specialists (archers) quite involved in golf. So much so, the king at the time decreed the banning of golf. (the first written record of golf in 1452)
It would seem banning did no good back then either. LOL
 
Maybe to get back on track I should mention that I left out the part that says that the military will restore funding for regional training camps for the most popular sports. The memo mentions Pentathlon because its a CISM sport but in reality theres probably only a handful of soldiers across the CF that do it. Biathlon is a popular shooting sport and well supported in the CF but hardly a mainstream activity for the bulk of shooters in the military.

If the sporting shooters in the military (service rifle included) want the benefits and money the base golf clubs get they have to vote with their feet (or trigger fingers). Golfers spend more money on base, show up more often, generate non-public funds, have bigger clubs and therefore get a bigger slice of the pie at budget time at base recreation council meetings.

Join the base clubs, push the club to support the sports the bulk of shooters enjoy and the money and attention will come. Imagine if instead of spending money on golf courses we had indoor pistol ranges, skeet and trap ranges, biathlon courses, and paid to send people to regional training concentrations to go to international IDPA and IPSC competitions. Surely there is more IDPA and IPSC interest on one base than there is pentathlon supporters in all of the CF.

Having said the above, the Edmonton Garrison Shooting club is starting back up soon, hopefully with a strong emphasis on service rifle and IDPA if people will show up to shoot.:D If we can get some interest fired up, the Archery club and other disciplines of shooting will be supported as much as possible.
 
RJD said:
http://www.internetfitness.com/calculators/calburncalc.htm

Here is some information that is quite interesting, where you can compare caloric burn with many different activities.

Israel doesn't produce many top level athletes do they? I wonder why?


I , like many other people, consider sport to be a very important part of being a well rounded individual. It teaches you many skills that you are unable to learn in any other fashion. It teaches you to respect your opponent, and not to underestimate his abilities. It teaches you to have humility in victory, and grace in defeat. It teaches you to control and focus your aggression, control fear. Sport tests your emotions, determination. dicipline, and courage. There are many other things I could list, that a human individual can benefit from participating in sport.
So, I don't think that eliminating sport, the way the quote is implying, is an efficient way of developing your citizenry.
Moreover, your post has nothing to do with whether golf is considered a sport. More of a trolling kind of thing.
Click to expand...

I didn't so much put it up as to troll, however given the limited resources that the CFs have (and likely will continue to have) and the fact that our military is generally one of the most unfit in NATO, I see the inclusion of golf as part of the CF sports program as creating a loophole for those against the enforcement of stringent physical fitness standards.

If you visit any CF installation or unit, you'd be shocked to see the number of members (regular and reserve) that are unfit and grossly overweight. Whether it be a Battle Fitness Test for the Army, or a CF Express test for the Navy and Air Force, the minimum standards do not equate into a level of physical fitness that results in combat effectiveness, nor a high standard of personal military bearing and appearance.

A few years ago the CFs cut biathalon from the sports program due to lack of funding. Granted there has been a bit of cash infused into the budget, however given the institutionalized resistance to fitness amongst a significant member of CF pers (due to personal complacency and a permissive system), in my opinion getting everybody out golfing is not a wise use of resources that will deliver the maximum return on investment. If given the choice, a good number of those members who are unfit of physical fitness will instead choose something lower intensity like golf, and as such valuable PT time won't increase their cardiovascular efficiency, muscular strength, and burn calories at the levels necessary to get them up to the fitness standards that they need to be at.

I'm not saying that golf is without value, but there are other activities that the CFs could promote interest in that would have greater immediate benefit in terms of increasing physical fitness and combat proficiency.
 
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No worries 0311Matt, I think they are talking about extra-curricular sporting activities, outside of their regular training. In no way am I implying that golf can take the place of any regular training. More something that is another form of physical activity that enhances the hard physical training. One cannot recover from intense training if done constantly, and injury is more likely. Golf can be done on off days of hard training to enhance eye-hand co ordination, balance, mental toughness, etc. It also can be done with the family, or by oneself. Just something that is more productive than watching TV in the downtime.
 
The reference is indeed refering to extracurricular activities available not only to military members but their families and the military community as a whole in some cases (like golf). The sports programs are supposed to augment a regular PT program for recreation and to promote sports, not replace Cross-fit with easier sports for lazy HQ types.

On the flip side to golf the policy now acknowledges participation in full contact fighting sports, TKD, MMA etc which has been marginalized for years. This is good news for martial artists in the military who have worked hard to compete but get no support or acknowledgement that their Martial Arts forms part of their personal fitness regime. (Although the CF has participated in and funded CISM Judo and TKD in the past.)

It should be noted too that non-public fund (not your tax dollars) money from rec councils can go to things like golf courses (or shooting clubs) on bases that are open to the public. This is money being generated by the military community and businesses that goes back into providing services for the military community and sometimes are shared with the public. Profits from things like Canex and Golf clubs are then put back into these programs funding things like the massive gyms and fitness clubs we have on bases.
 
Canforgen

It's nice to see the CANFORGEN published and some of the more skill set related sports being mentioned. However, attitudes at the unit level will have to change before any real benefits will be seen. I.e. soldiers that wish to shoot on a rifle team will have to be awarded the same "practice time" as the unit hockey/golf players. In the not to distant past, sports have been great for sub unit cohesion. However, when those soldiers not on a sport team work the extra hours to allow others to head to games or tournaments, attitudes tend to develop. Just an observation.
 
SteyrSSG said:
It's nice to see the CANFORGEN published and some of the more skill set related sports being mentioned. However, attitudes at the unit level will have to change before any real benefits will be seen. I.e. soldiers that wish to shoot on a rifle team will have to be awarded the same "practice time" as the unit hockey/golf players. In the not to distant past, sports have been great for sub unit cohesion. However, when those soldiers not on a sport team work the extra hours to allow others to head to games or tournaments, attitudes tend to develop. Just an observation.
Click to expand...

totally agree but again the CANFORGEN has little to do with unit sports or rifle teams. It refers to Recreation and sports that are extra curricular, like base clubs. Attitudes at the unit level can change depending on who's in charge and what unit.
 
Shooting as a recreation in the CF

I agree with you 100%. The attitudes at the Recreational level also require improvement. We have seen in the past, the demise of the Trap and Skeet ranges, Biathlon ranges and even the detering of civilian membership within Base clubs. Petawawa in the '80's had a fantastic Trap and Skeet range located below the RCD compound, Gagetown in the 90's had a quality built Biathlon range and the Wainwright Club had the run of the Ranges out here.
Unfortuneatly, changes in management at the PSP levels can effect Base clubs in both in use of land / material and in membership fees.
I hope that this CANFORGEN causes those changes to occur for the better.
 
Running into this in Edmonton. Civvies can join the base shooting club but are currently not allowed to shoot on the ranges... Makes it kind of pointless to join. Trying to get that changed.

One of the first steps, use club funds to buy all targetry needed to start running IDPA style events.
 
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