Ben Stoeger's Review of Bill Rogers' Book

[beltjones]

http://www.amazon.com/review/R18D69T...D&tag&linkCode

"I love learning more about shooting, so I read everything I can. I jumped at the chance to read "Be Fast, Be Accurate, Be the Best" because it is written by someone that has a highly regarded shooting school. That fact alone earns it a read without needed to know anything else. I was surprised by the content of the book, to say the least.

You might think that "Be Fast, Be Accurate, Be the Best" is a book about shooting. You would be wrong... pretty much.

About 80% of this book is essentially a disjointed autobiography. It recounts many of the authors experiences. Everything from being in the FBI to starting his own business (a few of them actually). It doesn't really directly have anything to do with shooting, although shooting is a topic of conversation frequently in the book.

The last portion of the book finally gets to the stuff that everyone cares about. You get exposed to some unique ideas. The author calls his brand of technique "reactive" shooting. The goal is to be able to raise a gun up from a low ready position and hit a head sized target at 10 yards in half a second. The author has a few other ideas about training that are contained in the book.

For a shooting book then, "Be Fast, Be Accurate, Be the Best" is a little off the beaten path. It spends a lot of time on things that aren't really related to the noisy part. A lot of readers might be irritated by this, but I found it refreshing. The biographical information in the book was absolutely fascinating. The author had an interesting life and came up with a few shooting innovations. He pioneered retention holsters and kydex holsters. He mastered single handed point shooting, only to abandon it when better techniques came along. All of this is well written and fascinating to read if you have carefully studied handgun marksmanship, because you will have a greater understanding of how technique and equipment evolved. There is even a bit in the book where the author gets spanked at shooting by a weaver shooter and decided immediately to adopt that shooting style.

On the other hand, the bit of the book on shooting that is actually about shooting is pretty weak. It is extremely brief and not very well written. The author makes some assertions, some of them very bold, that require more material to back them up. For example, the author claims that if your goal is to hit X target in X time, it is pointless to practice doing that at a slower speed. I really think if you want to claim slow fire practice is a waste of time, you need to bring a lot of evidence to the table to support it.

The verdict then is mixed. I absolutely loved parts of this book. Reading about the author abandoning one technique for another and constantly trying to solve new shooting problems was downright inspiring. I liked reading a whole new take on how to develop as a shooter. The problem is that this whole thing is just too short. It is like going to a 5 star restaurant and getting your food taken away after you take a few bites. You are left hungry and unsatisfied, just like after reading "Be Fast, Be Accurate, Be the Best"."

Thoughts?

[GOP]

My thought is that Ben Stoeger acts like a 6 year old boy and is a troll, plain and simple. He wins some major matches, and now feels like he is a made man and trashes people who have accomplished more than he ever will with a gun. His antics are very unprofessional and often disrespectful. I've even had a poor exchange with him on Facebook (read: he responded like a douche on a page and I ignored him), mainly because he is a troll and has a couple of cronies/fan boys who back him up. He's doing this review to get a response and to get more people talking about him.

I know he's currently an IPSC/USPSA Champion, but I don't think his review is going to effect Bill Roger's at all. It appears that several VERY high speed military units are training with him this year, I think their continuous training with Rogers shows much more about his ability to teach reactive gun fighting skills than some punk shooter who shoots purely in a pro-active environment.

[GJM]

I think Bill's book is primarily designed as a companion piece to attending RSS -- to both shorten the time necessary for the Sunday lecture, and to provide some more information than the fast pace of the course allows. It is hard to imagine anyone exposed to the Rogers range, and a course there at RSS, not coming away with incredible respect for Bill and his program.

[EmanP]

Have you read the book? My thoughts were about the same. Very little about shooting and mostly about his history which was cool to read and the highlight of the book. Only the last few pages talk about actually shooting and most all of it from low ready. Before I read the book I was wondering how he was getting those .5 time frames I heard about but it was clear once he said they were all from low ready and almost aimed in on target. I've seen video of the guy though and he's definitely got skills but let's face it, the books is a autobiography. Forget about who wrote it for a second and see if what's written is accurate. Besides, everyone is allowed an opinion.

[MDS]

I didn't feel like the shooting portion of the book was weak... But I'm not Ben Stoeger. I do agree with Ben that the autobiographical stuff was interesting and useful context. I also found that the book left me wanting more, but in a good way. This is what tipped me in the direction of a rss class this year instead of afhf or even a hack class being held a couple hours' drive from my house.

From the pov of this noob, the Rogers book is highly recommended.

[guymontag]

I remember Ben Stoeger's review of Julie Golob's "Shoot" on the Enos forum, it turned chaotic quite quick. I know he has other reviews posted there as well.

My thought is that Ben Stoeger acts like a 6 year old boy and is a troll, plain and simple. He wins some major matches, and now feels like he is a made man and trashes people who have accomplished more than he ever will with a gun.

Honest question: Did you know him before or are you hypothesizing? I have known plenty of "douches" that were "douches" before they were a "made man".

It sounds to me an interesting book. As for Ben Stoeger's comments - at its best, you have a critique by a seasoned shooter, and at its worst, you have a bit more information on the contents of the book and a grasp of the reviewer's personality. Stoeger may be sensationalizing or may be writing critical reviews, either way you, the reader, ultimately decide the worth of the book to you. My current knowledge is limited to a few reviews of his I have read, and his website which offers tips for dry fire practice, stance, grip, etc.

[ToddG]

I remember Ben Stoeger's review of Julie Golob's "Shoot" on the Enos forum,

Calling that a review is incredibly generous, especially if you know the backstory. Stoeger pretty much fell off my radar after that stunt.

[GOP]

Honest question: Did you know him before or are you hypothesizing? I have known plenty of "douches" that were "douches" before they were a "made man".

It sounds to me an interesting book. As for Ben Stoeger's comments - at its best, you have a critique by a seasoned shooter, and at its worst, you have a bit more information on the contents of the book and a grasp of the reviewer's personality. Stoeger may be sensationalizing or may be writing critical reviews, either way you, the reader, ultimately decide the worth of the book to you. My current knowledge is limited to a few reviews of his I have read, and his website which offers tips for dry fire practice, stance, grip, etc.

No, I didn't know him before. I followed his training log on Enos' forum, and well, he didn't troll as much at the time because he was a nobody.

This isn't the second troll job by Stoeger. After the JulieG book bashing, he started a public feud with The Rudy Project shooting team. He would publicly bash them, the Rudy Project guys would try to extend an olive branch, and then he would bash them again publicly. Finally, I believe the director of the Rudy Project called him and he finally stopped acting like that. I'm all for someone having an opinion and sharing their opinion. I have an opinion too, and I think Stoeger is "the opposite of mature and the opposite of kind" (trying not to call any names, my first post in the thread may have been harsh and I respect this forum's rules... so I don't want to break any rules). With all of that said, Stoeger is an amazing shooter and has done well for himself.

[guymontag]

...especially if you know the backstory...

I'm not privy to it.

No, I didn't know him before. I followed his training log on Enos' forum, and well, he didn't troll as much at the time because he was a nobody.

This isn't the second troll job by Stoeger. After the JulieG book bashing, he started a public feud with The Rudy Project shooting team. He would publicly bash them, the Rudy Project guys would try to extend and olive branch, and then he would bash them again publicly. Finally, I believe the director of the Rudy Project called him and he finally stopped acting like that. I'm all for someone having an opinion and sharing their opinion. I have an opinion too, and I think Stoeger is "the opposite of mature and the opposite of kind" (trying not to call any names, my first post may have been harsh and I respect this forum's rules... so I don't want to break any rules). With all of that said, Stoeger is an amazing shooter and has done well for himself.

Interesting... thank you for elaborating GOP.

[Leozinho]

If you were as good as he is, as young as he is, and not welcomed by the old guard (for what ever the reason) , I'd cut you some slack too for speaking your mind.

I think its kind of cool that he doesn't mind going against the status quo.

He did write a positive review of Brad Engman's book, so he not just trolling and looking to start fights. I think someone forgot to tell him you can't write an unfavorable review of Golob's book because she's done a lot to promote shooting sports , especially women shooting, and is by all accounts a genuinely nice person.