The comment sections of our various socialist media platforms have their pros and cons. The cons naturally consist of wading through the bleating of those who either A) didn’t watch the video or read the article, but instead choose to comment based only on the title and/or thumbnail image, or B) those who consumed the content, but took a round-the-world journey to miss the point entirely.
As for positive aspects, occasionally we hear from folks who could use some genuine advice or counseling. One of those came from a reader who stated that they had become “bored” with their practice sessions and felt that they needed to join the cult of the shot-timer in order to progress.
That gave me pause to consider what help I might offer.
Training vs. Practice
Before we address specific drills or techniques, we need to establish a baseline or consider the definitions of training versus practice.
Training: What you do to learn how and what to practice. Practice: What you do on your own to develop skills and master what you were taught during training.
Unless you were born a savant, you can’t train yourself. We go to training in order to be challenged, taught, and coached. Let’s face it, the vast majority of humans will practice that which they’re already good at and feel comfortable doing. The instructor is there to make you do things that you are not good at or feel uncomfortable doing.
Growth is a result of effort applied while doing what’s uncomfortable.
If you can easily bench 135 and that’s all you do, you’re never going to get much stronger if you just keep moving that weight. The weight needs to get heavier, uncomfortable, if you want to see genuine growth. If you keep practicing only the shooting drills that you’re already good at, your skill level is going to stagnate.
Intellectual Honesty
A good friend from my youth once said to me, “A truly intelligent person is never bored.” I took that to heart and kept that statement in mind anytime I might be tempted to say, “I’m bored.” I shared that advice with my children and received the requisite eye roll, but I can only hope that the seed took root.
Before you say that your practice is boring, you need to be intellectually honest and ask yourself if you’re practicing what you learned in training or if you’re just doing what makes you look good or feel comfortable. Only you can answer that for yourself.
Three Easy Ways to Spice Up Your Practice Sessions
We’ll approach this topic with the understanding that you are serious about the martial application of firearms and that you genuinely want to be better prepared to deal with a critical, life-threatening situation.
T-Shirts
A lot of folks get wrapped around the axle with scoring rings; Alphas, Charlies, Deltas, Golfs, etc. Handgun bullets, being notoriously poor fight-stoppers, need to be placed up high in the thoracic triangle to effect maximum physiological damage. Also, the human attacker isn’t going to have scoring-rings.
Adding a level of practicality and realism to your practice sessions can be as simple at adding an old T-shirt to your cardboard silhouettes. Now you are shooting at something that is more akin to the actual threat.
With no scoring-rings to look at, we need to rethink our point of aim. This is easily accomplished by looking at the humanoid shape and mentally drawing a “T” or a cross by bisecting the target down the center and putting the cross bar line across the shoulders. Our goal is to put bullets where the two lines intersect.
Single Handed Shooting with Weights
It’s not a stretch to assume that most folks have some type of dumbbell or kettlebell laying around the house or on the floor of the closet. These don’t have to be heavy, just enough so you can feel the weight in your hand.
When it’s time for your single-handed shooting drills, hold the weight in the opposite hand. This can represent something you’re not willing to let go of. If you were in public with a child or grandchild, your instinct would be to hold onto that child. During a critical event, you aren’t going to let go of your four-year-old child’s hand and say “You’re on your own kid.”
Or, it could be as simple as simulating the “dead arm” feeling. That arm is out of the fight and you need to finish the fight without it. The most famous circumstance is the FBI Miami Shootout where Special Agent Ed Mireles took a critical hit to his left arm. That arm was completely out of the fight and Ed had to finish the fight with only his right arm. In a more modern situation, the former police officer at the In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho was shot in the left arm before he could even draw his pistol.
Start out holding the weight in your non-dominant hand and work on shooting. Then, move the weight to the dominant hand and force yourself to finish the fight using only your non-dominant hand. For those who are no longer feeling challenged on the practice range, this is a real challenge.
As you progress, work on loading an empty pistol using only a single hand. Naturally, you can combine your single-handed shooting with the T-shirt target.
Move Your Feet…No Stopping
Most of us, after gaining some experience, feel pretty good standing still and shooting our targets with both hands. This next drill doesn’t require any extra range props.
Give yourself the go code to begin shooting by stepping off of the “X” as you draw your pistol. Now move.
No shots can be taken flat-footed or from a still position. Practice moving in all directions; rearward, forward, laterally to the left and right. Start some of your drills offset from the target, not squared up to it like you always do. Move at 45 degrees from the far left or far right. Or, start squared up and move to the rear at a 45 degree angle, to the left and to the right.
Remember, your feet must be moving the entire time. You don’t need to be fast, you just need to be in motion the entire time.
There are certainly more drills that we could come up with, but these three should be enough to offer you a challenge and keep your practice sessions from being boring.
Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student of the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.