“Hey Sarge, can I get some ammo to practice with?” When I was the police Training Sergeant I received this question on a regular basis by numerous motivated officers. I quickly provided them with the ammo they wanted or the ammo I could spare. No matter how lean budgets might get, I always found a way to get ammo to the few officers dedicated enough to train on their own time.
“Here you go, enjoy it. By the way, what are you going to practice?” I asked them.
“Huh?” The officer gave me a strange look. “I’m going to practice shooting, what else is there?”
This is not an uncommon thought in the minds of many shooters. When they go to the range they are shooting as much as they can but are they really training? And are they really improving or even maintaining their skills? This isn’t just for police officers. Anyone who trains with a handgun can be guilty of not training properly. If you possess a handgun for self defense then read on!
I have had shooters come to me and confess they are getting frustrated. They don’t feel their shooting is improving even though they shoot often. In many of these cases I have found these folks have some bad habits and they are only reinforcing these habits the more they practice.
Below is a short list of some basic drills you can do that will help you build a solid foundation for your own firearms training. These are by no means all inclusive and I would always encourage you to get with a qualified firearms instructor for assistance. For purposes of this article, I am going to assume you already have the basics down: Stance, Sight Picture/Alignment, Breathing Control and a quality weapon and holster.
These techniques and drills are based on the basic tenets that if you can get your gun out quickly, get off line, and hit what you aim at you will win the gunfight and go home at night.
GRIPPING THE PISTOL
The way you grip your pistol is the first of the two most important techniques for proper shooting. We want to take the web of our shooting hand and put it high into the backstrap of the pistol. It should be positioned so the trigger is placed in the center of the first digit of the trigger finger. The fingers of your shooting hand should wrap around the grip with the middle finger touching the underside of the trigger guard and the ring and pinky fingers stacked underneath. Until ready to shoot, your trigger finger should lay on the frame above the trigger.
The support hand plays a huge part in properly gripping a pistol. Place the support hand against the side of the pistol with the thumb pointing with the barrel. The support hand should be high on the grip just under the slide. Then wrap the support fingers over the top of the shooting hand with the support index finger touching the underside of the trigger guard. Pro Tip: Squeeze the pistol firmly with the shooting hand but twice as hard with the support hand. Most shooters don’t let their support hand do enough of the work.
DRAWING THE WEAPON
I’m no martial arts guru but I believe in Defensive Tactics training. I also believe in practicing good safety tactics and common sense to help keep you out of situations where you might be fighting for your own gun. That being said, I am not a fan of the holsters that have so many retention devices that we have trouble getting our gun out when needed. I was at a demo recently with a major holster maker who was showing off their level 3 or 4 super retention holster. The problem was the professional shooter doing the demo had trouble getting the gun out quickly and kept flubbing the draw.
That said, pick a holster that has good retention but one from which you can quickly draw your weapon. The position of your holster will depend on the type and where you are carrying the pistol. To achieve a proper draw, take the following steps:
- Achieve the proper shooting grip while defeating the retention devices (snaps, hoods, levers, etc.). This is an area I have seen even the most accomplished shooters struggle in that they defeat the retention with the first motion, then go back and achieve the shooting grip with the next motion. It must be one fluid movement.
- Draw the weapon straight out until the muzzle clears the holster.
- Rotate the muzzle up to begin pointing at the threat. If necessary, we may begin shooting at the threat at this point.
- Achieve a two handed grip in front of the body high up on your chest. Be cognizant of not lasering your support hand as you achieve the two handed grip.
- Push the weapon straight forward and onto target.
The goal of this draw is to minimize wasted motion while getting the weapon onto target as quickly and efficiently as possible. Reholster in the reverse order.
DRILL: Practice the draw with an UNLOADED weapon in front of a mirror watching for proper technique. Pay attention to any wasted motion such as casting, dipping, or swinging out the muzzle. When confident you understand and can perform the proper draw then transition to range drills. Pro Tip: Do not be in a hurry. Take your time and master the technique. It will take hundreds, if not thousands, of repetitions until it becomes second nature. If you don’t do it right, you will just build bad habits. Adrenaline will make you fast. Only perfect practice will make it right.
TRIGGER CONTROL
This is the second of the two most important elements to improving your shooting and can have a direct impact on reducing anticipation to recoil (flinching or jerking the trigger). Most handgun triggers have some element of creep or slack in the initial take up of the trigger. Many shooters make the mistake of putting their finger on the trigger then aiming and then pressing the trigger. What happens is the gun/sights continue to move in what is called the natural arc of movement. When this happens, the mind says “Uh oh! Hurry up and pull the trigger dummy!” So we do and miss badly as we continue the pull through the full length of the trigger.
We can minimize this by using the acronym of SAP which stands for Slack, Aim, Press. When ready to fire, aim at the target as you take up the SLACK in the trigger. When you feel the resistance, verify your AIM once more. While watching the front sight, PRESS the trigger. As you press the trigger, tell yourself to let the gun kick, don’t try to push it back (or forward or down which is what we do when we anticipate recoil). As the gun recoils, allow the trigger to move forward to the reset point while bringing the gun back onto target. Try not to look at your target and admire your work. Rather, you should be coming back to the front sight. Then do it all over again.
Some instructors disagree with this and believe it doesn’t matter what you do to the trigger because once the bullet leaves the barrel the movement of the gun can’t affect it. This is absolutely true. However, most shooters will anticipate to the point they are moving the gun prior to the bullet leaving the barrel. I have used this technique with hundreds of students in both the military and law enforcement and found it very helpful. Repeat this cycle for every shot, no matter how fast you are shooting and you will see your accuracy improve dramatically.
DRILL: Begin with an UNLOADED weapon and practice the technique dry firing. When comfortable, progress to live fire. Using a 3×5” index card as a target, stand at the 3 yard line. Practice using the proper drawing technique and begin with two round strings of fire. Then mix it up with more and less rounds. Remember, watch the front sight, take up the SLACK, AIM, and PRESS and let the gun kick!!! As you progress, extend the distance from which you are shooting.
GET OFF-LINE
Now that you are drawing and pressing correctly, let’s get some movement into the mix. We will start with the premise that we are typically a reactionary force. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that in many cases when we are drawing our firearm we may already be taking rounds or at least have a gun pointed at us. Using Boyd’s Cycle of Observe, Orient, Decide and Act (OODA), we need to do something to keep the bad guy from putting rounds into us. Drawing our weapon and returning fire may not be enough, especially if rounds are already incoming.
What we want to do is start moving and we want to do this with the foot that is on the side of the direction we want to go. So if you want to move right, begin your movement with your right foot. As we do this we are drawing our weapon and returning fire. One step can take us a couple of feet off-line which may save our life.
This is not shooting on the move; that comes later. This is the foundation you will build to begin shooting on the move. It may also simply be that you are moving to cover or aggressing the suspect. Our goal is to simply step off-line out of the way of the first incoming rounds; remember, they have the right of way! This causes the suspect to have to re-acquire you as a target. Hopefully by then he is experiencing a debilitating dose of lead poisoning and unable to continue his aggressive behavior.
DRILL: Start with an UNLOADED weapon and face a target from 5 yards away. Use a partner to call out “threat” or use a shot timer. When you perceive the threat, begin the movement while simultaneously drawing your weapon. You want to practice taking steps in each direction while dry firing at the target. Begin with one step, then two, then three while trying to fire the weapon independently of the steps. When confident you can do the drill safely, practice the drill with live ammo. This drill will eventually progress to turning and shooting as well as shooting on the move.
Remember as you do this drill, pay attention that you are still drawing correctly and pressing the trigger properly. As you progress, extend the distance from which you are shooting. Also, don’t cheat yourself. Try not to draw or move until you see the threat, kinda like real life! This works best with a turning target system so you get the surprise factor.
FOLLOW THROUGH:
As I said before, after you fire the gun you should reset the trigger during recoil as you bring the gun back onto target. At this point you should be assessing your target to fire again if needed. As you practice, make a point of always coming back onto target. Treat your targets like they are real life threats. If a bad guy tries to kill you, you wouldn’t simply shoot twice and immediately re-holster, but this is what I see shooters do all the time. In real life we train to shoot until the threat is gone. Unless we have fancy timed and turning targets, we can’t do this on a range. Instead, we give ourselves a round count. So from now on, tell yourself when you shoot your last round the reason you are stopping is because the threat has stopped. So after you bring the gun back onto target, depress the muzzle as if you are looking at the bad guy on the ground. Then bring the gun back to a high ready position. At this point tell yourself to breath as you scan for additional threats to include behind you. Once you are confident you are aware of your entire surroundings, only then should you be holstering the handgun.
These are just a few basic drills but ones I believe are critical to building a strong foundation. Shooting is truly a perishable skill. If you master these techniques, you will find your shooting sessions much more enjoyable as you watch your abilities and confidence increase.