Firearm Training: Realistic Practice

One of the values of attending a good defensive training school is the realization that the necessary shooting skills are not going to be acquired overnight. A good school shows the student a good way to accomplish the task and gives them skills they can practice at home. 

Sadly, the new shooter who isn’t able to attend professional training is often left with trying to develop skills based upon well-meaning advice from others and some videos on the internet—neither of which may be of any value. And the biggest mistake that they seem to make is trying to do too much too fast.

They seem to think that shooting fast is the most important thing. They get close to the target and go as fast as they can. Sadly, that close-range target often looks like it was shot with a shotgun, with bullet holes scattered all over everywhere.

I don’t mean to sound radical, but I have a better idea. Instead of working for speed, the shooter should be working for accuracy. He or she should shoot slow enough that every bullet fired should strike somewhere in an 8-inch vital zone. He or she should make the commitment to only speed up and/or create distance when able to keep all hits in that vital zone of the target.

A serious commitment to this practice will force the new shooter to learn to manage the trigger and sights properly. Sloppy shooting won’t get the job done. Fast misses don’t impress anyone.

That’s the assignment for success—shoot as slowly and deliberately as necessary to put every single shot in the center of the target. Speed and distance are only increased in direct relation to the ability to get center hits.

The new shooter quickly learns that important shooting skills are not something that are going to be learned with just a few leisurely trips to the range. They will also develop a huge degree of confidence knowing it is possible to hit what they shoot at, virtually every time.