I have been doing alot of classes lately; as a student, with Tap-Rack and with my team. We are in the process of changing up how we deliver firearms to our team, I am confident that the plan will work as deisgned. However, I am pessimistic that we will get full support from command. We’ll see.

Anyway, in my classes and with my team it dawned on me that some fellas just dont what the hell they are supposed to do at “training”. This became apparent to me as I watched a guy go through a drill, in this case it was speed loads with the rifle. My man is lightning fast on the reload. He is also lightning fast on the trigger. He was also producing a 10″ group at 10 yards. Now you can say “Well hell, 10″ on a man size chest is more than sufficient!” I would agree, I would also say that if he can maintain those splits while shooting 1″ groups that is better. Hence this blog.

There was no time standard set for that drill. It was simply shoot two, speed reload, shoot two more. In his mind he was only focusing on the reload. Tighter marksmanship might have challenged him since he is already very competent. Attempting to put all four rounds in the same hole is a challenge. Add his already super fast reload and then he can self challenge by determining if he can still get the drill done before others on the line, even though they are shooting 10″ groups. In this way he is getting way more out of the drill than the simple reload. Or, he could have spent time trying to break down and refine his own reload. Like I said, it is fast, but is there anything in there that is inefficient? By slowing down the reload or breaking it into separate parts, he might have figured out that moving the pouch one row forward or one row back gives him a consistent 1/10th of a second in speed. He might have figured out that he has excessive body movement while acquiring the new magazine. By getting rid of that movement maybe he gets another 10th? He might have figured out that he can acquire his dot on target WHILE he is moving his support hand forward, taking advantage of that moment in time, another 10th. By the time he was done working on his individual skill set, he may have shaved .50 off of a really fast reload.  And gang when you’re getting it done in 1.5 seconds, .5 is a HUGE improvement. 

As warriors we should be constantly improving and refining our craft. The fact that you are faster to reload than me is not the measure of competence. The measure is how fast YOU can do it, with repeatable results. I have been to training where the instructor puts the class through a drill. I always try to break that drill down into it’s separate parts. What is the instructor trying to squeeze out of me? Some things I feel I am doing very efficiently already, not just efficient for me but actually pushing the threshhold of human performance for that very specific thing. Placing the selector from safe to fire for instance. It just happens, there are not many ways to do it, so working on that specific thing doesnt require work anymore. I just do it. That frees up time and energy to work on other things, like presenting the pistol or rifle as fluidly as possible, or maybe better marksmanship, or manipulation of something if the drill requires it. I am trying to maximize my learning and shooting experience by re-hashing or putting focused effort toward one part of that drill that I think can be improved. If I am successfull, I might get a 10th or even a 100th of second faster. Meanwhile others on the line are just making noise quickly because they dont want to be last. What a shame and waste of time.  

To determine whether or not I am being consistent, I have to track performance. I ask guys all the time in gun classes, How much can you bench? How fast can you run a Mile? What is your PR in a crossfit WOD? In most cases guys can tell me with some degree of accuracy. When I ask what is your average 1st shot draw time? Or what is your average time on a Bill Drill? I get blank faces. The same way I track physical fitness, I use that same concept toward my guns. And I record the times. And then I review them to determine my range plan when I go to live fire. It’s right in front of me, so it’s easier to see what I need to work on, where I am weak, where I am slipping and so forth. If you arent doing this, identify some drills, establish an accuracy standard, and then shoot those drills and record your times and hits. Break down the drill and ask where you are losing time, then work on that specific skill. Wait 90 days and then shoot the drills again. Record your times and hits. Did you improve or stay the same? If you didnt improve, your training plan SUCKS. Revamp it and go again. This becomes a never ending process and is constantly challenging because there is no “pass” or minimum score. It is based on your individual performance.