Shooter's Journal #1
By Travis Johnson | 12.11.2017
#Shooting
March 25, 2017 My goal this weekend and during a pistol fundamentals class on Saturday was to identify weak points in my fundamentals and really solidify a platform in my shooting that I can grow off of. In past weeks, I have set a plan for my range time and followed through with it at the range, but I wasn’t fully considering why I made that particular plan and whether or not I was working on the most effective drills to improve my level of proficiency. After taking several classes and working one on one with Drew Estell, I am confident that I know what I “need” to do to shoot accurately and get better as a shooter. The next and more difficult step, however, is applying that knowledge consistently every time I holster up and get on the range. Most of my training this weekend was in a full day pistol fundamentals class. We worked many drills isolating each aspect of our shooting platform and moved into more drills that started putting everything together. After spending time isolating grip, trigger control, and recoil management, as well as getting into the basics of shooting on the move, I was able to confirm one of the key areas I need to focus on going forward. One of my primary weak-points at this point is simply going too fast too soon and needing to slow down and focus on consistency. Let’s face it, we all want to shoot fast. However, we need to be able to shoot accurately first, and this requires us to master the fundamentals. I recall a post by JJ Racaza, where he called out how he sees many people running drills “well beyond their capability” or what he calls the “exploratory stage” and not spending enough time on “…something you can do consistently then pushing that same mastered skill set to either further distance or faster rate of fire.” Yeah, many of us train for different reasons that call for different methods of training, but what JJ was getting at is although it may not always look cool “on the gram”, it is consistent and focused training that is essential to becoming a better shooter. Whether in combat, law enforcement, competition, or self-defense, shooting accurately matters. In JJ’s post, he asked, “…how fast can you put 10 rounds in a 2" diameter target at 10 yards, 5x in a row?” Is that practical for many defense or combat based shooting scenarios? Maybe not, but can it help us shoot more accurately with more consistency? I certainly believe it would.