Shooting vs. Training

One subject that JLPFI repeatedly brings up during a concealed weapons course is asking students what they do when they shoot on their own property or go to a piece of property they have access to? Do they shoot or do they train?

The answers are usually related to a fun experience involving a variety of targets, including but not limited to: cans, plastic gallon jugs, fruits and veggies of all different shapes and sizes, tannerite and many other objects that they simply want to blow up! Lets face it, shooting is fun and its even better when we see what those projectiles do to our targets.

What about when those of you attend a designated range facility to shoot. You check in, put on your protective eyewear and hearing protection, and get into a shooting lane you have been assigned to. You set up your target, proceed to load your weapon and extend the firearm out in front of you and fire away right? The target reveals details that are either just one ragged hole( 3 yards) or maybe at 5 yards, your group of 10 rounds looks more like a shotgun blast?

Most ranges do not allow rapid fire, and yet you sneak in a few consecutive rounds downrange, to test your ability with that firearm fully extended thru out the entire transaction of live fire. Shooting is a good way to use up that expensive ammo real fast, yet are you achieving anything more than seeing your target results?

So JLPFI challenges you to switch gears next time you head to indoor range or your favorite outdoor safe area. Understand that training should be your ultimate goal, and you can still have fun doing it. You see, training involves working towards learned skill sets you receive from professional training sessions like the ones JLPFI provides. Here are some of the goals you should work on achieving while training:

Dry Fire Practice First! Settle in, take time to run the gun dry(no ammo) to reinforce the muscle memory sequence and fundamentals of operation. Remember the ever so important foundation to work from: Safety first, then stance, proper grip, sight alignment, breathing sequence and trigger actuation.

Look at your target, present your magazine and successfully seat it while maintaining eye contact on your target. Learn your weapon by feel, and understand the importance of natural actuation to develop a skill set of goal orientation and achievement. There is so much more in training you can do without ammo: release the slide forward from the open slide position, rack the slide from the closed slide position, lock the slide to the rear with your slide lock, front sight picture with your dominant eye, train both eyes open, extend your weapon out from the high ready position on each dry fire, understand the slack removal of your trigger and try breathing thru your dry practice with trigger press, at the bottom of your breath. Take time to assess your 2 hand connection to the grip. Discover that your grip is a highlighted fundamental that must be the same, each and every time that support hand comes up and connects to the frame of your weapon. Disconnect and reconnect your support hand to get it right and make it a solid push- pull grip without utilizing the front of your trigger guard as a support finger guide. Knuckles over knuckles, shooter thumb over support thumb and thumbs up and forward. Now you are achieving your training protocol in recognizing that your fundamentals are essential muscle memory sequencing tools that provide a successful training session.

You can still have fun when you TRAIN. Train hard and know the difference between shooting and training.