The focus here was working on flowing through transitions with some vision barriers for an added challenge to the vision component. The addition of the head box at the end was to force a change in aiming scheme after more aggressive shooting with movement. I'm working on disconnecting what my lower body is doing from the upper body and just shooting my vision.

Another old habit that is finally being broken is lowering the gun or bringing it to a ready position when it's unnecessary. Keeping the gun up, transitioning, and hunting for targets is the way. No jerky movements, just flowing through and shooting when I have the level of confirmation I need for the available target.

You can be much better and shoot much more aggressively and with accountability than you think. Or have been previously led to believe. Challenge what you think you know.

One of the stages from my last match. Videos from two sources. SG timer synced with my run is pretty cool to see and useful for personal critique. Consistently pressure testing and assessing my personal skill set for on demand performance under stress.

Primarily working visual processing speed for this drill. I was looking to see how far I could push the speed and maintain accountability. The goal was sub 3 seconds consistently. I wanted to know where the wheels came off. A few misses on steel was due to not grabbing a small spot and overdriving the gun. Good learnings.

One interesting note was the change in height between the steel and paper. Because the targets were only a yard apart, the fast shift between the two made finding a precise spot that wasn't too low more challenging. Grip pressure here became even more important. Any changes resulted in the loss of the dot and time wasted.

I'll keep saying this over and over and over. You should see the performance value and defensive utility to these skills.

This drill has performance value and defensive utility. Development of hard skills to the highest level possible to be used in any context you need.

Key components for this drill are:

- Physical stress. How fatigue affects your ability to implement and maintain hard skills.

- Rebuilding of proper grip structure and pressure due to disconnecting from the gun so often. Does accountability suffer?

- Picking up focal point and getting gun up early as you're entering into position to be able to shoot sooner. Knowing what aiming scheme you'll use and what level of confirmation you need for your skill set at each distance with movement.

17 rds total
HF scored
Distances at 5, 10, 15 yds
Cones are spaced 8 yds apart in a diamond pattern
Watch video to understand sequence

Very aggressive and challenging drill. While the MXAD works multiple components, my focus for this day was trying to get faster transition times between targets while maintaining accountability. This goal was achieved while also gaining faster draw speed times and overall Bill drill times with a personal best of 1.69. There are many fast changing variables that could deteriorate your standard shooting performance either in competition or during defensive use. Acclimating yourself in practice to shooting aggressively, out of your comfort zone, and being capable of processing what’s happening at the fastest pace possible is a great asset. It leaves you with plenty of skill to fall back on if those negative variables start to unfold.

Blake drill
10 yds
Exploring what's possible to see where the wheels come off with speed, and where the consistency lies.

This is what practice looks like. The road to proficiency is a minefield of mistakes, it's not highlight reels.

Succeed/fail
Assess
Learn
Develop
Implement

Being able to know what you did wrong is great, but knowing what you did right so you can make it repeatable is better.

30 yd doubles.

Skills focus was on:

- Maintaining hard target focus/aggressive vision

- Consistent connection

Skill development for on demand performance under stress in whatever context is needed. This is the way.

First day out live with the new comp rig. Spent the day focused on aggressive vision and transitions with some movement aspects that I was trying to polish up. Good day of development seeing what's possible. Aggressive shooting with accountability.

PCSL targets @ 5 yds
Mini ADAP Steel @ 15 yds
Distance between PCSL targets @ 10 yds

Running my stock G19 Gen 5 with a Holosun 508t. The same gun with which I train, practice, carry, teach/coach. This was a 50/50 kind of day. I was happy with some components of my performance, but there were errors in stage planning and some other things. All in all, it was a good day from a learning perspective. Some solid takeaways to work on for me personally and my next match. You can not count on a skill set that has not been pressure tested.

This is just another tool to pressure test your skills for the real world. Yes, it's a game. A game that requires a high level of skill and on demand application. It reveals flaws in your perceived capabilities and puts you under a level of stress. Use this for what it is – a tool to enhance your capabilities. There are no cons. Ego, fear, and pride are killing your growth.

Your skill set must be accessible on demand and under stress, or it is not a skill set you own.

My focus for this drill is solely aimed at EDC (Everyday carry) and is part of my EDC Assessment (available for download in the resource section.) I want aggressive shooting with full accountability. I'm shooting at a pace where I can essentially guarantee that for real-world application.

The proficiency benchmark begins but does not end for this drill with 5 rds in under 5 seconds at 25 yds from a concealed draw. This isn't meant to rival a Bill drill in terms of speed but to assess your on demand skill set for EDC in common areas like grocery store aisles, churches, atriums, and big box stores.

Adding some complexity like a 90° turn is a great way to push you out of your comfort zone and get your vision working more to elevate your skill set. Give these a try and see where you fall on the sliding scale of the EDC Assessment. This can help inform your practice in areas that may need work.

Back to work with a pistol focused personal practice day running the In and Out drill. One of three things focused on for the day. Drill is extended slightly by 3 extra rounds using paper instead of steel for the farther target. But I like this addition. I was happy hovering in the low 7 seconds consistently. Trying to break 7 today was not to be and felt too sloppy. This drill is no joke. Fun and super challenging with a bunch of skills being worked.

Very productive portion of a personal practice day running the In and Out drill. There's a multitude of hard skills being worked in this low round count aggressive drill. Skills that can then be used in any application you need. Bumped up the round count and slightly extended the drill from 7 to 10 rds using the paper instead of the steel for the farther target.

Practicing to be comfortable and confident at a default shooting speed of 150 mph makes slowing down to 50 if you need to easy. It does not work the other way around.

Aggressive shooting with accountability.
Does the intensity of your practice mirror the stress you're expecting?

Cold drill was a designated target drill with targets at 5, 15, and 25 yds.
Going to the range with a plan is mandatory. I run drills that will help me develop proficiency in specific skills that I want to work on for that day.

Vision:
- Target focused. Not getting sucked into the dot, particularly at the 25.
- Eyes in front and ahead of the gun hunting for the focal point.
- Paying attention and looking for the level of confirmation I need for each target. Efficiency. Not just chasing speed.

Changing aiming schemes on the fly:
- No guesswork.
- Knowing exactly how aggressive I can shoot at different distances and adjusting for that on the fly.
- Not out shooting my vision. Being patient, relaxed. See what I need to see. Don't overconfirm. Shoot.

Work skills. Don't just chase drills.
Skills can be implemented into any application you need.
Striving to constantly refine my skill set for complete confidence in my capabilities on demand and under stress.

The focus was isolating aggressive vision with transitions and movement. Added some vision barriers to the mix to up the challenge. And yes, on the timer, for those of you in the back row. Because time is not a luxury you have from an EDC perspective. Learn to deal with it and be capable of performing under pressure. This is not slow fire bullseye target shooting. This started as a cold drill, but because of the utility in isolating each of these skills and the ability to run it in numerous ways, there was a lot of time spent here. In the cold with a fun snow squall. Solid day of learning, some mistakes, and strong personal growth on the range.

No range theatrics just learning how to run your gun hard with a skill set you can call upon on demand and under stress. This is the way.

Practice with purpose.
This drill has performance value and defensive utility. Carbine throttle control drill at 10, 25 and 50 yds. Working on the vision and connection to the gun components and changing aiming schemes on the fly.
Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Allow yourself to fail and make mistakes in order to learn and get to a higher level of skill.

Aggressive shooting with accountability.
Consistency and repeatability.

Your skill set must be accessible on demand and under stress, or it is not a skill set you own.

Gloves can be particularly challenging. If you choose to wear gloves I recommend investing in a more “tactical” style glove like PIG or Mechanix. When assessing gloves pay attention to these key factors:

- Can you clear your garment quickly, safely and efficiently?

- Can you get a solid strong hand purchase on the draw?

- Can you fit your finger in the trigger guard?

- Can you obtain a proper grip to withstand firing multiple rounds?

- Can you manipulate all fire controls like the trigger, mag release and manual safety (if applicable)?

- Can you perform reloads and clear malfunctions without any issues?

- Can you rack the slide without excess glove material getting bound up between the frame and slide?

You can’t do something you’ve never practiced and expect good results.

This was an end of the day drill with some remaining ammo. You can pull a lot of value out of a limited ammo, simple drill like this.

Here I'm getting practice with:

- Various distances
- Different levels of confirmation
- Reactive and Predictive shooting
- Movement (One hand and two hands on the gun)
- Getting the gun up to shoot sooner
- HF scored (HF - 3.10) for speed and accuracy

Dry fire can be as simple or as complex as you want. Whichever you decide, you have to be paying attention to the details and be honest with yourself about what's happening. Today's focus was just concealed draws. For performance value and defensive utility. Also, loving the random starts with the new timer. This adds solid training value.

Match # 7

Cold, rain, and mud. The harder the road, the more the herd thins. Walk the walk or keep your opinions for the peanut gallery. A couple of highlights from my last match. Tried experimenting with some things as far as shooting pace and stage planning . Overall the match turned out well but I wasn't satisfied with parts of my performance. Some strong takeaways learned so regardless it's a win.

Putting in work before students arrive with some AK doubles at 30 yds.

Most times, I'm working on these principles in 5.56, but I recently started exploring what was possible for me with 7.62x39. It is interesting to see the different recoil impulses with the heavier caliber when working a drill like doubles, especially at 30 yds. Using predictive as a training tool, understanding and applying the vision and connection pieces, and then applying those same principles to a reactive pace makes shooting aggressively with accountability and repeatability at any distance a reality. This has truly taken my shooting to a place I never thought possible before. Coming from a firefighter background, the importance of passing on knowledge and experience has always been integral in my overall mission and how I train. The more I learn from training, my competing in USPSA, personal practice, and dry fire, the more knowledge and experience gets passed on to my students to help them on the road to proficiency. From me, thank you to @benstoeger and @xray.alpha.llc for passing on their knowledge and experience and leading the charge on what's possible with a rifle and pistol. Keep up the solid work, gentlemen.

Your skill set must be accessible on demand and under stress, or it is not a skill set you own.

End of the day movement drill.

Ran this new one starting at 15 - 10 - 7 - 5 - 3 yds with angled movement to get practice turning toward the targets from both sides instead of a straight run. Targets were spaced 1 yd apart. 1 rd on each. It turned out to be a fun HF scored drill that was challenging enough after a long day. Test of hard skills with some specific focus for me.

Show your hits. Show your mistakes. Show the learning process. Nobody dropped from the womb knowing how to shoot well.

Social media isn't reality. Practice is work and learning. It's dry fire, it's mistakes, it's frustration. It's not being afraid of those mistakes or embarrassed by them. It's a learning process that will get you to a higher skill set and that can be passed on to help someone else reach their next level of proficiency.

If you're a newer or experienced shooter and struggling, DO NOT GIVE UP. The road to proficiency is not found on social media. It's in the work that nobody sees. The dry fire sessions in your bedroom. The focused personal days on the range.

Normally, 2R2 is not something I spend a lot of time with, but having lately put more work into my reloads from concealment during dry fire, I wanted to confirm live. Unless you're trying to conserve ammo 1R1 is not beneficial, in my opinion, because it allows you too much room to give mistakes in vision and grip a pass.

Layers of complexity, performance value and defensive utility.

Adding layers of complexity to drills you may already practice regularly can prove to be deceptively demanding. Bill drills are a great hard skill test of vision, grip and recoil management. Add a layer of complexity like movement and you have a Retreating Bill. This adds performance value and defensive utility. There are countless videos showing real world defensive use with a pistol that mirror this drill. Adding movement takes you out of the static prepped position and makes the vision, grip and recoil management pieces more challenging. As you progress you can begin to introduce more layers of complexity like 90°/180° turns, different hand positions with eyes off target, forward movement then retreating and some realism like single hand draws carrying a baby. This will greatly improve the level of performance in your skill set while holding significant defensive utility.

Things I'm paying attention to:

- Vision piece. Target focus, locking on to a focal point as I'm coming into position, minimum confirmation level necessary. Splits were at a reactive pace low to mid 30's (lots of doubles work has been immensely beneficial)
- Two hands on gun for short bursts, longer run strong hand only
- Enter/Exit in a solid stance, ready to move again, efficiency of movement, no unnecessary steps
- Getting gun up as I'm coming into position to shoot sooner
- Keeping grip pressure consistent (lots of doubles work has been immensely beneficial)
- Fast aggressive movement between cones
- HF scored, aggressive, accurate shooting with urgency
- Hardcover for added challenge

Ran this match from concealment. One of my better stages for the day. The first half of the day was a significant loss of focus and killed me overall. In the second half, I was able to get myself back on track.

Keep learning. Keep getting back up. Get uncomfortable and put yourself out there.

6th place overall.
3rd place in Carry Optics.

Train.
Practice.
Dry fire.
Repeat.
This model works.

This drill helps develop hard skills for on demand performance while also having crossover defensive utility. A layer of complexity with the 180° turn on the draw gets you out of the perfect stance, staring at your target. Instead, you're forced to move, find your focal point, pay attention to efficiency of movement and execute a fast, safe, and efficient drawstroke. The turn also adds the defensive component of a realistic reaction time to an unforeseen threat. Since the turn adds time to your draw, it's especially important to train yourself to turn and lock onto a spot quickly. Because it is for hard skill development and defensive utility, I challenge myself to not simply accept A zone hits. Groups must be in the fist size range for accountability. Speed, accuracy, and accountability at 15 yds is a good step towards pushing you to learn to shoot more aggressively at farther distances. Adding some mental stress in the form of a timer helps mirror the urgency of a real-world application.

Like the standard drill, this is a great addition to hard skill development as well as having real world defensive utility. Adding layers of complexity like movement, 90°/180° turns, reloads, and malfunctions to tried, and true drills are a great way to improve your overall skill set and keep challenging yourself. Give these a try!

One of my go-to drills for practicing pistol hard skills that also has realistic crossover defensive utility.

Hard skill components worked:
- Concealed draw, consistent index
- Vision, finding focal point, maintaining target focus
- Grip durability, structure, and pressure
- Trigger speed
- Recoil management
- Build confidence in aggressive shooting

Defensive utility:
- Immediate threat
- Severely limited reaction time
- Maintaining threat focus
- Fast, safe, and efficient draw and index
- Urgency, not wasting time overconfirming sight picture
- Accuracy and accountability
- Unknown amount of rounds to stop a threat, confidence in your aggressive shooting skill set because it was established during range practice.

Consistency.

Without consistency, it's nothing more than a one-time circus trick. 10 yd Carbine Bills are a good test of raw speed, vision, connection, and recoil management, but they don't expose flaws in your fundamentals the way distance does. Walk out to 30 yds and start shooting aggressively to see where your skill set truly lives. 30 yds exposes problems and amplifies weaknesses with your fundamentals. With your vision, mount, and connection. It exposes whether you are able to shoot consistently and be confident in your on demand performance. It shows you where you need work. That doesn't mean the plateau inducing "slow down to get your hits" answer. Address the actual problem and fix it.

Officially a USPSA competitor in the Carry Optics division. Great experience, and I've got a lot to learn. I’m looking forward to continuing my development as a shooter and being an asset to those around me. Lessons learned will be integrated into classes and adapted for real-world applications.

Persistently a student.
Action over rhetoric.
Lead by example.

Working close to wide transitions from concealment in my practice session.

My distance to USPSA targets - 10 yds
My distance to 6 inch knockdown plate - 17 yds
Close targets spaced - 1 yd apart
Wide transition spaced - 12 yds

While I was trying to keep the COF under 3 seconds, the speed wasn't my main focus. The higher priority was keeping my eyes out ahead and in front of the gun, being able to visually process everything with the minimum level of confirmation needed and staying relaxed and tension free.

Working from concealment at 30 yds on a 6 inch knockdown plate. Identifying the threat, drawing from concealment, building your grip, finding a focal point, and indexing on the target. Then, pressing rounds off accurately and with urgency while paying attention to your background. To say nothing of the stress of the moment. This is a skill that needs to be practiced because these distances are a reality. Grocery store aisles, churches, atriums, parking lots, big box stores, etc. Build confidence in the capabilities you do have and recognize the skills that need work.

I'm trying to push the speed to see what's possible and where the wheels come off. I want a clean, single hand draw with solid purchase on the gun. Consistency in indexing on the target and only the acceptable level of confirmation needed. This drill was not just about raw speed or precise accuracy. This is not a suggestion to shoot single-handed unnecessarily. It was with a forced (my arm is injured) defensive utility in mind, so urgency and speed with an acceptable level of confirmation and accuracy as the goal. Don't be afraid to push yourself and see where it starts to unravel so you know what's possible and you understand what your actual capabilities are. Then you know where to put in work. Confidence in your skill set comes from work and proven data and performance on the range.

Cold drill – Shooting on the move. What does your on demand pistol skill set really look like? Are you basing your answer on actual data and performance or is it just theory and what you've convinced yourself you can do? If you're carrying concealed every day, this is something you want to be able to answer with confidence. Adding movement to your shooting adds a layer of complexity. Some things that are affected are vision and your perception of the target, importance of a focal point, dot/sights behavior, grip structure and pressure and points of impact. This is a skill that must be practiced and has real world application.

This drill works a multitude of hard skills while highlighting areas that need attention. Times were pretty consistent throughout the day from the 1.90s to 2.30s. Overall accuracy was fairly consistent with alphas, dropping some charlies when my focal point was lost or there was too much over muscling of the gun on my strong side. Understanding how to self diagnose your shooting is a major part of the path to proficiency.

Aggressive and very challenging drill. Skills that are highlighted are visual processing, draw, grip, trigger control, recoil management at speed and trying to remain tension free. One of the most important goals for me is consistency and repeatability. Consistency of gun handling overall, draw speed, Bill drill time, overall time and accuracy of hits. Consistency equates to on demand performance which benefits not only hard skills but the crossover utility for self defense.

A significant amount of our time is spent performing everyday tasks in areas where distance is a factor such as grocery store aisles, big box stores, churches etc. Learning to shoot aggressively at these distances should be an on demand skill set you own. Adding in some complexity to your draws in the form of 90°/180° turns is a great way to enhance not only your technical skill set but also add a bit of realism.

Working at three different distances, 10, 25 and 50 yards. My focus is primarily grip structure and pressure, focal points on targets, and adjusting how fast I shoot based on target distance and the level of aiming confirmation I need from each target.

I’m working at 10 yards. My focus throughout this drill consists of a few things: a consistent mount and index, maintaining my focal point, and a strong connection to the carbine throughout to manage recoil. My goal was 6 rounds in the A zone with a par time of 1.30.

I’m working doubles at 10 and 30 yards. My main focus for this drill is a consistent mount, maintaining a strong connection to the gun, not adding any unnecessary input, and staying locked on a small focal point throughout.

I’m working at 7 yards. In this drill I focus mainly on vision and connection to the carbine, keeping my eyes ahead of the gun as I transition from target to target, staying relaxed and not muscling the gun. The standard I hold myself to is 6 rounds with a par time under 2 seconds. In this series, my par times ranged from 1.58 to 1.46.