Setting “permission parameters”
I recently hosted and participated in a couple of great classes. First was 2-day Carbine with Steve Fisher of Sentinel Concepts. Second was Fundamentals of Competition with David Wampler, USPSA Grand Master.
One idea from the David Wampler class that really clicked for me was applying “permission parameters” to how I engage targets. More than simply aiming strategies (size, distance and risk), it focuses heavily on discipline and perfect execution. The idea is to shoot my current skill level, mitigate risk and collect all the points. This approach is great for competitive application and critical for defensive application.
In the class we spent a lot of time developing the skill to apply discipline and patience to modulate the pace of shooting and secure perfect execution. This means I must know where my skill lives and not engage a target until I have “permission” or see what I need to see to secure accurate hits (the “parameters”). It can be challenging, without consistent training, to make the switch from exploratory mode — striving to push limits, with max aggression, max speed, and max efficiency, and still be accurate — to perfect execution where I know with confidence my rounds are going exactly where I want them to go.
So permission parameters are not meant to pick a comfortable spot and stay there. It’s meant to reflect your current, repeatable, on-demand skill. As your skill improves, your permission parameters will change too. “Spray and pray” is not a true measure of on-demand skill. It can’t be repeated. This is not a good strategy for competition or defensive application.
This weekend I shot a USPSA All-Classifier match testing my ability to stay disciplined under pressure. My goal for this match was to apply “permission parameters” that I’ve set for myself. And the results show that the work is paying off with a second place finish overall and second place finish in Carry Optics.
It’s important to use both exploratory mode and perfect execution mode in your practice. You need exploratory mode to build higher skill. And you need “perfect execution mode” to understand where you can consistently and accurately attack targets under pressure.