Accuracy at speed is a byproduct of good control. Inputting less into the gun when shooting rapidly is how you gain that control. A durable grip and repeatable mechanical skills are certainly keys to reducing excessive movement. However, elite shooters know that next-level accuracy at speed can only be attained by refined input control.
Our drill this month trains you to do just that: incrementally apply input control while delivering well-placed rounds in rapid transition. The cost for each run is six rounds, but it’s well worth every trigger press when that light bulb finally clicks on.
Here’s the Drill
Set up two paper targets with a designated center mass (A-box), one at the 7-yard line (T1) and the other one at the 5-yard line (T2), and a small piece of steel (about head-box size) at the 15-yard line (T3). Shooters seeking more of a challenge may increase target difficulty by either reducing target size, increasing distance or setting a greater penalty for a miss.
Transition
Start with a holstered pistol and your hands positioned somewhere below your gun belt.
On the buzzer or “go” signal, draw from the holster to T1. Your draw should include grabbing the center of the T1 A-box with your eyes, while moving your muzzle to that point of aim (POA) on T1 with alacrity. Important: You must guarantee the hit. The first round is your anchor round on this drill, so don’t blow it! Your second round on T1 immediately follows your first round for a total of two rounds on T1. Your focus throughout the entire string of fire is on accuracy.
Immediately following your second round on T1, grab the visual center of the T2 A-box with your eyes as you transition and rapidly place two rounds within that POA on T2.
Immediately after your second round on T2, transition to the far steel (T3). Grab the very center of that steel with your eyes and deliver the final two rounds for a total of six rounds delivered downrange (resulting in two rounds on each of the three targets).
Details
You want to rip it out of the holster quickly (but in control); this is not a slow-fire drill. You want minimal break times between rounds on target and in transition between targets.
As you run this drill multiple times, start at a pace where you can guarantee all six hits. Then, gradually decrease your par times with each run until you (safely) blow past your skills envelope. This rheostat method will help you to incrementally refine and further develop your overall control.
The purpose of this drill is to incrementally reveal what it takes to transition from rapid pairs (T1) to more accelerated pairs (T2) to more controlled pairs (T3) in decreasing par times. Sounds easy, right?
Sharpened Skills
This small-but-mighty six-round drill sharpens not only your splits and transitions, but more specifically highlights that precise moment when you are tasked with delivering fast and furious rounds at close range, to pinpoint surgical strikes at three times the distance in rapid transition. Yes, you want to “grip it and rip it” up close, but you are equally tasked with bleeding off any unnecessary input when precision placement becomes the higher priority.
Your ability to switch gears demands graduated refinement. You can’t slack on any part of the shooting process.
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