Jeff wrote in with a question on electronic laser targets, “I have the iTarget. I train in my house. Are you saying to walk around and shoot at the target?” What I’m going to say applies to several different laser training tools, like iTarget, iMarksman, LASR, MantisX, LaserHIT, GSight, and more.
I’m going to use an analogy from football to answer the question.
There were 3 coaches who used 3 different approaches to training.
Coach 1 thought speed won games. So he spent the majority of his time recruiting fast players and doing sprints and speed drills to be faster. And he had the fastest team around.
Coach 2 thought that strength won games. So he spent the majority of his time recruiting strong players and lifting heavy. And he had the strongest team around.
Coach 3 knew that a winning team needed fast, strong athletes who had endurance, could manage stress, play as a team, and make good, fast choices in game situations. He knew his team would never be as fast as Coach 1’s. He knew his team would never be as fast as Coach 2s. But his team had the best football players and, as a result, they won the most games.
Coach 3 was doing what’s known as “training for the scoreboard” rather than training for training’s sake.
All of the aspects are important…but you have to be good at all of them to win consistently.
It’s the same with firearms training.
All of the tools I mentioned are valuable. They are tools that will help you be a better shooter. If you’re training to shoot guns better, that’s great…if you’re training to stop a violent encounter with a firearm, you need more than just shooting skills.
So, back to Jeff’s original question, yes…you should walk around and shoot the target, but that’s the tip of the iceberg of what you can do at home to prepare for real world gunfights.
There are things that you can and should practice along with lining up the muzzle and pressing the trigger. Things like:
- Shoot/Don’t Shoot decision making based on what you see the target doing.
- Dynamic vision…in both directions and at different speeds.
- Avoiding trip hazards while remaining focused on your threat.
- The speed that you can shift focus.
- “Sneaky” draw strokes and fast first hits.
- Using your hands and what’s in your hands as a distraction to buy you the time and space you need to get your gun into the fight.
- Working over, around, and under cover/concealment.
- Off-balance shooting.
- Stress shooting
These are all things that you can and should work on at home, but most people don’t know how to…that’s where https://DynamicGunfighter.com comes in. It’s a training system that helps you use any training tool more effectively (like the iTarget system he mentioned) and do training that transfers over to real world shooting situations better.
Tools are great…they can make practice fun, but it’s training systems like Dynamic Gunfighter that make practice both fun and effective. Check it out…let me know what you think.
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