Shot Timers In Gunfights…

I want to share a video with you today showing how a shot timer could give you a serious advantage over an armed attacker…

When you get done watching…scroll down.  It’s only 50 seconds and worth watching, with or without audio.

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The guy who got robbed and complied is Chris Costa.  And I love this video, because it highlights the silliness of doing the majority of our training with a shot timer or ANY other audio cue.

The fact is, an audible event may cause us to shift our focus, turn our head, and turn our body, but there are very few instances that I can imagine (and almost none that I’ve seen or heard of) where it will be the cue to shoot.

Even if you hear the sound of a window breaking in your house or someone screaming that they’re going to kill you, you’d still visually assess before shooting.

I love the simplicity of shot timers, but one of the big problems with using them all of the time is that they prime you to shoot at the next stimulus you experience.

What we want is for stimulus to cause us to know that it’s time to make a decision about whether or not to shoot…not just automatically shoot.

So, this weekend, I want to challenge you to do some dry fire at home where your decision to shoot or not shoot is based on what you see and not what you hear.

Want a couple of easy examples?

  1. Hold a book out in front of you and start reading out loud.  Pick a “shoot” word like “and” “or” “he” or “but” and any time you read that word, drop the book (or toss it at your target), draw, and dry fire engage your target.  After a couple of times, switch it up so that you engage your target every other time you see the word.
  2. Get the Switched On app (it’s available for both Apple and Android) for your phone or tablet.  Set it up so that it shows random colors and so it uses the colors red, green, and yellow.  When red shows up, dry fire engage your target.  When yellow shows up, aim at the floor under your target (low-ready/cover).  When green shows up, bring your pistol back to Sul (South) position against your chest/abdomen.

Want more?  (like a LOT more?)  Check out the only collapsable, 5 sided, multi-color, self-standing dry fire targets in existence…PopUp Targets!  Due to popular demand, we’ve added special pricing for 3-Packs and 5-Packs, so get yours now and start doing smarter training with more real world application.

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3 Comments

  • Steve Justad

    Reply Reply August 12, 2022

    Any other suggestion beside Switched On. Downloaded from AppStore and it stalls out on both iPad and iPhone on “What Best Describes You”. Trashed that app.

    • Ox

      Reply Reply August 12, 2022

      SwitchedOn is the absolute best option. I’ve gotten to know Brett online over the last couple of years. He’s a great guy and I default to giving him the benefit of the doubt and giving him a chance to fix any problem that might come up.

      I just confirmed that it’s working on my iPhone 11 with iOS 15. I copied/pasted your comment in an email to Brett…do you mind if I give him your email address so he can help you directly?

    • Brett Johnson

      Reply Reply August 12, 2022

      Hey Steve, so sorry that you’re having issues with the app. This isn’t something we’ve heard before, so would you be willing to share the email address you used to sign up for the app with us via email at [email protected] so we can explore what went wrong and work on fixing it?

      Sincere apologies for the inconvenience. Thanks so much for informing me about this, Ox!

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