Deliberate Practice – Becoming a Master is No Accident
Becoming the best of the best, or even becoming very good at shooting requires deliberate practice and focusing on weak areas.
Simply going to a standard static shooting range and putting rounds down range at a paper target won’t make anyone a Grand Master shooter. It’s very easy for shooters to only stick with what they’re good at. It’s fun and allows shooters to show off at the range. But that’s not how shooters can become the best.
Becoming the best of the best, or even becoming very good at shooting requires deliberate practice and focusing on weak areas.
How to practice deliberately
When live fire training at the range, or dry fire training at home, don’t just haphazardly put down range. Don’t only worry about what the target looks like when the range trip is over. Deliberate practice requires self analysis of every step of your technique.
Pay attention to your draw stroke. Did you add in an unnecessary motion? Did your weak hand get too close to the muzzle? Did your trigger finger rest on the trigger before you were ready to fire? Is your grip off and requiring adjustment before your first shot?
This self analysis is critical to identifying and avoiding bad habits. This is also why it’s a great idea to film your range trips to identify problems, hit the range with a competent shooting buddy who can watch your technique, and go to shooting classes so an instructor can watch what you do.
Travis from Haley Strategic goes over some specific examples on how to deliberately practice drawing a handgun from a holster.
Written by Brian Purkiss - always a student, sometimes a teacher.
I don't consider myself a competition shooter - I think of myself as a performance pistol shooter. I am all about performing at as high of a level as possible. Towards that end, I am obsessive about learning how to perform. I spend a lot of my life learning from the best across the entire firearms world and even into other areas of performance and other sports. I am a USPSA Carry Optics Grandmaster, currently working towards my second GM title in the Open division.
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