#fridayfundamentals

A client asked for a private lesson as preparation for an upcoming class at the elite Rogers Shooting School. Rogers is a very structured learning environment, so the format for the lesson was obvious. Fundamental to learning to shoot at a high level are Repetition and Progression, which are the underlying structure at Rogers. You don’t learn to shoot well by thinking about it, you learn by doing it. Visualization is a useful learning technique but you have to know what to visualize before visualization can have any value.

The initial set of drills were timed one shot presentations to a spot on the target body at seven yards. Progression for the lesson began with starting the drills from an optimum position. Then the drills began from increasingly more challenging start positions.

• Low (Extended) Ready
• Transition (MidPoint of the drawstroke)
• Holster

The drills were done in strings of five one shot presentations. The target was examined and the hits taped with masking tape after every five shots.

Working from the MidPoint of the drawstroke confirmed that the hardest part of the drawstroke is getting sights into the eye-target line. Although it’s counterintuitive, moving the handgun straight from the point where the hands join to extension is NOT the fastest way to make good hits at any distance past about 3 yards. When drawing from the holster, this became even more evident.

Next, the drills moved to multiple target exercises. The three start positions were repeated firing one shot to body and one shot to head. Finally a timed paper simulation of Rogers Test #1 was shot.

Since 50 percent of the Rogers Testing Program is shot with one hand, the drills then progressed to Dominant Hand and Support Hand exercises.

• A timed simulation of Rogers Test #5, which is shot with the Dominant hand only.
  • The benefit of scraping the forearm on ribs as an index point during the DHO draw was evident.
• A practice for the Weak Hand Blast Drill, Rogers Test #8

Key points of the lesson

• Repetition and Progression are key to improvement.
• Getting the sights into the Eye-Target line as soon as possible is the most difficult part of the drawstroke. There is a time penalty of at least .40 seconds for not getting the sights into the eye-target line during extension. The alternative is a poor hit when the time penalty is not taken. Unfortunately, not understanding this relationship resulted in a man losing his life recently. http://www.neshobademocrat.com/Content/NEWS/News/Article/Two-victims-in-deadly-convenience-store-shooting-identified/2/297/43791
• Improvement is almost always incremental. It’s an evolution of skill not a revolution. Establishing your baseline

The path to improvement is incremental. As mentioned at The 2018 Mingle, training and practice are journeys, not events. That’s why Concealed Carry Skills and Drills is a workbook following an increasing progression of complexity and difficulty.

If you would like to purchase Concealed Carry Skills and Drills, the link to the downloadable ebook is here. http://concealedcarryskillsanddrills.com

If you would like to purchase Indoor Range Practice Sessions, the link to the downloadable ebook is here. https://store.payloadz.com/details/2501143-ebooks-education-indoor-range-practice-sessions.html