Programming: Maximizing your training potential

Our roots here at Range University are set deep in the professional adult learning model espoused by the military. We wholeheartedly believe in this methodology as the proven method for students to learn and retain knowledge. Our goal using this method is so that each student can replicate the courses to a high degree of similarity, thus proving retention of our curriculum and sharing that knowledge with a broader set of the population.

This model calls for involving the student into the courses of instruction via anecdotes and questioning, asking them to draw upon their own experiences, reliance more on execution of exercises over memorization of information, and forcing them to apply these principles to their unique situations.

So what does all this mean? Well, the short answer is we want people to stop with the hillbilly range days of doing dumb things and instead show other people “what right looks like” in a professional manner. How many people out there have gone out to BLM land with cousins or uncles and just blasted away at paint cans or picked up the reactive glow targets from Wal-Mart and unloaded a few boxes of ammo and called it a day? Or gone to an indoor range and felt unsafe about some “bros” in the lane next door? Going out and doing something is better than nothing; however, adding structure and professionalism to these outings will benefit all gun owners.

When going out shooting with beginners, we generally start with a diagnostic drill to see where everyone is and what our focus of the day should be. (This glosses over all the in-depth safety, clearing and loading procedures, all the fundamentals of marksmanship that go on with dry firing before even loading up.) We highly recommend barrel plugs for all shooters involved as it builds confidence amongst strangers and helps identify potential safety concerns early in a safe manner. We apply our classes' skills to diagnose our shooting partners and ourselves, always to be improving. Following this, some slow aimed fire and accuracy drills. The speed will come and eventually, you’ll start shooting faster, more accurately, and shooting different types of targets to push your skills to a higher level.

Each drill builds on the previous one. With each progressive drill, the professional should look to refine that “Shooter’s Solution” (Size{target}+Distance/Ability+Confidence = one’s rate of fire.) It’s also useful to incorporate a coach and technology into your drills. If everyone knows what to look for and has video evidence to critique later, everyone will stay honest and humble and eventually improve over time.

Shooters mustn’t get in the habit of just getting out there and blasting from greater distances or starting with walking and shooting. There is a reason why the ubiquitous saying of CRAWL, WALK, RUN is vitally important to the firearms industry. If one cannot master the basics and build on them over time by doing logical, progressive training drills, they will be lacking and only possess the veneer of ability at top performance and be found lacking when it’s all on the line. Make a plan with an agenda, adapt it to your group, and continue training. We all like to have fun and blow off some steam by wasting a bunch of ammo sometimes, but in these days of ammogeddon, we need to maximize our time spent behind the sight posts.

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