Why We Practice

There is no question that shooting skills are quickly diminishing skills. Simply put, if you don’t practice, you lose the edge. And the longer one goes without shooting practice, the worse it gets. For the defensive shooter, when your life may be on the line, practice is not an optional activity. When you are really serious about personal defense, you don’t find time to practice; you make time.

Over the years, I have tried to find ways to get the most out of my practice sessions. I quickly found that marathon sessions, spending hours as the shooting range, were generally a waste of time. Short sessions, where I really focus, seem to be the most productive.

In addition, I begin a day’s range session with particular goals in mind. In my case, I don’t have trouble remembering things like proper grip and sight picture. I do have trouble, however, producing a smooth trigger press. So, I might begin my session with a goal of producing five smooth trigger presses in a row. And, as a general rule, I work on accuracy issues first and then go on to the speed work.

For me, the important thing is to really bear down and practice the basics when I first get to the range. It doesn’t have to be a long session, but I want it to be as perfect as I am able to produce on that particular day. Following that, I am ready to then enjoy the camaraderie of other shooters, test some new guns, or just generally enjoy putting some lead downrange. The key is that the important stuff came first, and I gave it my undivided attention.

I also cannot over-emphasize the importance of dry practice at home. Again, I work on that danged trigger press but also the draw stroke. Dry practice with dummy ammo is also a good time to tune up on the speed reload and the tactical reload. In any defensive practice safety is important and it is even more important during dry practice. Be advised.

Whether at the range or at home, I like to keep my serious practice sessions rather short. If I work for 10 or 15 minutes and really concentrate, I find that is more valuable than practicing until I get tired. Otherwise, I reach a point where all I am doing is wasting time and ammunition.

I frankly don’t have a lot of sympathy with those who never seem to find the time to practice. It has been my observation, over the years, that folks generally find the time and means to do the things that they really want to do. The serious defensive shooter makes the time to practice, period.