“Don’t go swimming after you just ate a meal”, “You’ll get sick if you go outside with wet hair” and of course, “shooting competition will get you killed!” (from the Tactical Bible..)
Axioms to live by..or maybe we need to use critical thinking to get past what easily could be described as sacred mumbo jumbo. Why? In this four part series I’m going to present an argument on why competition is good for the tactical soul.
I’ve shot competitively in action pistol (United States Practical Shooting Association or USPSA) for the past three years. I’m also a law enforcement officer and my current assignment is a firearms and tactical trainer. I had my reservations about competing or rather my ego had reservations. Note: Cops hate to look bad shooting in front of..well..everybody. I was one of them, so I thought about shooting a match for a long time.
One sunny day, in a tactical class from a very well known former Delta guy, we had a lot of competitions as part of the instruction. It was interesting to see what happens when dudes shoot in front of other dudes. SWAT guys miss, instructors curse and some guys were acting the fool (protecting the ego). It was around this point a good friend in the class who has “neutralized” more bad guys overseas than I can count, said to me “you should start competing.” Why? I wondered. Did I suck that much? Maybe. But he said there were good things that can come out of competing that apply to the tactical door kicking world. And so I began my journey.
This series is going to focus on four parts:
1) Stress inoculation.
2) Weapons manipulations.
3) Sights and triggers.
4) Stage planning/mission planning.
The pundits that claim competition will teach you bad habits have not thought about what that statement really means. I liken it to playing a driving racing game on XBOX. There I was, 210 MPH in Monaco, racing through the streets as crowds of fans cheered me on. Using my controller I weave in and out of traffic. It’s 6:00PM. Damn, I’m late to pick up my kid from school. I hop in my car, fresh with thoughts of glory in Monaco and race through traffic, pushing my minivan to 130MPH…No, not really. I didn’t hit replay in my mind and subconsciously pursue a good par time down the highway because I practiced it on the game console. I, as a free thinking individual, was able to discern the difference between 1) driving mach one and 2) navigating a busy highway.
Since I started competing, I have yet found anything derogative to cross over into my daily duties. We (as tactical folk) are able to figure this out.
There are few ways to introduce the stress of a gunfight into a training program. You can up the physical stress by having the student run, jump and box for a minute and then have them shoot down range on to a target.
You can shoot force on force with pain compliance to put stress into training. Jerry just wrote a great article on the uses of force on force.
Or, you can put a person in front of their peers and place this little box called a “timer” behind them and watch the stress come out. Something happens to people when that “timer” dances on your shoulder. Shooters go fast. Shooters get sloppy. Shooters panic. Sounds like any traffic stop gone bad videos you can watch online. The point is, how do we learn to work past it. We can’t get into a gunfight every day to get better at them. We can, however, put the stress of competition into our training to get us able to work through the pressure. To find our sights and not jerk the trigger. If we are able to compartmentalize stress and use it for good not bad, we can become better shooters. I know. I did.
Next time we’ll be reviewing why competition can only make you a better gunslinger.
Stay safe.
While I agree that a few competitions can offer the average Joe a bit of trigger time, I feel there are some common downfalls as well.
#1 I see shooter after shooter take his new super duper unlimited gun to a match. Often times we are talking about very high capacity magazines, state of the art red dot sights, Buck Rogers speed Rock holsters, etc. etc. Yet the very same guy conceals a 5 shot J Frame as his EDC gun. There is logic there? Developing muscle memory skills with one gun, and carrying another might not work out too well I suspect!?!?
#2 Most all the course tend to be designed to help the shooter. Example; since most of the free world is right handed, courses are designed typically so a shooter “breaks cover” to the right. Very little emphasis is placed upon developing any weak hand skills (left hand shooting). Personally I prefer to be able to “effectively run the gun” with either hand. Design a course from Hell (AKA real life) and the “gamers” all cry & whimper like puppy dogs. ANYBODY wanna tell me they never witnessed this phenomena? If we are looking to be truly prepared, we would desing courses to create “failure”,,, for by failure we expose weak links.But then that would eliminate that testosterone infected victory dance afterwards as all the Alphas do the monkey dance around those evil brown guy targets.
#3 By default courses tend to be designed around “the need for speed”. Example: I will see courses with some sense of barricade set as cover. I then see “top gun” after “top gun” break out into the wide open, free from that cover,,, just so they can kick in the afterburner. In these instances, I would say that the “habits” you have developed in competitions will get you killed.
#4 We do a walk through ahead of time,,,, right? Will you get a “walkthrough” in real life? I watch the gamers make plans, and even go as far as stepping out their personal plan. Oh, one more thing,,, shooter # 7 in the rotation gets a chance to watch the previous 6 shooters ahead of him so he can see what not to do! Competitors know full well what targets they engage where, which “targets” NOT to engage, at what distances, and for how many shots to shoot too. So then all real BG in real life will drop with 2 to the body & 1 to the head too?
#4 Rules. While I agree that rules have to be in place of safety and to keep the p[laying field leveled between competitors, I would also agree with Jeff Cooper who said “rules,,,, in a gunfight”?? IDPA “tactical reload” comes to mind here,,, I am going to actually be concerned about saving that empty mag? WHY?? Do I have an ammo man on my 6?
The shot timer can turn anyone’s brain to Jell-O by simply sounding,, I will grant you that. But if we truly interested in be properly prepared.,, to the best of our ability; We would shoot our carry guns, with all of our normal EDC carry gear,,, NOT race guns. We would line up, with gun well concealed, and shoot a course we previously knew NOTHING about. I submit that we then should shoot at targets from point blank bad breath distance and out to 50 meters. We would be FORCED to engage targets from all sorts of unholy positions, including on the ground, with weak hand(s) too. We too will be engaging targets in bright sunlight one second, and the next second we will find ourselves in darkness, in need of a flashlight. While we are in that darkness we will find ourselves up against “situational targets”,,, as in shoot or no shoot. Because in real life all BG won’t be brown, stationary cardboard. Shooting while moving will be the order of the day,,, while upright on two feet. I’m sure my list is incomplete,,, but hopefully you may get my point.
Today, I view most typical competitions as little more than games & fun. YMMV.
Rant over,,, now all you guys can get out your flame throwers and BBQ me royally!
A couple of points to start off:
– I agree with many of Ron’s comments…
– I think Ron’s reply may be a bit premature given three installments are yet to be posted…
– I do not consider myself a “tactical” shooter in any way, but I did make a living for many years in my younger days as an armed professional.
That said, I believe Ron may be missing the author’s point (maybe I am too!). Competition IS NOT holistic tactical training. Competition IS training in the four focus areas:
1) Stress inoculation.
2) Weapons manipulations.
3) Sights and triggers.
4) Stage planning/mission planning.
The author isn’t saying competition is tactical training…
A couple of points to finish:
– I shoot USPSA as a guest with clubs in Northern Virginia as my job takes me out of town regularly. ALL clubs have multiple low round-count stages requiring strong-hand and week-hand only engagements. IMO this is a regional thing as I live in the Southwest were most USPSA stages tend to be high round-count “run and gun” stages. It sure has humbled me!! And it does make us better, all-around shooters.
– The “race-gun” guys gave us the red-dot sight and other innovations, today accepted in the tactical community. I strongly believe those technologies wouldn’t have come about as fast or at all if not for competition. And they do help our armed professionals greatly…
Just my two cents…
Sorry it “appears” I am pre mature in my comments. I say it “appears” so, because truth be known, I based my remarks (opinions) on two statements in the blogger’s post, and NOT on what may be forthcoming. .
#1 “shooting competition will get you killed!”
#2 “why competition is good for the tactical soul”.
Since I am the new kid on the block,,, I say no more to avoid hijacking the post.
Ron, thank you for taking the time to read my words and opine on them. I do want to rebut a couple of points. First off, as many here have already stated, this is not yet a finished product as there are more points I’d like to make. Of your comments that I will address:
#1 I shoot Production Class in USPSA which except for some internal modifications, are stock guns (Glocks, M&Ps, Springfield, etc.) I never made the argument that “race” guns as you call it benefits the tactical world. I started shooting using my duty gun and encourage other officers I train to do the same. Without giving up more of my future scribe notes, I also started with my duty gear (vest included). The point is you are out there under the clock, making decisions and trying to be accurate at speed. Explain to me how this is a bad thing. Again, I never said you need to spend $3000 on a STI with C-More red dot…
#2 I don’t know where you’ve competed before, but I spend a good amount of time competing in major (USPSA determination) matches at the Universal Shooting Academy in Frostproof FL. This is where the IPSC World Shoot is going to be this year. I promise you the stages DO NOT favor the shooter. In fact they are some of the hardest, complex decision making stages I’ve ever faced. I’m not going to respond to the derogatory “monkey dance” statement.
#3 Clearly referencing what I responded in no. 2, I don’t see many stages that “top gun” goes off in my head. Furthermore, if you think because you “burst” from cover in to the wide open under fire because of “bad habits” competition gave you, that person has other issues and shouldn’t be carrying a gun or driving. We are not automatons. Show my ONE instance where that has happened?
#4 Again, I don’t want to give away the milk on my next couple of segments, but “will you get a walk through in real life?” Have you ever served a felony warrant?
#4 (part 2 or should be no. 5) Rules in a gunfight? In the law enforcement world, you are accountable for every round you shoot. Remember, a missed shot hits..something. We can’t spray and pray. We are held to a higher standard. But I digress. I never mentioned rules in my article.
As far as the rest of your “rant”, I agree that you should run the course in duty gear or EDC gear. No one is going to force you to practice the course ahead of time. You can compete as much or as little as you want. Again, no one is forcing you to play the “game” when you show up. In fact, they’ll respect you for showing up at all since a lot of cops don’t do ANYTHING with their guns. It’s a challenge us trainers face every day.
If you look at the “high speed” guys like McNamara, Pannone, Proctor…they ALL compete or competed and routinely use it in their training programs. I know. I’ve been there. Call Mac a “gamer”. I bet he’ll laugh (now get you some!)
Finally, well, Ron, I don’t know if you are trolling with your snide remarks. I respect your well thought opinion and thank you for your response.
YMMV
Judging from this comment it sounds like you have no idea what goes on in USPSA/IDPA…
As to #4: Ron has apparently never heard of using “glass house” walkthroughs made with engineer tape or better yet a mock up or similar designed structure if available. The big boys in the military DA community used custom build mock ups in rehearsing for the Son Tay raid, the Iranian Hostage Rescue attempt, the Bin Laden raid and thats just off the top of my head.
I would also point out that many home defense scenarios are effectively stages you can do walk throughs of. Just move the bad guys around for different variables but the physical movement through the “stage” area is set.
I agree that everyone serious about using a firearm for defense needs to experience action competitive shooting. It is a great activity to test yourself and your equipment under “stress”. Some of the competition oriented guns and gear won’t serve you well in the real world though. Some of the actions required to get the best times on a stage would not serve you well either. Such as stuffing the gun close to a series of targets and blazing away, not using available cover and shooting targets out of sequence from around cover (thereby exposing yourself to all the targets in the array) just so you can run to the next firing point faster. No shooting sport is a replacement for actual training but action shooting gives you the potential to improve your gun handling skills and shooting / manipulating skills under pressure.
Well said my friend. Looking forward to the rest of this series. I have found that shooting the games has made me a better shooter, and I just don’t see how being a better shooter can be a bad thing in a real fight. But why did you put up that picture of that ugly guy shooting wrong handed?…Just kidding of course L.L.
I believe there’s a huge misconception in the training world about competitive shooting. I also believe there’s a problem with wording. There’s a big difference between the words “training” and “practice”. Look them up and you’ll see my point. The problem is, instructors take the shortcut and just say that shooting competitions will get you killed and will teach you bad habits, then they leave it at that. If you use ipsc/idpa as your only source of training, ie; that’s where you’re learning to shoot, then yes, you can learn some bad habits that will definitely hinder your growth. However, if you get some training from a reputable school or instructor, then take that training and practice it at a match, then you can only grow. Adding matches to an already existent training regiment is an excellent way to add stress and time constraints to your shooting program. If all you do is say, shoot IDPA matches instead of getting formal training, then yes, you can learn bad habits or “tactics”. Take reloading from cover for example. If you can save time in a real fight, reloading while enroute to cover, why wouldn’t you.I think you get what I’m saying so I won’t take up an entire three pages of your site listing examples. There are pros and cons to everything we do in the training world, it’s finding the balance that makes it fun.
To steal a quote;
“You can’t go as deep training as in a race or a fight. If you don’t compete it’s easy to convince yourself you’re going hard. You’re not.” Mark Twight
Excellent article!
It sounds like the author has attended a Pat McNamara class, or at least a similar one. That experience is one of the things that pushed me over the edge to competing.I look forward to the next installments.
Competition allows you to manipulate your gun under some artificial pressure and forces focus on the fundamentals which is critical in a fight I was in an incident in Iraq where a whole company of troops opened up on a threat with literally hundreds of rounds expended for a couple dozen hits. In the states we have to think about collateral damage even more and fundamental marksmanship skills do just that. A local Leo with bullseye competition experience ( about as un- tactical as it gets) got in a fight and he said After all he remembers is repeating sights -trigger over and over to himself like on the bullseye line – he prevailed. You can also make competition what you want it to be I often compete with a j frame or glock 26 carried just as I do every day just because lots of people use trick guns and gear does not mean you have to. Competition with your carry gun and gear will teach you lots of things less focused training may not
The great thing about the competitive matches is YOU get to choose what you want to shoot. You want to really test out that new ultralight J-Frame with your whizbang .357mag rounds? Shoot an IDPA BUG match. Want to shoot your dept-issued Glock/S&W/Beretta/Sig/Whatever out of your duty gear? USPSA Production is your ticket. Needing to work on your draw and target transitions? Try Steel Challenge. Like the idea of going from your rifle to your pistol or shotgun? Find a 3-Gun match. Want to work on shooting on the move, back to USPSA you go, and then when you decide you need work around barriers and cover, head over to the next IDPA match.
Competitive events can really help improve your game as long as you’re disciplined about it. No one says that you HAVE to shoot from wide out in the open, or get as close to the targets as possible. Tailor each sport to help YOU get the most out of it. Shoot USPSA like an IDPA match if you want to use cover, or shoot it with your daily carry gear if you want to run it like that. Nobody says you have to being shooting a Limcat, STI, SVI, or Brazos gun. A G19 or M&P is just fine for both USPSA and IDPA, and the only thing holding you back in the standings will be your shooting ABILITY, not your equipment.
That’s how I approach it. I shoot IDPA and USPSA, and I shoot them both with a similar mindset. I know I’ll never be one of the top three shooters (especially at a USPSA match) since I’m reloading behind cover, slicing the pie, etc. but I’m not really there to compete against the other shooters. I’m there to compete against myself, to push myself. I think it’s really beneficial shooting under the pressures of the timer and peer criticism.
I’m happy if I’m in the top third of all shooters at a USPSA event. If I wanted to make myself “look good” then I’d run a revolver, since nobody at either of the clubs I compete at shoots a wheelgun. I’d be in first place every time (in revolver division, anyway).
On a side note, my IDPA club is good because the guy who designs most of the stages is left-handed, and he likes making things hard on righties.
If you don’t actually compete against anyone, how do you know how you’ve done?
How exactly do you slice the pie on the clock? Seems counter productive.
There is often a difference between what you think you can do and what you actually can do. Competition is one of the easiest ways to discover where you have areas needing work.
Competition shooting is not training, it’s testing. Multi-gun IDPA expert and USPSA production B class as a reference for my opinion.
For an added adrenaline rush, try man on man competitions. No timers, just you and the other shooter. The adrenaline caused by having another shooter on the line with you will do crazy things to your shooting skills until you get used to it.
Here are some examples, pins and steel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfi6zfGbbVY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFGuCTPhOLs
I’m no expert competitor but I enjoy shooting steel and some uspsa. I shoot basic 1911’s no comps or optics. My experience with guys that say competition will get you killed is they miss a6″ plate at 30 feet with just a timer pushing them.
Nice start to the article, looking forward to the rest of it!
Arik, it’s like you are handing out money. Good stuff!
Great article Arik. USPSA is one of the single best ways to evaluate your shooting skills relative to other shooters with comparable weapons. It is a great exercise of the component skills of shooting and is essentially a drill that people shoot against each other to demonstrate who has the best mastery of the basics under the pressures of competition. Just because you get a walk through doesn’t mean it goes as planned and the best shooters can make split second adjustments to their plan based on a mistake and still win or do well. Don’t confuse a shooting drill (which is effectively what sport shooting in USPSA is) with a scenario which is a judgment exercise. There is a reason the highest levels of special operations highly encourage USPSA and 3-Gun shooting. Nothing will tell you better than a good USPSA match where your gun handling skills and accuracy/speed combination honestly are and what you should work on.
Anyone want to tell Mr. Pannone here that shooting the games is bad for real world fighting?
Here’s my perspective–I didn’t grow up around guns, I didn’t serve in the armed forces and I’m not a LEO. But I had friends who were in every category I mentioned above and introduced me to firearms. When I got my CCW permit back in 2009, I started shooting IPSC a month after I got my pistol because my friend got me involved. IPSC/USPSA taught me (being a new shooter) how to properly fire a pistol, how to properly reload and good pistol handling skills. Plus, all the IPSC/USPSA guys were great in helping out newbies like myself. I shot production class until this year (had to change to Limited 10 because I have an Apex AEK trigger on my M&P). I wanted to become more proficient with my handgun if I ever needed to use it to defend myself or my family. The most important part is that USPSA is getting the shooter used to reloading, shooting from cover, and focusing on the target. Do I think that an actual gunfight is going to be like this? Hell No & I personally hope I never have to find out! But, I am pretty sure that my basic skills that I have improved with shooting USPSA would give me a better advantage over someone who hasn’t been involved with competitive shooting.
I got hooked on shooting, joined USPSA and I shoot all the time with my primary firearm (M&P 9—I also have a Shield). Personally, I think that if you own a pistol or are new to owning a pistol, that you should at least get involved in shooting a few matches a year to keep up/improve your skill set.
I try to read as much as I can about new products and training. I personally wish I had more time to spend at the range, but work & family time doesn’t always allow how much time I would like to spend at the range. I appreciate all the articles and tips from the experts–for us regular guys out there, the information means a lot!
Perhaps this issue is best summarized by the words of the Shogun of Harlem, the great street fighter “Sho’nuff,” who said “Come on, (Bruce) Leroy, teach me something.” And so Arik begins his journey…
Arik’s article on why competition is good for the tactical world probably leapfrogs past the most important point, “Mindset.” My observation is that tactical dudes and competitive shooters, whether novice or highly skilled, are self-motivated to learn and challenge themselves to be better. Does anyone reading this post surround themselves with other shooters who constantly say, “I’m good enough,” or “I don’t need to get better,” or “I’m happy with being average?” Your Tier 1 tactical dudes and top competitive shooters are probably next-door neighbors in terms of mental conditioning and preparation.
Arik’s post is spot on in addressing just how tactical dudes can take their skills to the next level through competitive shooting. Stress inoculation, weapons manipulations, sights and triggers, and mission/stage planning are common between competitive shooters and tactical dudes. All the finger pointing and put downs sound more like an ego defense mechanism protecting against feelings of anxiety over an unacceptable performance in front of peers.
Or something like that…