I recently completed a four day handgun course taught by Rob Pincus. The first two days were his standard combat focus shooting course; the second two days were his advanced pistol handling course.
Rob studies gunfights. Much of his program is based on what he sees in dash camera and surveillance camera videos. He notices general themes, and then studies the science that explain why we do much of what we do during a fight. An example could be the "flinch", where people generally bring their hands up to their face, to protect it, and bend their knees so they can move quickly, when they are startled or attacked.
The class started the way most classes start; propper grip and draw, trigger control, get off the line of attack, etc. I started learning new stuff right away though, and to make this easier to read, I'll just list some bullet points.
- Don't move and shoot; move or shoot (unless against contact weapon).
- Move laterally only, not toward or away from threat (unless moving to cover).
- When moving, be tricky like a basketball player faking out his defender.
- Reload and clear malfunctions at high compressed ready, not in front of face.
- When engaging multiple targets, don't just go from one to another as fast as possible; come back to ready, move laterally, and reengage.
- Always move strong leg in when drawing, even if kneeling, seated, or laying down.
- During weak hand reloads, put gun in weak pocket, not between legs.
- Don't hug cover so closely, stay back a bit.
- High compressed ready or sul is better than pointed up.
- When peeking around cover, keep gun at high compressed ready, not out in firing position.
- Draw gun during lateral movement, not before or after; if I fumble the draw with a concealment garment, keep moving.
- I don't need XS Big Dots to go FAST.
- No trainer or student will ever know everything.
- Sometimes I should focus on the target, and sometimes I should focus on the front sight. The target and my competency determines which.
- Sometimes my groups would shift left. When I focused on keeping my weak (left) arm locked, they centered up again.
I think the biggest thing I learned was my own personal balance of speed and precision, which dictates when I need to slow down and use my sights, and when I can speed up and get hits really quick. Different targets and distances create different needs for speed and precision.
Take care.
Rob studies gunfights. Much of his program is based on what he sees in dash camera and surveillance camera videos. He notices general themes, and then studies the science that explain why we do much of what we do during a fight. An example could be the "flinch", where people generally bring their hands up to their face, to protect it, and bend their knees so they can move quickly, when they are startled or attacked.
The class started the way most classes start; propper grip and draw, trigger control, get off the line of attack, etc. I started learning new stuff right away though, and to make this easier to read, I'll just list some bullet points.
- Don't move and shoot; move or shoot (unless against contact weapon).
- Move laterally only, not toward or away from threat (unless moving to cover).
- When moving, be tricky like a basketball player faking out his defender.
- Reload and clear malfunctions at high compressed ready, not in front of face.
- When engaging multiple targets, don't just go from one to another as fast as possible; come back to ready, move laterally, and reengage.
- Always move strong leg in when drawing, even if kneeling, seated, or laying down.
- During weak hand reloads, put gun in weak pocket, not between legs.
- Don't hug cover so closely, stay back a bit.
- High compressed ready or sul is better than pointed up.
- When peeking around cover, keep gun at high compressed ready, not out in firing position.
- Draw gun during lateral movement, not before or after; if I fumble the draw with a concealment garment, keep moving.
- I don't need XS Big Dots to go FAST.
- No trainer or student will ever know everything.
- Sometimes I should focus on the target, and sometimes I should focus on the front sight. The target and my competency determines which.
- Sometimes my groups would shift left. When I focused on keeping my weak (left) arm locked, they centered up again.
I think the biggest thing I learned was my own personal balance of speed and precision, which dictates when I need to slow down and use my sights, and when I can speed up and get hits really quick. Different targets and distances create different needs for speed and precision.
Take care.
