I have been shooting firearms competitively for some time now and have found that
I.D.P.A has become my favorite venue for this sport. As I have competed around the
western states, I have observed that there are two distinctly different approaches to the
‘game’.

Now before you get your feathers in a tussle, let me say that I recognize that all of the
organized competitive shooting sports are just that, games. You are not in the real
world, not shooting real human targets and no one is shooting back at you. So just how
does a sport like I.D.P.A help a concealed weapon carrier to survive in a ‘real world’
situation?

I believe that a shooter can make the conscious decision to approach the game as pure
competition or as a semi-realistic venue to hone your tactical skills and training in
preparation for a ‘real world’ event.One accomplishes the latter by having a warrior mindset. A warrior will find every opportunity to train, hone and perfect his or her skills so that they will prevail in all foreseeable confrontations. How does that translate to ‘the game’? It means approaching I.D.P.A. as a training tool. As the founders of I.D.P.A would put it…“Prior to the formation of IDPA, there was no place to compete and hone one’s skill with equipment designed for and suitable for self-defense. Other shooting sports are just that, sports that have no relevance to self-defense. IDPA offers an exciting forum for practical shooters in which truly practical equipment,It all comes down to your approach. If you go to a match with a competitive mindset,then the day is just a fun time of playing the ‘game’. However, if you go techniques and courses of fire are mandated.” (source:www.idpa.com)  to the match with a warrior mindset, then you would have an opportunity to test your training in a ‘simulated’ real world scenario. You would listen to or read the basic briefing in regard to safety and how many shots on each target, so that you stay within the rule set of theday.

You would not, however, walk the stages before hand or visualize how you would problem solve the scenario until the buzzer sounds. You might even keep yourself from watching how other shooters approached the stage and solved the problem. Your goalwould be to use the pressure of time and the unknown scenario to simulate the natural stress that you will experience in a real world conflict. At the buzzer, work through the
stage as if you heard glass breaking in the middle of the night at your home. Be smart, be
safe, use good tactics, and solve the problem. By taking this approach, you can reinforce
your training and engrain your reflexive response and situational awareness. There are
not many times or places that the average shooter can practice shooting scenarios from
holster and under concealment.

As Dan Bettreal said in his series on CarryConcealed.net, “The Human Factor”…
“To prepare yourself for making this ultimate decision without
hesitation you should strive to build up your availability of memory
slides. Since most of us don't have to make these types of decision on
a regular basis, the only other way to build these slides is through
training.”

Another observation from Agent Ronald J. Adams in the classic piece called “Street
Survival – Tactics for Armed Encounters”, which has been a required training resource
for law enforcement academies all around the nation since the early 80’s,“For certain, when you are under sudden stress and fear, your pupils dialating, your heart thumping, your lungs heaving, your adrenalin surging, your stomach and bowels in turmoil, your ability to distinguish time, colors and distance diminished, you revert, without thinking to the habits you have learned in training.

Unless you have trained realistically, this alone may cost you your life.”
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying there is anything wrong with treating the day as a
game, and enjoying it. That is the right of every shooter. But if you choose to use the
‘game’ as a training tool, then you have that right as well. Invest the time it takes to learn
your skills with training, dry practice and live fire practice. Set measurable goals for
your progress and track your results. Use opportunities, like I.D.P.A, to test your skills
and use that feedback to build confidence and confirm your progress toward your goals.

I was interviewing several veterans, law enforcement, and students through our classes for this subject. We found that the all of the law enforcement and veterans had trained and practiced to shoot ambidextrous. Very few of the civilians and those that we talked about had practiced to shoot with either hand. It is not as easy as just picking up the handgun and shooting with the other hand. Eye dominance plays a major factor in which hand the shooter would naturally hold the handgun. Cross-eye domination occurs when the shooter is right handed and has a left dominant eye or the opposite with being left handed and right eye dominant.

To determine your eye dominance:

Two people stand squarely facing two to three arm-lengths apart. The first person needs to be an observer and the other member will be the eye dominance tester. Testers should extend their arms forward with the hands in front of the waist and place one thumb on top of the other one. Keeping the thumbs in place, cross the fingers of the top hand over the fingers of the bottom hand to form a small triangle. Now with both eyes open, extend the arms to eye height and look at the observer’s nose through the opening. The observer should note which eye they see looking back through the triangular opening. Then, keeping the nose centered in the opening, the tester should slowly bring the hands back to his or her face. The opening will come to the dominant eye. The observer should watch for switching between the eyes as the hands move toward the face. Go through this again with the other person and try several times to confirm the tests.

This is one of the main things that students need to learn before they go out to the range. I have gone shooting with people and they were not able to hit the targets and were frustrated. We stopped shooting and checked the eye dominance and started over. The difference is astounding. If this only happened once it would be not even note worthy, but this has happened way too many times and has validated the importance of learning which is your dominant eye.

Take some lessons from our law enforcement and military. Not everything the military does in training can be understood, but this is one of those that the civilians need to follow. One of the veterans was a pilot in the Vietnam War. His drills consisted of shooting with both hands around barriers and learning to shoot equally as well with either hand. They were using the .38 revolvers and the drills were designed to teach the pilots ambidextrous shooting depending on the cover and the location of the enemy.

To validate the testing of ambidextrous shooting we went to the range and shot 21 rounds left handed and 21 rounds right handed. Scott and I have had many contests over the years, (of which I have only won once because he had the flu and he still did not want to miss a trip to the range). This time was no exception and Scott won again. As a law enforcement officer he is required to qualify with both hands. As an instructor I have always practiced with both hands and can shoot almost equally with either hand. I beat Scott on the first right-handed target, and he beat me on the left-handed target. Each of us only had one shot that did not score and we were very close in total points.

Scott was shooting his off duty Glock and I was shooting my favorite Springfield Arms 1911. As I had no excuses he laughed and said the difference was because he had a better gun. You can tell where that conversation went.

One advantage to wearing a holster for a left-hand draw is a big advantage in driving. The Seat belt does not get in the way and the handgun is readily available for a quicker draw. When wearing a right-hand draw the seat belt has been a problem and I have to pull the sidearm and put in the center console so that access to the sidearm is not blocked by the seat belt. People also do not look at having the "Print" or the handgun on the left side as much as people normally look to the right side for the holster.

The bottom line: Get out to the range and practice. If you are afraid to shoot with the other hand, get an instructor to help watch and work with you while you go through the new shooting styles. Get with a friend and have contests to score both left and right handed shooting. Once you learn the basics, it is easier to transfer the knowledge to the other hand. It is good to practice this before you break your hand, or have arthritis and can not work the handgun with your normal hand.

If you have any ambidextrous shooting stories, please send them in, or if you have any suggestions we are always looking for good information on the training and shooting techniques.

Happy trails and keep the lead down range. Clark – Carryconcealed.net

Every time I teach it is amazing how much I learn from the events. It does not matter if it is a Boy Scout event where 400 boys are run through my line at a black powder shoot, or teaching CCW classes to families that have had death threats and are learning to defend themselves.

Jimmy, one of our Law Enforcement officers and trainers is one of the best in the business. He has several pointers that have helped our classes through very small and easy suggestions.

1: Use the B27 Targets. These are the silhouettes and can come in different colors. We have used the Blue, Orange and Green. The B27 target is the shape of a man and can help build confidence. As the shooting tests are at very close ranges, it still helps the students with confidence, as they are able to tell what a "Center Mass" shot would be as they are getting into the basic shooting principals. It was amazing to see the difference in the students when everyone was hitting the center mass.

2: Shoot for the head. This is a drill that allows the students to see that they need to aim for center mass in the event that they have to return fire for self-defense. The head is a very small target that moves faster than does the torso and for the average shooter makes a much more difficult target.

3: Customize the range for your class. If you are doing close quarter shots for the CCW test, put a table in front of the shooters so they can minimize the movement with the firearms in-between shootings. The tables can be the fold up tables that are at Sam’s for $40 and come with the travel bag.

4: Practice dry firing techniques in the classroom using dummy ammunition. Following the rule that there will be no ammunition in the classroom except specifically marked "Snap Caps" or dummy rounds will help in keeping the students safe. When practicing these drills, everyone should be pointing the hand gun in a safe direction. We have the students point to an outside wall and work or we designate one wall as "down range and have students on the line. It depends on the number of instructors assisting with the class.

5: Never pick up a hand gun in a training class unless the hand gun is presented correctly to a student for inspection to ensure that the gun is correctly unloaded. This will help everyone from possibly making a mistake and thinking that just because the magazine is out of the gun, does not mean that it is unloaded. Revolvers should never be passed in a classroom unless the cylinder is opened and the hand gun is handed by the open rail. Semi-Automatics should never be passed in the class with a magazine in the handle or with the action shut. The action should be locked open and magazine out of the gun. This is where most people get into trouble with leaving a shell in the chamber and then handing a loaded gun in a classroom.

6: Have time for your students to talk about real world scenarios. This is one of highest ranked parts of our courses. Teaching and reading the law is mandatory, but it helps making the law come alive with real world role-playing or scenarios.

7: Use training aids. Training aids can range from PowerPoint slides, or NRA Posters, or old handguns that should not be shot. People learn from all of their senses, not just hearing. If they read it, hear it, practice it, and try to teach it to their neighbor they will retain it. (RHPT)

These are some of the most basic teaching tips. If you have any that are working in your classrooms, please send them in. We would like to post them in the training sections and help the entire training community.

Happy Trails and Keep the Lead Downrange – Clark, Carryconcealed.net.