After a student has had his or her initial exposure to the safe handling and firing of a handgun, the question inevitably arises: “What’s next?”
As an instructor, you’d best have an answer ready for this one — an answer that makes sense, that isn’t overly complicated and that meets the individual student’s needs with regard to what his or her short- and long-term goals are. Odds are that, at this juncture, the student has minimal to no equipment with which to work and is really looking for some guidance on what to buy in order to get started with his or her own guns and gear.
Although there are many answers to what’s “next,” narrowing the choices down to three or four will get your student started down the right path without feeling overwhelmed. Separate disciplines, such as personal defense, competitive shooting or recreational shooting at informal targets, are definitively different, but all emanate from the same foundational skills learned during a student’s initial experiences with handgun shooting.
After the student is comfortable with the foundational skills of safety and marksmanship from a static firing position, the next step is learning safe handling skills from the holster.
In any of these choices, it is important to start with a gun that fits the hand of the shooter and the purpose for which it is to be used. Size of the gun and caliber for which it is chambered are two of the main considerations here; if the gun isn’t comfortable to shoot and carry, it is likely that neither will happen for long.
There can be a considerable amount of crossover among the aforementioned paths, but each direction can and probably should get more specific as progress is made. Regardless of the initial direction a student wishes to travel, it is likely he or she will want to branch out into other areas as interest and familiarity build, which usually results in the acquisition of more guns and gear.
In each case, after the student is comfortable with the foundational skills of safety and marksmanship from a static firing position, the next step is learning safe handling skills from the holster. The draw from and recovery to the holster are the key points to proficiency at this stage. After the draw can be performed comfortably, safely and efficiently, handling manipulations in conjunction with a draw, such as loading, unloading and learning the various phases of immediate action, come into play. Handling skills are paramount in providing a foundation for the next level of skill development.
For the casual plinker, executing basic handling skills and successfully engaging a target might be the plateau of goals with a handgun. For those interested in personal defense or competitive shooting, there’s a lot more to learn.
Regardless of discipline, after the mechanical skills are in place, real-time decision-making comes into play.
The concept of speed should be introduced early in the handling stages of working with handguns but primarily to instill the proper mindset from the outset. “Speed” is nothing more than minimizing the movement necessary to accomplish a task, and a student thinking and practicing economic movement will evolve as faster sooner than a student just trying to make it happen by moving quickly.
Sustained fire — strings of multiple shots on single targets or engaging multiple targets at varying distances — is a set of lessons all unto itself. Proper trigger manipulation coordinated with proper sight picture is the key to success here. Shooting one-handed-only with the dominant and non-dominant sides, shooting from improvised positions, shooting while moving, learning the difference between cover and concealment and how to engage targets from behind either add to the skills necessary for the next progression.
All of these skills, and perhaps others as conditions require, need to be practiced and refined such that they can be integrated into one another without the practitioner needing to consciously think about doing so.
Regardless of discipline, after the mechanical skills are in place, real-time decision-making comes into play. The most important types of this decision-making are (perhaps not surprisingly) whether a target should be deemed a shoot or no-shoot target and, only slightly less importantly, in which order to shoot the targets that need to get shot, which is dictated by course regulations or the threat level presented.
If the gun isn’t comfortable to shoot and carry, it is likely that neither will happen for long.
Departing from competitive and recreational shooting and moving into the personal defense arena brings with it non-standard initiation cues, safely executed 360-degree scans and verbalizations to the target and potential bystanders, just to name a few. This part of the evolution of training transitions an individual’s mindset from simple target engagement to thinking in a broader sense and contextualizing personal defense situations into their everyday lives.
One of the final and most effective phases can be interactive scenario training, which draws on all aspects of the previous instruction, from safe handling and marksmanship skills through making split-second decisions as whether to disengage, negotiate or use force. The force in this type of training comes from non-lethal firearms and other tools that provide a pain penalty without leaving permanent damage for making a mistake in dealing with an attacker. The variables are as many as the participants in the scenario can imagine.
These scenarios, properly choreographed, replicate real-world situations and test the student’s ability to negotiate and prevail in an unpredictable encounter. Although mentally and physically challenging, these scenarios are the epitome of preparing for a real-world encounter.
As with many professions, after a particular level of accomplishment is met, continuing education is required to stay up-to-date and proficient with the most current information as well as to hone physical skills. After training begins, the evolution of a student is perpetual throughout his or her lifetime. After all, as in all things shooting, once a student, always a student.
