TLDR:

Ken shares how he got good at shooting a pistol by focusing on always hitting, timing everything, while always upping the stress.

Details:

My Marksmanship Journey

I shot as a kid, hunted, and got very good at accuracy and managing stress as I competed in International Air Rifle, NRA 3 Position Smallbore at National levels.

I joined the Army, and as you would expect qualified Expert. I was commissioned as an officer, and for the first time shot a semi-automatic pistol, and qualified with no training of any kind on it except how to take it apart and put it back together, (a testament really to how easy the qual was).

Long gap…. I didn’t shoot a firearm for probably 10 years, til we got a place in VT and I started hunting on the farm there. And once our son was born, and he reached 5 he was quite interested, so we started shooting more. And hunting. Still no semi-auto pistols.

Then he turned 10 and wanted to try International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) shooting. I’d never heard of it. We bought a Glock 34, which we shared, and we tried that, and it was his jam. He quickly rose in the ranks, including winning the Utah State Championship (of all ages) when he was 12.

So my story is keeping up with him, learning enough to help him, and then putting him with the best coaches in the world, with me learning as well. BTW: the last time I beat him was when he was 12…

Formal Training

My first pistol training was with the greatest practical shooter of all time – Rob Leatham. Talk about starting at the top. The things he could do with a pistol so easily astounded me. In 1 short day, he set the framework for how I think about shooting (we will cover that below). Then I had classes with Ted Puentes (where I first learned about measuring shooting) and Eddie Garcia (who taught me the basics of grabbing low-hanging fruit with low investment high payoff training).

Along the way, I met a fellow named Ron Avery. Ron is generally acknowledged as one of the best instructors ever. We formed a company together (Tactical Performance Center) and I taught with him a zillion times. Learning every time. Reframing it my way. Maybe giving him some new ways to think about it. We roamed the world, teaching the concepts needed to always hit stuff as early as possible.

He and I dreamed of introducing the concept of hit factor (measuring time and accuracy) to armed professionals. Really, the idea of introducing measurement and feedback to them. And we worked at it hard. Alas, he passed away before he saw what it would become… measuring time/accuracy for all Marine Infantry, all FBI Academy Students, and all DEA Academy students… amazing!

That leads to now… Scoring Technologies/JMAP, where the focus is marksmanship measurement backed by training and test design.

Highlights of How I Think About Shooting

I’m pretty good. But I’m also the worst shooter in my circle of friends and associates, many who happen to be world / national / state champions…. pretty elite!

My path in shooting was largely to support my son advancing in it, and then my community. I got really good, but I’m also very good at organizing things. So I ended up running huge shooting matches, and a very large and active shooting range – meaning I focused on that, not getting that last 5% of shooting performance.

But I maintained high skill, which remains to this day with very low maintenance / practice (I’ll be doing about 100 rounds tomorrow morning, the first in about 1.5 months).

Here are some concepts I use, and I know will help you.

Concept 1: Never Missing…

Remember that I started in air rifle and smallbore. I rose to the highest classifications in those sports, which you can never miss over an entire weekend of shooting. By miss… I mean shoot a 9. I’d mostly have to shoot X or 10. Over hundreds of rounds. Constant pressure. Focus. Attention.

When Brian and I started into practical shooting we encountered the concept of a “regional” target – an A box in USPSA, or a Zero down circle in IDPA. They modeled human anatomy and represented that anywhere in them was equivalent, and TIME was the differentiator.

And since 2010, I have only trained on small, regional, targets… where hitting anywhere in the region is equal. They train you to hit and balance time well. To interpret sight pictures (dot or irons) in terms of acceptability to hit the region. Does a bad guy care what part of the heart I hit him in, or left eye or right eye? That explains the concept of a “regional” target.

A miss is a crisis. See that target… done at speed. Do. Not. Miss. Basically the standard, when performing is 99.99% hits, and 95% on the region I’m aiming at (A zone in a target usually). In practice, that jumps up a bit as I step on the gas, try things, or am just rusty.

Missing is a big deal. I start with hitting, ramp the speed up, til I miss, figure out what’s up, sort that out, repeat.

Typical target setup on my practice ranges…

Concept 2… Always on the clock…

Except when I do grouping fire (where the goal is to make the smallest group), I’ve done all my training using a shot timer with the goal of hitting my regional target as early as I could. And then hit it again. and again…

This is where most people fall down in their training. Time is equal to accuracy in gunfights. Hitting stuff late, well, you’ll never know, will you? Because you got hit!

You have to have BOTH.

I trained to a standard of “misses are disasters…” and “hit as early as I can”. Together!

I timed everything. Even dry fire was timed. To this day I have a shot timer in my EDC backpack. It goes with me everywhere. I never know when I’m gonna need it, and it feels funny and pointless to shoot without some sort of time pressure.

All Marine Infantry now test with timers… Cool!

Concept 3 Stress for fun and improvement…

Play games… you’ll get better…

I added stress and consequences in practice and periodically in public competition. Go shoot with everybody watching, and check your heart rate, it will be pounding!

Even when solo I added stress. If I didn’t do a marksmanship challenge properly 3 times at speed, I’d unload the dishwashers all this week. Or donate $100 to a charity. And I stuck to it.

I played games. Against others and myself. Like a basketball player doing ladder drills for every free throw missed at the end of practice, I’d set goals like “hit the 8″ plate at 10 yards, from the holster, 3 times in < 2 seconds, 5 times in a row”. And the consequences might be pushups once I stowed my gear, or paying for dinner next time with a friend and just saying “Your dinner is courtesy my range f-up”.

I turned what was important into games I could play by myself or with others.

And finally, I added the most significant stressor of all… doing it in public. Demoing in front of classes. Shooting matches. YouTube videos where the first take is what we show. High stakes, high stress.

Hitting stuff…. early….. while stressed. Try it!

How much did I shoot, and do I shoot?

Not that much. Early on, about 500 rounds a month, for probably 6 months. And about 10 times that dry-dire. Very focused. Very measured. With stress in each session.

How much do I shoot now? Way less than that. Yet as I go to ranges for training or classes, I’m almost always better than all students (except those who compete at high levels). The early foundations stuck, and it doesn’t take much to keep them pretty good.

I do visualize and dry fire most days. I’d say all, but not all, just most.

Recently, we worked with a Marine unit on a super fun Rogers Range. They were the focus, but I did get a little shooting in on the last day and easily knocked down all of my lane multiple times, with almost no makeup shots. The foundations, built on the concepts above, are key to what is a perform on demand, at a pretty high level, set of marksmanship skills.

Why share this?

I’m regularly asked how I got good at shooting and how I stay good at it. Above is largely the story I tell. The key point I’d like you to take away is that very high marksmanship skill isn’t some mysterious Bruce Lee level of mystical effort… It’s really quite simple:

• Get some training
• Focus first on hitting
• Then, hitting under time pressure
• Then, hitting under time AND external pressures.

And have fun! Make friends. Do it with your family. And… teach somebody else. The thousands I’ve taught and seen succeed mean way more than how I do.

That’s it. Ultimately, I’m writing this because my son got into IDPA and all of practical shooting. Along the way, I met amazing friends, learned a ton, shared what I learned, and somehow managed to figure out how to mix my passion for teaching, software, and shooting into a very nice business.

I’d welcome knowing how you fare. Share your story. Email me ken+blog@scoringtech.com

Thanks,

Ken Nelson
Co-Founder, Scoring Tech
Co-Founder, Tactical Performance Center
Founder, PractiScore