Written by: Greg Ellifritz
I got this drill from Mike Seeklander’s Blog. It came from his excellent book Your Defensive Handgun Training Program. I highly recommend both the book and the blog for further study.
The drill description from the author’s page:
Drill: Extend Prep and Press/Alternating Target Area
Rounds Per Repetition: 2 Total Rounds: 40 Total Repetitions: 20
Accuracy and Time Goals: 90% combat effective hits, no misses
Purpose: To work on managing the sights, trigger, and grip (recoil control) and improving each of these areas on the second half of the draw process.
Start position: High Ready [HR] (where hands meet after draw).
Target type and setup: Threat Target/s at 5 yards, centered on the shooter.
Prop setup: N/A
Action/s: From HR on the sound of the timer, extend the gun while managing the sights and trigger (visual shift and verification), and fire two (2) shots on the body. On the next repetition go through the same process and fire two shots on the head. Alternate back and forth between target areas for a total of 20 repetitions (10 to the body, 10 to the head). When assessing hits, each target area should have 20 shots on it.
I found this one to be a quick way to get some practice in. I did the 40 round version with my police duty gun (Glock 21) and then did 30 rounds of the same drill with my backup gun (S&W 342). I finished both drills in less than 15 minutes. It was a high quality training session in a short period of time. It will work well for those of you who shoot on commercial ranges that don’t allow work from the holster. All of these drills start from the ready position.
I did this one at the five yard line as described. I tightened up the hit areas by using half a sheet of 8.5″ x 11″ paper for the chest zone and a quarter sheet of the same paper for the head zone. My par times were 1.25 seconds for the chest shots and 1.75 seconds for the head shots. I made all the times and had 39 out of 40 hits. The one missed body shot was when I was really pushing the clock, that was the second shot and it broke in .91 seconds. I loaded my mags full and when I ran dry in the middle of a pair, I reloaded on the clock. It gave me a few repetitions of slide lock reloads as well.
“That little guy? Don’t worry about that little guy!”
After finishing, I ran the same drill for 30 rounds with my .38 snub. I kept the same time limits and range, but opened up the target area a bit since I don’t shoot that gun nearly as well as my Glock. I used a full sheet of paper for the chest area and used the head area “as is” on the silhouette. I have big dot sights on my snub and it tends to shoot a couple inches low at close range. 29 out of 30 hits. The low head shot was my flinch, not the fault of the sights.
Overall, I found this to be a fast and effective “tune up” drill. Give it a try!
