What Can Be, Unburdened By What Has Been

Paladin · #1

So I thought I would put a certain tagline to better use. Lots of shooters get to a plateau in their skills. They develop a permanent perception of what they can and can't do with a pistol. It's easy to plateau if you are working on your own or don't have access to high quality training. Over many years Paladin Training Systems has searched the globe and integrated every highly effective training methodology into our program. I've been extremely pleased with the results, but have had difficulty effectively communicating them. It's hard to explain these things to the uninitiated. Training over time is key to developing ability. Shooting well is not something you learn in a day or a weekend. Training with a variety of instructors is great, but without an integrated system that builds each step of the way you will not get optimal results.

Over the last 4 years one of my students, David, has gone from an average LTC to a remarkably high level of ability. This was done with minimal ammunition (mostly dryfire, airsoft and .22LR). I try to keep service caliber round counts to 100-200 rounds per training day. He completed 19 one day pistol classes, which averages out to a class about every 2.5 months. I estimate David expended less than 4,000 rounds of 9mm in class. He does some live fire training outside of my classes, but that live fire is primarily for skills maintenance.

Some of the results:

Ready Position: 0.47 seconds at 20 yards on 8 inch steel plate:

Concealed Draw at 20 yards on 8 inch plate:

Compressed Ready: 0.82 second hit at 20 yards on 8 inch steel plate:

Ready Position: Hitting two 8 inch steel plates 0.84 seconds at 20 yards:

Sidestep from the ready position in 1.60 seconds at 20 yards on 8 inch plate:

While there might be a handful shooters out there who can beat these time/accuracy standards, I don't think any could have done it with such a modest ammunition budget.

My message is, don't let your firearms skill plateau. Don't let your perception of yourself hold you back. Quality training can get results you may have never dreamed possible.