Showing posts with label practice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label practice. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Part One: The NORB Review, First Impressions at the Range



I discovered the NORB, an acronym for No Ordinary Range Bag several years ago when Gabby Franco posted hers online and showed a short video of all the things she could carry in it.  I was a new shooter back then and was immediately impressed at the versatility.  I also respect Ms Franco’s opinion on equipment becuase she is a professional shooter and probably has more experience than I have in the world of range bags.  Although I hadn’t purchased any range bag since I first started shooting 4 years ago, the NORB was still in the back of my mind as a great range bag with a funny name.


 
A few years later I saw in an issue of the Sure Shot’s Magazine an ad for OffHand Gear and their hand guards.  I was amazed at their designs and checked out their website.  Little did I know, this was the same company that made that amazing bag, the NORB.  Recently, OffHand Gear posted online their new NORB-C.  A compact version of their original NORB and I shared the post online with CCLSC, my ladies’ shooting club.  The same day OffHand Gear’s owner Sandi contacted me to test one of their NORB bags and I jumped at the opportunity.  Here is my full review of the NORB in Kyptek Typhon.

First impression
It’s smaller than I thought.  Not by measure, but what I assumed, the size of a bag to carry all the things you’d need to go to the range. I was accustomed to my backpack that I can stuff (uncomfortably at times) full of whatever I figured I might need.   Most of it I don’t actually need.

The NORB is measured at 12 inches tall by 14 inches wide by 3 inches deep.  The website states that the bag can stand on its own and I was skeptical.  I immediately took it out of the packaging and attempted to stand it up.  Sure enough it does.  I was even more curious to see if it stood up once I filled the bag with anything I could find.  Surprise: it does.



Once I opened the bag up and started looking at the fabric and pockets, I realized the NORB was made with high quality buckles, soft fabric lined and sturdy zippers.  Sandi also included a short handle accessory which is nice because I like to grab my purses by the handle and sling them over my shoulder.  The short handle accessory is sold separately, but I would highly recommend purchasing one with your NORB.  The NORB is heavy duty and appears sturdy enough to hold up to regular use at the different ranges I go to.  The strap is made of a bungee cord covered with a woven material so it has stretch without pinching.

From the website - "Why on earth does NORB have a skinny, bungie strap on it?"  Well, where is your hand when you have that wide strapped bag on your shoulder?  It's holding it on your shoulder, right?  Wide straps are a better design for men so I started the design process with the strap and designed it after a bra strap.  The OffHand Gear bungie strap will stay on your shoulder, so your hands are free for other things (coffee for me), and the bungie distributes all that weight when you walk.  Walking with all your range gear, especially in heels, creates a lot of stress on our shoulder and heads right to our feet. With the bungie strap, the weight gives with you taking some of that pressure off of your feet and even more importantly off your shoulder.  Of course you can also cross body carry NORB and that bungie makes it a little easier to get on and off.

At The Range
Of course I wanted to test this claim. At the range at the following CCLSC practice, I packed my bag and heading to the range.  Usually I need to put my backpack down to move around the range to teach, but this time, I kept the NORB on my shoulder to see if it would stay in place.  Sure enough it did.

How much can you REALLY carry?  I was seriously skeptical. I figured there had to be a trick or something when I saw how much Gabby Franco could hold in hers.  I emptied my backpack and took a picture of everything in it and then proceeded to put it all in the NORB. All of it.  Everything I take to the range with the exception of my clipboard which I don’t always carry with me.  It actually fits more than I take to the range.  I generally only carry one pistol with me the NORB has the capacity for two, plus everything else. 




Lastly, I showed my husband the NORB and he said “That’s it?  Do you have everything in there?”  I replied yes and proceeded to take everything out and show him.  He said “WOW. Looks great like a regular bag. And it’s smaller, so it will be easier to carry and take to matches.”

You can check out the NORB here.

Part Two: Shotgun Clinic

Monday, December 12, 2016

Again With Mindset

Speaking of mindset.  As we draw closer to the end of the year many of us set goals for the New Year and find ways of breaking those goals.  If you do nothing else for the year, I would encourage you to adopt a growth mindset.  What is a growth mindset?  The link below explains the idea much further, however in short it the idea that what the talent and brains you were born with does not limit what you can do.  Practice and study can make all the difference to whether you are smarter, stronger, better, faster etc.

http://mindsetonline.com/whatisit/about/index.html

I would apply this idea to how you begin your year of shooting.  Commit yourself to practicing your fundamentals, practicing your marksmanship and practicing mindset.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Step two: After the basics


Sometimes when I ask the ladies, “what are your shooting goals?” they say “I want to shoot better.” I usually follow up with “what do you mean by better?” And they give me a look that means, “duh better”.  This has prompted me to outline a few options for those who want to shoot “better”.

Fundamentals, Target Shooting and Recreational Fun

There are a few examples of beginner shooting goals right there in the heading.  Work on your fundamentals, so they are the BEST they can be.  You can perform these without thinking and your shots are on target every time.  If you were a robot instead of a breathing human being, your fundamentals would be a precise program written for perfection.

Target shooting and hitting bullseyes perfectly every time.  Read: you are always in the 10 ring.  You are so accurate that you hit the same hole every time.  It looks like you have shot only one round, but really you have shot 50.  Try this achievement at every distance available to you at your local range.

Shooting for recreational fun.  I don’t mean going to range and gossiping with your girlfriends while holding a firearm.  What I mean is shooting fun targets, take bets as to who can do it the best, no pressure situations.  Try some trick shooting, like splitting a playing card in two or a poker target and see who can shoot the best hand.  And enter a local shooting competition for fun.  Local ranges may host a bullseye contest to benefit a charity or win a prize.  It’s not about winning, although that is nice, consider it a part of your overall experience as a shooter.

Shooting Sports, Competitive Shooting and Join a Team

I’ll be upfront with you; I don’t have a lot of experience with shooting sports.  I have an idea of what they are about and what is involved, but not a first-hand account.  Shooting sports and competitive shooting events are like all other sporting events, but shooting is the game.  There are local clubs that host these events and they have a set course you must shoot and you are scored based on your time.  Your time is calculated by the reading on the timer and then offset by the scoring mechanism in place.  For example, if you missed the target they might add 2 seconds to your time and if you shot a perfect target, they might take away 2 seconds from your time.  Better hits equals a better time.

And like many other sports there are teams you can join, where your scores are compiled as a team.  Then you are ranked and placed like a track team or swimming team.  Look up local ranges (both indoor and outdoor) in your area to see what the offer.  Many times these events are low cost, hosted monthly and have a moderate ammunition requirement.

Defensive Shooting and Further Training

Working on your skills can lead to other opportunities in training.  Once you have a good understanding and execution of the fundamentals and your shots are going where you expect them and want them to go, you might be ready to seek out more advanced training.  You can always learn more and get a different perspective by training with other people.  In this skill, more is better.

Become and instructor

Becoming an instructor is one of the most rewarding options (in my opinion).  I enjoy teaching others, no matter what the skill is, and I have a long history of teaching a wide range of topics.  There is always a practical test of your skills you must perform to qualify, but after completing our first topic, it should be no problem.  When I became a firearms instructor, I became a better shooter.  I understood what needed to be shared from my experiences and how my experiences applied to each individual.

Choosing the teaching pathway also opens you up to share your knowledge base with others.  In the firearms world, there are always people who learn on their own, but when you gain the skills needed to teach someone, you will learn what you need to do to improve other shooter’s skills.  In the end you can help everyone become  a better shooter.

 

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Natural Aiming Area and Flash Sight Picture


“You can’t miss a shot fast enough.”

A shooters natural aiming area (or NAA) is the instinctive alignment of the shooter, gun and target in a specific stance.  A good defensive shooter is one where their natural aiming area can be achieved in a variety of positions.  Practicing good fundamentals will strengthen your natural aiming area, so that you will stop thinking about the fundamentals and instead naturally assume a good shooting position.

In a close range encounter, you will not be able to achieve a perfect sight picture.  The additional skill to your NAA is flash sight picture.  Flash sight picture is an imperfect alignment of your target as you recover from your firearm’s recoil.  Specifically, it is used to quickly acquire your target during a rapid, close range engagement.  Think of the last time you were shooting at the range.  With your eyes focused on the front sight you should be able to see the recoil of your pistol go up then down onto your target.  As soon as the front post is coming into the target, you will get an instantaneous sight picture of your target.  This is your flash sight picture.

You need to develop your skills in both your natural aiming area and flash sight picture to shoot fast and accurately in a defensive situation.  One more thing to think of, the farther the target is away from you’re the more time you have to acquire your sight picture.  Conversely the closer the target, the less time you have to acquire proper sight picture.

Next time we will return to preparing yourself mentally in a defensive shooting situation.


Friday, October 9, 2015

Defensive Accuracy versus Target Shooting

“A slow hit beats a fast miss, but there is such a thing as taking too much time.”


What is defensive accuracy?  Defensive accuracy is the ability to shoot the center of mass as fast and accurately as you can, the resulting shots should be covered by the spread of your hand.  As we progress from novice to intermediate shooters, I would hope that shooters’ goals will also change.

Many beginners learn the fundamentals and focus on target shooting.  To review the six fundamentals – stance, grip, trigger control, sight picture/sight alignment, breath and follow through.  All of these fundamentals should be performed perfectly in order to hit a bullseye.  In contrast to defensive accuracy where your fundamentals may not be perfect, your ability to stop the threat will be.

Take sight alignment.  There is a degree of deviation from perfect sight alignment when shooting for defensive accuracy.  Aim at the center of mass of the exposed target area, when aligning your sights and acquiring sight picture, your shots will be spread across your target.   To determine your accuracy, your shots should be about the size of a sheet of copy paper.  You are looking at a larger area and at a closer range as your target. A defensive encounter will not afford you the time to gain a perfect sight picture as it does in the range.  Therefore you will need to practice a new set of skills.

Do not think of defensive accuracy and target shooting as opposites.  They are stages in the progression from being a beginner to becoming a marksman.  As first you are only concentrating on the basics.  You want to perfect these before moving on.  This may mean that you skills will allow you to shoot a small 3-4 inch grouping on your target.  Once you are satisfied with your progress, try shooting a piece of paper as your target.  First shoot slowly and keep in mind your fundamentals.  Then change to a clean target and shoot faster.  Aim for one shot every two seconds.  Assess your progress and continue until all your shots are on the sheet of paper.


Next time we will cover natural point of aim and flash sight picture.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Natural Response to Fear


There are five psychological responses to a threatening encounter – fight, flight, freeze, posture and submit.  Every encounter is different and there is no way that you will be able to predict your response regardless of your previous experiences.  This is where your versatile training and becoming flexible in your response comes into play.

Fight – the fight response is using whatever force is reasonable to prevent harm.  Deadly force may only be used in the event of an imminent threat of severe harm or death.  You must become familiar with your local laws and what is to be expected from the legal process if your plan includes deadly force.

Flight – also known as retreat.  Fleeing is not always possible without incurring injury to yourself.

Freeze – in the event of a life threatening encounter you may be taken by surprise and incapable of any action.  Be aware that this is a possible reaction and train to reduce its effects.

Posture – is combat without contact.  In the animal kingdom, this is usually seen as puffing up, growling, baring teeth, but not actually fighting.  The end result sought is for one side to back down or retreat.

Submit – is completely giving in to the adversary. 

In some cases, these responses may lead to another response and escalate the situation.  Know what you will do in any of these cases, role play and discuss your plan with others who may be available during an emergency.

In addition to the mental state, you should also be aware of your physical responses to a stressful life threatening encounter.  These include loss of fine motor skills, tunnel vision, auditory exclusion (unable to hear/speak), time dilation (time slows down) and adrenaline rush.


Both psychological and physical responses can be a battle to overcome in your practice.  Training for stress is crucial to prevail in an encounter.  Your goal is to acclimate yourself to performing under stress.  This can be done through timing yourself while you shoot, raising your heart rate through exercise prior to shooting or entering a competitive match.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Preparing You for Your Personal Protection, Part 2


Whenever you start a new project, whether it is a new home project or training in first aid, you want to be sure you have the proper tools at your disposal.  Aside from learning the basic safety rules of handling a firearm, you will also want to learn how to respond to an emergency where a firearm will be used.  In short, just because you know how to shoot a bullseye doesn’t guarantee that you will know what to do when defending yourself with a firearm.

Mindset.  This is one of the first and most important tools at your disposal.  Arming yourself with the correct mindset will be your best defense against an assailant.   Mindset is your ability to never give up, to be on your guard at all times and respond accordingly.  Responding under stress should be a part of your training at the range and practiced at home.  Training your mind how to respond in an emergency is the same as preparing how to take the final exam in the field of your choice.

There are several steps after equipping yourself with a mindset to win and fight.  First, develop a personal protection plan.  This plan should be what you will do in a confrontation as well as what to do to avoid a confrontation.  Avoiding a situation is equally, if not more important than planning what to do in the event of one.  Don’t think of it as “running away”, but rather adopting a lifestyle where you are choosing to avoid the situation before you are forced to deal with a situation.

Visualize and practice the plan, while you are at the range and at home.  When you are shooting paper targets, imagine the target running towards you.  When you are dry firing at home, imagine there is a threat entering your home.  What would you do?  How would you handle yourself?  Continue this practice and seek additional training.  Your end goal is to be confident in your skills to defend yourself.  Mindset is crucial to your success and your ability to perform under pressure.

Finally, learn to control the encounter.  In the event of a home invasion and you find yourself face to face with an intruder, stay as far away as possible (avoid the threat).  If you surprise the intruder, and are able to hold them at gun point, do not approach them.  Once you have taken command of the situation, the intruder has three choices; they can flee, comply or challenge you.

-          If they have chosen to run away, let them run away.  Call the police and report the situation.
-          If they comply have him/her lie face down, away from you, with arms spread wide, and palms up.  Shout your commands and do not reason with them.  Call the police and report the situation.
-          If they decide to confront you, this is where the final steps of your personal protection come into play.


Once the encounter is over, there are five common responses that we will discuss next time.

In the meantime, take a look at this link -

 http://www.breachbangclear.com/mindset-v-hardware/

Monday, September 21, 2015

Preparing You for Your Personal Protection, Part 1

A Gun Owner’s Responsibilities
American’s enjoy a right that citizens of many other countries do not – the right to own firearms.  But with this right comes a responsibility.  It is the gun owner’s responsibility to store, operate and maintain his or her firearms safety.  It is the gun owner’s responsibility to ensure that unauthorized or untrained individuals cannot gain access to his or her firearms.  And it is the gun owner’s responsibility to learn and obey all applicable laws that pertain to the purchase, possession and use of a firearm in his or her locale.  Guns are neither safe nor unsafe by themselves.  When people learn and practice responsible gun ownership, firearms are safe. – NRA Guide to the Basics of Personal Protection in the Home



One of the most important factors for gun safety is to understand the NRA’s three safety rules of gun handling.

1 Always keep you gun pointed in a safe direction. This means any direction where if an accidental discharge were to occur you would not harm someone.  This also means you do not point your gun at anything you do not want to destroy.

2 Keep you finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.  Finger simply off the trigger but alongside the trigger guard, in my opinion is not an option.  The safer choice is indexed alongside the frame of the gun.  This habit will also prevent accidental discharge while drawing from a holster.

3 Keep your firearm unloaded until ready to use.   Ready to use is the key phrase here.  Ready to use will depend on your situation and your surroundings.  In your holster as every day carry = ready to use.

Understanding the responsibilities of gun ownership widens the gap between those casual users who shoot for fun and those who want to expand their skill set into personal defense.  Using a firearm as self-defense is a tool of last resort, once the round has left the barrel there is no taking it back.  So you must be sure that you are prepared and adopted the mindset to end another’s life if the situation calls for it.

Deciding to use a firearm in self-defense, users need to evaluate their personal ethics, morals and beliefs as they pertain to taking a life.  If you have an objection to using deadly force, firearms should be omitted from your personal defensive plan.  Only you can decide if using deadly force is right for you.  Remember, there are other options for personal defense and all of your options should be evaluated before deciding on what to include in your plan.


Before you decide to train with any weapon, the first tool in your kit should be the proper mindset.   I will dive further into this topic next time.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Rifles are Amazing - Especially for New Shooters

This week at CCLSC, new shooter Nova tried out three rifles.  The IWI Tavor, the AR-15 and the AK47.  Of the three she enjoyed shooting the AK which was scored high on fun and was the most accurate with the Tavor.

You can check out all of our shooters and practice updates on our Facebook page.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Boom Wow and Bang Bang

We just had our first practice of July and our new shooters are having a blast.  They had their first opportunity to work the guns of their choice without help unless asked.  After watching them, their experiences went from uneasy to confident and independent.  Two shooters even tried a .45 caliber!  That's a jump up from the .22 they shot a month ago and the 9mm they have been shooting two weeks ago.  Great job ladies!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

February Practice

We have started February with a bang.  We had eleven ladies attend Monday and half were new shooters from our 101 class. Take a look at the pictures on our Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1571097183134662.1073741847.1478471462397235&type=1

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

A New Year With CCLSC

Our first practice of the year pictures are up on our facebook page.  You can check out our photos at the link below.  We had a small group this week. Women's 101 will be starting soon and hope ladies will take advantage of CCLSC practices. Over the next few months we will be working on our marksmanship.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1559836440927403.1073741846.1478471462397235&type=1

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

CCLSC Turns 1!

One year ago on January 5, 2014 I started the Central Coast Ladies Shooting Club. It has been a fantastic year, with lots of ladies learning to shoot and attending Monday practices.  There have also been several new additions to our firearms family and I hope many more in the coming year.

Thank you Ladies for making CCLSC successful!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

CCLSC Hole-oween

This week, we celebrated Halloween a little early, by carving pumpkins.  "Carving" we interpreted as shooting pumpkin targets.  Everyone had a great time! I was having such a good time I didn't get too many pictures of the laughter.  But, here are the CCLSC targets -

Kanani testing the pumpkin targets earlier in the day.

Julie and Michele with their targets.

Chrissy, new to CCLSC Mondays shooting her pumpkin.

Nicole and Shellie watch while Hollie shoots her target.

Marina showing off her target.

Nicole and Shellie with their targets.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

CCLSC Shot-tober

I would like to welcome new member Kristi to CCLSC.  WELCOME!

CCLSC is always looking for new lady shooters.  In order to participate, you must be enrolled/competed the Women's 101 class offered at Tacti-Cool Gun's & Gear.  If you don’t want to wait until the end of/start of the New Year, Tacti-Cool offers an “Every Friday class” that meets, you guessed it, every Friday.  The next class is a 4 hour class beginning at 2:00 pm ending about 6:00 pm when the shop closes.  This class is the same material as the Women’s 101 without the benefit of being in an all women environment, range pass or the option to win a pistol. The other drawback is that it is a little more expensive than the Women’s class (which is $100).  The Friday class is $75 and then you pay for your range time, rental, ammo and target.  This adds about $35-40 to the cost of the class.  However, the Friday class is limited to 6 students so you’d have a smaller class instead of the 30 students in 101. 

Mellissa taking aim.

New member Kristi loading her handgun.

Cari shooting the M&P shield.

Nicole shooting her brand new AR-15 for the first time.

Kristi showing Nicole how to load her revolver.

Hollie shooting her XD.

Cari and Heather calculating their scores on their target.

Monday, September 29, 2014

CCLSC Events

UPCOMING EVENTS
Gun Show – October 11 & 12.  I believe they open up at 9:00 am each day.  If you are interested in going, we can all go as a group and meet up outside around 10:00 am.  Please send me a reply of preferred day – Saturday or Sunday.  We will go on the day that works best for the majority of ladies.

Advanced 2 Last Scheduled Date – October 11 Same place, same time ladies.  This will be our last scheduled date for Advanced 2.  I would love feedback of what you thought of the class and anything you think we should improve upon.  Any comments and feedback is appreciated.

Women’s 101/Advanced Pistol – October 16  This is the last class and we all know what that means.  CCLSC meets one more time before this date.  I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE you to take advantage of Monday practice.  If you haven’t been attending, the 6th might be what you need to improve your shooting.  For those who have been shooting regularly between classes, I commend you!

I would also add that even when the 101 and Advanced pistol classes have ended, please continue to attend Monday’s to improve your skills.  CCLSC offers additional training and events that are not open to members of the public.

CCLSC Paintball Classic – November 2 at The Shack Paintball in Santa Maria.  October 6 is the last date to let me know if you are interested in playing paintball.  We need a group of 10 to reserve equipment to play.  Spouses and family are welcome to join us.  Ages 10+ can play.  If I do not get enough responses, we will postpone to a later date.

CCLSC Meet up – November 3  We will be meeting up after practice for pizza.  If you are interested in meeting up after practice that week, please let me know you’ll be there.

REMINDERS
CCLSC on Facebook – If you have a Facebook account please share CCLSC with your friends and family.  Encourage them to like our page.  We are steadily increasing our numbers every week.  I post shooting information, pictures from practice and random funnies.  You do not need a Facebook page to view our page!

CCLSC is in the Sure Shots Magazine – The latest issue of the Sure Shots online magazine will be released this week.  Why do I mention this?  I submitted CCLSC information and I wrote an article for the issue.  Keep posted, I will be sharing the information for the article as soon as I get word the issue is published.   The link for the magazine is below -


UPDATED - The latest issue has been posted online.  The link above will take you to issue #9.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Tip of the week: Making the Most of Practice

Last week I shared the difference between Training and Practice.  I want to add to that introduction with a few suggestions on how to make the most of practice.  Since practice is the repetition of what we have been trained to do, it would benefit us to be sure that we are practicing our new skills exactly like we were trained.  Shooting drills can help, having a skilled shooter watch our practice and give us feedback on what we are doing right or wrong and ways to improve our efficiency are also good ways to reinforce what we have been trained to do.

CCLSC’s focus is primarily defensive shooting, preparing for the emergency we hope never to encounter.  However, before we get that far, we want to be sure that our fundamentals and mindset are solid.  Working through malfunctions, acquiring your target and trigger control etc seem to be basic enough, but add a little stress to the mix and your skills will degrade exponentially.  Taking the time now, while the environment is “comfortable” will pay off major dividends later.  Dry practice is one of the easiest ways to get some practice if you can’t make it to the range.

A little homework before our next practice; take 10 minutes a day and work on your stance.  If you have a firearm available to use at home, BE SURE IT IS UNLOADED and work on your stance, grip, sight alignment/picture, breathing, trigger control and follow through.  Go slowly.  Make sure every movement is deliberate.  Ten minutes a day comes to about an hour and half of repetition between now and our next practice.  Don’t take my word for it.  Below is a link to Michelle Viscusi’s (the newest Team Glock member and contestant on Top Shot) video talking about dry firing.

Dry Firing Video link HERE



Wednesday, July 30, 2014

CCLSC Loves New Shooters

Welcome new members Michele and Hollie!  I am so glad that you joined us this week and hope that you received some good tips and information to become better shooters!

Michele shooting the M&P Shield - Nice flash!
Hollie shooting her M&P 9mm.  Working on her grip.

Monday August 11 at 4:30 pm is our next practice at Tacti-Cool Guns & Gear. Let me know if you are planning to attend.  Another reminder will go out again as we get closer, as well as on the day of practice.

CCLSC now has its own Facebook page!  If you are using Facebook I encourage you to “like”
 our page and help spread the word of what we do with your friends and family. If you don’t use Facebook, you can still view our page at the link to the right.

If you have been following us on Facebook, you will already know that I spent this last weekend certifying as an NRA Instructor for Personal Protection Inside the Home.  This two day training had a ton of excellent information and I acquired new skills to add to my tool box of defensive shooting solutions.  Feel free to ask questions, I would be happy to talk with you about the class.


Love loading!
Kanani showing off just a bit, dual weilding
two shields at once.  Not an effective way
of shooting but very cinematic.

Mentoring is one of the best benefits for new shooters - two of our
experienced shooters, Shellie and Julie helping out new member Michele.
 
Back from vacation, Erin puts her sights on target.

I always encourage our members to try new things.
Well, there isn't a lack of new handguns or rifles to try
at CCLSC.  Here, Julie shoots an AK47 pistol.

CCLSC shot after practice!
Left to right -
Back: Kanani, Hollie, and Julie. Front: Shellie, Erin and Michele.
Tip of the week: Training versus Practice – I am taking a little break from my SA (situational awareness) soapbox to share with you the differences between Training and Practice.  Training is defined as the acquisition of a certain skill or learning a new skill.  Practice however is the repetition of something (usually one’s training) in order to get better or improve one’s performance.  Both are necessary for improving your shooting skills. Put simply, Women’s 101 and Advanced Pistol are both training classes, while CCLSC Monday’s are practice. Practice is essential to reinforcing your training.  You will need to practice what you have been trained to do so that you can perfect those skills – Perfect practice makes perfect.  Practice will also increase your muscle memory so you can perform those same skills under stress and pressure.
If you would like any extra help to perfect your shooting during practice, let me know and I am happy help.  Monday’s are also a great place to get extra feedback on your shooting.

Lastly, the Austin Sure Shots publish a quarterly magazine and put a call out to the ladies’ shooting clubs across the county to feature in their next issue.  So, I submitted CCLSC’s information.  The Austin Sure Shots are a women’s shooting club in you guess it, Austin Texas.  They offer training in shooting, self-defense as well as general information about shooting and guns in general.  There is a lot of good information each quarter in their online magazine.  They also feature a section for Training in every edition.  Take a look at their website – http://www.sureshotsmagazine.com/

Sure Shots are also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/austinsureshots