Competition is a proving ground
Competitive shooting is recognized as a great way to test pistol shooting skills. Yes, that’s true. It’s also considered an effective tool to build skill. Well, that depends. Here’s why.
Some shooters, especially those new or newer to competition, sign up for match after match believing this alone will make them better. Participating in matches is great experience — in running stages. But it’s not the place to develop skill. Competition is a proving ground. A stage is a place where you get to apply and pressure test the skills you’ve been working on in your practice and training. Competition is not a true training ground.
Real skill building — from drawing to target acquisition, transitions, reloads, and movement — happens when you put in the reps in dry fire and in live fire training. Thousands of dry fire reps. Thousands of live fire reps.
Applying technical skills on a stage during a match is not going to move the meter on your skill. What it does is simply reveal to you your current skill level in a moment of time — running one particular stage, cold and under pressure. Valuable information, definitely. But useless without understanding how to dissect your performance and understand what it means.
Competition is having a moment
There’s been a surge in competitive shooting, with the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) reporting 46 new members every day, and half of them are starting in Carry Optics. In theory, shooters in the carry optics division are running real-world defensive handguns with optics. So it’s fair to assume that many of these shooters are carrying concealed for self-defense purposes.
Competitive shooting can give your EDC practice and training direction, solid purpose and insight into how you are able to apply your skills, on demand and under pressure. However, training objectives for competitive shooting and defensive shooting may not be equal. And with the wrong mindset, competitive shooting can lead to bad shooting habits and training scars that may actually degrade technical skill, instead of improve it.
A lack of data and understanding hides weaknesses
After completing a stage there is no detailed assessment. The data you receive is limited to your overall score and overall time. Targets are pasted up quickly so there’s little to no opportunity to see your hits, assess your performance or identify deficiencies. Even if you’re very good at shot calling, it may be difficult to verify and determine why you missed a target.
You don’t get to review the timer so there’s no information on draw speed, splits, transition times or reloads. Without data it’s difficult to isolate weaknesses and inefficiencies. And if you can’t identify issues, you can’t fix them.
A lack of discipline can lead to training scars
Often competitors get caught in the trap of “chasing speed” — prioritizing classing up vs. real capability. Shooters prioritizing speed may pull out all the stops to run stages fast and loose. Some shooters can get away with running stages this way — they’re good at the sport of competitive shooting.
But good stage runs don’t necessarily translate into repeatable, consistent, on demand skill, where the rounds are landing precisely were you want them to land, and the trigger is pressed when you get the confirmation you need from your sights. This is the kind of discipline that’s mandatory for defensive shooting. And when discipline isn’t part of your training or your stage execution, bad habits will develop.
Some shooters, especially newer or less skilled shooters, lack the discipline to switch gears technically and mentally when engaging targets. They are unable to speed up and slow down at will. They are unable to engage targets at speed and then quickly shift to more deliberate and precise engagement based on context. For the competitor who carries every day for self-defense, it’s essential to be able to switch gears based on context, and know with certainty rounds are going where you want them to go.
Developing the skill to switch gears from a training pace, to a competition pace, and then to a defensive engagement pace is something that has to be consciously developed and honed. Consciously controlling how you press the trigger and how quickly you can process what’s happening is what separates the best from the average. However, it’s a skill that is lacking in some and they may not be aware of it because their training may not include running exercises that distinguish exploratory pace from where consistent, perfect execution lives.
Competition is not a talisman
The skills you apply in competition are the same skills you apply in self-defense, but the objectives and context are different. Regardless of whether your priority is competition or self-defense, your approach to skill building should include excellence in execution, demanding the highest level of accuracy at the fastest pace for you — in that moment. That isn’t the same as “slow down and get your hits.” It’s being able to operate at different speeds, at will. As you improve, these parameters change.
Competition doesn’t magically make you better. It only makes you better if you understand the feedback you’re getting. Here are some ideas to help you understand the feedback and use it to inform your practice:
Stress. How are your skills holding up when you’re under time constraints? Can you avoid getting caught up in the moment and rushing through the targets? Are you getting the proper level of confirmation to make your hits? Are you able to execute your stage plan efficiently with no mistakes? How well can you recover if things don’t go as planned?
Gun handling. How quickly can you index off your draw? How efficient are your reloads? How quickly are you able to clear a malfunction and get your gun back up on target?
Mechanics. Are you moving safely wth the gun, keeping it oriented in a safe direction while moving up range, down range or laterally? Are you able to get your eyes and the gun up early and on target while coming into position?
Assessing fundamentals. How is your structure behind the gun while moving from position to position on a stage? Are your eyes looking for small spots on targets and are you getting the visual cues you need to engage your targets? Are you disciplined in how and when you press the trigger? Are you able to maintain grip durability during a longer course of fire? Can you properly rebuild your grip after a reload?
Gun choice impacts performance. All guns behave differently. Are you running a full-size, steel-framed, tuned gun in competition but a subcompact polymer-framed stock pistol for self-defense? If so, skills like indexing, draw, recoil management, trigger press, reloads, and distance do not necessarily carry over from one gun to another and need to be trained specifically.
Discipline mode. Speed and accuracy are important in both competition and self-defense. Are you able to stay focused and deliberate as you move through a stage, holding yourself to the highest standard, collecting all points with no mikes while not turning it into a slow fire exercise? Can you recognize mistakes and articulate why they happened?
Get objective feedback
When participating in a match, members of your squad or the Match RO may be watching you shoot a stage, but most likely they aren’t going to provide you with feedback, so long as you aren’t doing anything dangerous. So you always need to ask yourself, what am I not seeing? What may I be doing incorrectly and what bad habits may I be inadvertently engraining in my dry fire, live fire and match performances? Periodically seek objective feedback from a coach or instructor. Video your stage runs so you can parse the footage for victories and failures.