I know I’m going to catch some heat from at least some of you on this, and that’s okay. We’re all at different stages of the journey for our preparedness when it comes to self-defense.
While I don’t think training should be required for people to enjoy their Second Amendment rights, I do believe that each gun owner should strive for excellence in their shooting skills.
That often requires taking advanced classes from people who are better than you are.
After all, you’re only as good as what you know. And if you haven’t learned anything extra, you might put people in danger. Here are three reasons why taking advanced training is a good idea:
A trained eye sees what you need
There is huge benefit to having someone better than you are watching you shoot. Just five minutes spent with a real pro watching you shoot can show them what you’re doing right and wrong.
A complete class will yield even more results as the instructor really teaches you the ins and outs of how you can fix the things you’re doing wrong. I have been shooting for decades and the last advanced class I took valuable insights were gained.
The thing that happens, is you pick up bad habits that become ingrained in your shooting. You won’t even know that you’re doing anything wrong until someone points it out to you.
Then you can begin to improve upon your skills because you have gained outside knowledge.
Learn new techniques
In addition to finding out what you may be doing wrong, you can and will also learn new things.
What you may learn will vary greatly on your current skillset. But some of the things may be engaging multiple targets, how to draw from a holster, shooting from different positions, and much more.
Training for a deadly force encounter
Finally, putting it all together is training for a deadly force encounter.
This part takes all of the things that you have learned and then puts them all together. Granted, it’s not a “part” of the training, but is all encompassed in your training.
Putting it all together for a potential deadly force encounter means using the skills you’ve learned and doing them under added stress, like that given by being timed.
A true deadly force encounter is over in a matter of seconds. But because tunnel vision and the rest of your fight or flight response has kicked in, the entire encounter may feel like it has taken longer from start to finish.
One of the ways defenders train for this, is to use a shot timer. Adding time will help you get better and understand how you shoot. And because this is true it also shows you how to get better at shooting under stress.
Conclusion:
Taking advanced training is often necessary for regular folks who want to increase their skills but don’t know how to do so. Have you taken any advanced classes beyond your concealed carry class?
Let us know in the comments below.
