Press Out/Presentation Drills

[Gary1911A1]

B&D can certainly be used. But it may not tell the whole story.

Another common issue people can have with the press-out is nosediving the pistol when it reaches full extension. Don't get caught up on making the Loud Noise the exact nanosecond that the gun reaches full extension. Start by saying to yourself it's ok if it goes off a little early or a little late so long as the sights are where they should be.

Great advice. I had trouble with some jerking if the shot didn't break before my full press out.

[ToddG]

A question that I think is on topic: should a shooter of moderate experience attempt to learn the press-out on their own, or will that cause too much upset and bad-habit-forming?

First, make sure you know what your priorities are in terms of what you want to accomplish. Some people simply want "fastest time to first shot," others have more factors they want covered by their drawstroke and presentation. Knowing what your priorities are inherently includes understanding why those are your priorities.

Second, self-assess whether you actually understand how to perform the draw/presentation you want to use. If not, ask. If you do, practice it (preferably with a partner who also understands precisely what you want to do) as slowly as you need to in order to get it right, trying to get it as fast as you can while still getting it right.

Like everything involving shooting, there is a definite benefit in getting professional quality instruction. But PF is a resource where you could post a video of you performing your draw half a dozen times and get some definite feedback, positive and negative, without having to ask too loudly.

[JAD]

Got it, thanks! My priorities on the presentation:

0) not shooting myself
1) not dropping the gun all by myself
2) not making it easy for someone to help me drop the gun
3) setting up a very accurate first shot
4) keeping the decision process alive during the entire course of the presentation
5) having a draw which is independent of movement, since I hope to be able to move while presenting if appropriate (say, while not wearing snowshoes)
6) having a draw that works from any likely start: seated behind the wheel, knocked on my face, knocked on my ass
7) going really fast

The four count does a decent job of those things. However, I think the press-out sure won't hurt 1 or 2 and may offer significant advantages in 3, especially maybe with some platforms. I'll shoot some video of where I'm at and post, maybe best in a new thread.

[KWil]

Thanks for the responses. To add a bit more to this, I spent a few minutes using the timer drying firing and using my SIRT. Performing the same press out to a 3x5" at 5 yards, I can consistently get a "hit" in 1.2 seconds or so. It feels like I am accepting a less perfect (but still good enough) sight picture while making a good trigger press, rather than trying to make the sight picture perfect and then frantically mashing the trigger to catch up. This has me thinking that I'm probably a little too wrapped up in making it "perfect" when doing it live, like Todd pointed out.

I'm wondering if maybe working with a bigger target first wouldn't be a good idea? Focus more on something along the lines of a bill drill and get more comfortable with working quickly with live fire, then dial in on more precise targets at speed.

[Redhat]

Thanks for the responses. To add a bit more to this, I spent a few minutes using the timer drying firing and using my SIRT. Performing the same press out to a 3x5" at 5 yards, I can consistently get a "hit" in 1.2 seconds or so. It feels like I am accepting a less perfect (but still good enough) sight picture while making a good trigger press, rather than trying to make the sight picture perfect and then frantically mashing the trigger to catch up. This has me thinking that I'm probably a little too wrapped up in making it "perfect" when doing it live, like Todd pointed out.

I'm wondering if maybe working with a bigger target first wouldn't be a good idea? Focus more on something along the lines of a bill drill and get more comfortable with working quickly with live fire, then dial in on more precise targets at speed.

KWil, what pistol are you shooting?

[ToddG]

I'm wondering if maybe working with a bigger target first wouldn't be a good idea? Focus more on something along the lines of a bill drill and get more comfortable with working quickly with live fire, then dial in on more precise targets at speed.

It depends on which part of the presentation you're focusing on to improve.

If you think your slowness is a matter of simply not trusting yourself to go faster, work on a big and/or close target. This allows you to maximize your speed without worrying about getting refinement of the trigger press or sight picture.

If you think your slowness is a matter of bad or too-slow refinement of the trigger press or sight picture, I'd stick with the more distant/smaller target and find a good balance between perfect and perfect-enough.

Not to beat a dead horse, but my biggest concern with people trying to hit warp speed on the draw is getting sloppy with the grip phases (SH in the holster, WH at the ready/sternum). You can easily fool yourself into thinking you've improved your draw simply because you've sped it up. A shot timer only tells you how fast your draw was, not whether you had a grip that was proper & suited for something more chaotic than practice and gaming.

[GJM]

A shot timer only tells you how fast your draw was, not whether you had a grip that was proper & suited for something more chaotic than practice and gaming.

Unless your game is one shot draws, a lousy grip does you no favors gaming. Saving .10 on a grip, when you have a bunch of shooting to do is false economy.

[ToddG]

Unless your game is one shot draws, a lousy grip does you no favors gaming. Saving .10 on a grip, when you have a bunch of shooting to do is false economy.

I didn't mean in terms of shooting splits, transitions, etc. That's not what I'd consider "chaos."

[GJM]

I didn't mean in terms of shooting splits, transitions, etc. That's not what I'd consider "chaos."

Yep, I get it -- you are speaking of surviving the dynamic encounter in the food court. My point was gamers also want a good grip, and I don't see that grip being different than the one you want with "chaos."

[ToddG]

Yep, I get it -- you are speaking of surviving the dynamic encounter in the food court. My point was gamers also want a good grip, and I don't see that grip being different than the one you want with "chaos."

As SLG pointed out, more than one high level shooter has had his gun hit the deck doing a snatch/scoop draw. Plenty of highly regarded shooters use such a draw. There is a huge difference between (a) a draw that you can make solid by the time you're ready to fire and (b) a draw that secures the gun against being ripped, knocked, or gravitated out of your hand from the beginning. There's a difference between the draw you can count on to work when you have time in advance to think about your draw and one that you can count on to work when the "buzzer" was a baseball bat to the side of your head.