Clobbersaurus
07-27-2014, 11:48 PM
I had the privilege of attending a Langdon Tactical Pistol Skills course a couple of weeks ago and thought I would share my experience. I've tried to remember the sequence
of events through review of my notes, but I was writing fast between evolutions and may have gotten things out of sequence. If so, my apologies.
I first heard of Ernest Langdon through pistol-forum.com and when the opportunity to train with him presented itself, I jumped at it. The course took place at Abbotsford Fish and Game in British Columbia, Canada. It's a truly excellent facility that I've trained at before. It's run by a dedicated executive and I looked forward to shooting there again. Many thanks to Slavex for hosting the course and rounding up all the shooters. It's guys like him that make these courses possible!
Day 1:
The course started with a lecture that Ernest presented with a portable projector. He went through his theory of training, color codes of awareness and combat mindset. Ernest commented that the technique you use in training must work on a subconscious level and he gave examples of this throughout both days. His presentation moved to stance, grip, and trigger control. I was very impressed with this lecture. Earnest understands the body and how it interacts with the gun and I learned things I had never considered before. He ended the lecture with a safety brief and then we started on one of the outdoor ranges.
Before shooting began, Ernest had us dry fire on IDPA targets as he walked down the line and gave each of us insights on our grip and stance. Shooting began with groups shot on 9 circles that Ernest spray painted onto the IDPA targets.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r151/clobbersauras/DSC03547_zps27764f0b.jpg (http://s143.photobucket.com/user/clobbersauras/media/DSC03547_zps27764f0b.jpg.html)
As we shot, Ernest moved down the line and gave instruction to each shooter individually. He then had us work on cadence drills; having us fire 5 shot groups at various cadences from 1 second splits down to 1/4 second splits on an 8 inch circle.
He did a demo to show the advantages of properly presenting the pistol and breaking the shot as it reaches full extension. Properly done, it affords a better sight picture and alignment with no loss of speed. The discussion flowed into his four-step draw stroke, which we practiced many times. We started the afternoon with multiple target engagements and Ernest having us practice leading the targets with our eyes.
He talked about reloads and we practiced these many times. We broke in the steel with a discussion of shooting on the move. This portion of the class was worth the price of admission on it's own. Ernest's description of sight picture vs sight alignment and proper trigger control when shooting on the move was a light-bulb moment for me and my results immediately improved. We finished out the day running relays with timed movement drills on multiple steel targets.
Day 2:
The second day was on an indoor range at the facility. We started again with dots at five meters progressing in speed during each evolution and ending up at full speed on an 8 inch circle. Instruction flowed onto malfunctions and clearance drills, which we practiced with empty guns. We did some one handed shooting, with Ernest giving some excellent insights into body mechanics and how best to control the gun SHO or WHO. He believes that any mistakes with trigger press are magnified 100% when shooting one handed.
We practiced drawing our pistols from the holster WHO and did one handed malfunction clearing drills. These drills were also practiced with empty guns. The day progressed into shooting from behind barricades. Again, Ernest's experiences and insights were invaluable in this discussion and I took many notes to study later.
We rounded out the day shooting some timed drills:
One he called the "Close Speed Drill", which was shot on three targets at the 2 yard line. From the holster; one shot on each 8 inch circle left to right, one shot on each 8 inch circle right to left, and one shot in the head box left to right. It was a deceivingly hard drill! The inclination is to shoot the drill as fast as you can because you are so close to the targets. You quickly learn to watch your front sight! A very fun and fast drill that we all took more than one run at. Below is a video of my last run (my damn camera adds about 70 lbs:rolleyes:). This run was 3.67 seconds.
http://youtu.be/xFO91T69NFc
Through both days round count was just over 800. Most of the pistols performed very well. Ernest shot a very nice Wilson Combat modified Beretta, and the students used a variety of CZ Shadow's, Glocks, S&W 5946's, a Sig P220 and an STI 2011. The only malfunctions I noted were a failure to extract with the Sig and I believe a failure to feed with the brand new 2011. One of the Shadow's lost a fiber optic rod at the end of the first day.
I found Ernest to be very organized, personable, and an excellent instructor. A great story teller, he had us all in stitches many times during both days. He demo'd each drill, which was a treat to watch in and of itself. His knowledge of the industry is amazing and he also had some very insightful information regarding body mechanics and the shooting process. Ernest had us all playing with our stance and grip based on his observations. I learned some very valuable lessons and came away with some great tips for improving my own shooting and training.
I ended the course kicking myself for not attending the advanced course that was happening on the following two days. If you have the chance to train with Ernest, do it, you won't be disappointed.
of events through review of my notes, but I was writing fast between evolutions and may have gotten things out of sequence. If so, my apologies.
I first heard of Ernest Langdon through pistol-forum.com and when the opportunity to train with him presented itself, I jumped at it. The course took place at Abbotsford Fish and Game in British Columbia, Canada. It's a truly excellent facility that I've trained at before. It's run by a dedicated executive and I looked forward to shooting there again. Many thanks to Slavex for hosting the course and rounding up all the shooters. It's guys like him that make these courses possible!
Day 1:
The course started with a lecture that Ernest presented with a portable projector. He went through his theory of training, color codes of awareness and combat mindset. Ernest commented that the technique you use in training must work on a subconscious level and he gave examples of this throughout both days. His presentation moved to stance, grip, and trigger control. I was very impressed with this lecture. Earnest understands the body and how it interacts with the gun and I learned things I had never considered before. He ended the lecture with a safety brief and then we started on one of the outdoor ranges.
Before shooting began, Ernest had us dry fire on IDPA targets as he walked down the line and gave each of us insights on our grip and stance. Shooting began with groups shot on 9 circles that Ernest spray painted onto the IDPA targets.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r151/clobbersauras/DSC03547_zps27764f0b.jpg (http://s143.photobucket.com/user/clobbersauras/media/DSC03547_zps27764f0b.jpg.html)
As we shot, Ernest moved down the line and gave instruction to each shooter individually. He then had us work on cadence drills; having us fire 5 shot groups at various cadences from 1 second splits down to 1/4 second splits on an 8 inch circle.
He did a demo to show the advantages of properly presenting the pistol and breaking the shot as it reaches full extension. Properly done, it affords a better sight picture and alignment with no loss of speed. The discussion flowed into his four-step draw stroke, which we practiced many times. We started the afternoon with multiple target engagements and Ernest having us practice leading the targets with our eyes.
He talked about reloads and we practiced these many times. We broke in the steel with a discussion of shooting on the move. This portion of the class was worth the price of admission on it's own. Ernest's description of sight picture vs sight alignment and proper trigger control when shooting on the move was a light-bulb moment for me and my results immediately improved. We finished out the day running relays with timed movement drills on multiple steel targets.
Day 2:
The second day was on an indoor range at the facility. We started again with dots at five meters progressing in speed during each evolution and ending up at full speed on an 8 inch circle. Instruction flowed onto malfunctions and clearance drills, which we practiced with empty guns. We did some one handed shooting, with Ernest giving some excellent insights into body mechanics and how best to control the gun SHO or WHO. He believes that any mistakes with trigger press are magnified 100% when shooting one handed.
We practiced drawing our pistols from the holster WHO and did one handed malfunction clearing drills. These drills were also practiced with empty guns. The day progressed into shooting from behind barricades. Again, Ernest's experiences and insights were invaluable in this discussion and I took many notes to study later.
We rounded out the day shooting some timed drills:
One he called the "Close Speed Drill", which was shot on three targets at the 2 yard line. From the holster; one shot on each 8 inch circle left to right, one shot on each 8 inch circle right to left, and one shot in the head box left to right. It was a deceivingly hard drill! The inclination is to shoot the drill as fast as you can because you are so close to the targets. You quickly learn to watch your front sight! A very fun and fast drill that we all took more than one run at. Below is a video of my last run (my damn camera adds about 70 lbs:rolleyes:). This run was 3.67 seconds.
http://youtu.be/xFO91T69NFc
Through both days round count was just over 800. Most of the pistols performed very well. Ernest shot a very nice Wilson Combat modified Beretta, and the students used a variety of CZ Shadow's, Glocks, S&W 5946's, a Sig P220 and an STI 2011. The only malfunctions I noted were a failure to extract with the Sig and I believe a failure to feed with the brand new 2011. One of the Shadow's lost a fiber optic rod at the end of the first day.
I found Ernest to be very organized, personable, and an excellent instructor. A great story teller, he had us all in stitches many times during both days. He demo'd each drill, which was a treat to watch in and of itself. His knowledge of the industry is amazing and he also had some very insightful information regarding body mechanics and the shooting process. Ernest had us all playing with our stance and grip based on his observations. I learned some very valuable lessons and came away with some great tips for improving my own shooting and training.
I ended the course kicking myself for not attending the advanced course that was happening on the following two days. If you have the chance to train with Ernest, do it, you won't be disappointed.