Shellback
03-05-2012, 05:49 PM
SUBJECT: Progressive FORCE Concepts Pistol Skills & Drills Clinic (http://www.pfctraining.com/events/2012/06/las-vegas-nv/pistol-skills-drills-clinic).
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Each monthly clinic deals with a different aspect of shooting and narrowly focuses on that particular skill. This clinic dealt with SHO and WHO shooting only and was due in part to our lead instructor having had recent shoulder surgery on his support side making it much easier to demo drills.
INSTRUCTOR: Mike Barnhart was our lead instructor for this course. He is a retired Federal Air Marshal and has worked in various other assignments within the U.S Military and Law Enforcement, his resume can be viewed here (http://www.pfctraining.com/about/staff/mike-barnhart) for those interested.
LOCATION & WEATHER CONDITIONS: The class was held at the Clark County Shooting Park (http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/Depts/parks/Pages/clark-county-shooting-park.aspx) and the weather was fantastic. Little chilly in the beginning and a little warm towards the end but I'd guesstimate 70 degrees average with no wind.
MEAT & POTATOES: This is my first time training with PFC and I think their skills & drills clinics are a great way for someone to get an idea of the type of training they can receive if they choose to go further down their training path with them. Mike managed to pack a lot of information and drills into a relatively short 4 hour period and I came away with a lot of things I need to start working on in the immediate future.
My first thoughts hearing the clinic was going to be focused on 1 handed drills was, "Oh, $hi*!", due to my lack of consistent training with this skill and my focusing on other priorities as of late. We started off the day making introductions, a safety lecture and Mike gave us a basic outline of what we could expect from our day. Due to the varying degrees of skill levels amongst the 7 shooters we spent our first 2 hours discussing everything from the basic fundamentals of sight management, trigger management and follow through to one handed grip pressure, trigger reset, the "natural cant" of the pistol along with our own natural shooting stance and point of aim. Although it seems like this was in inordinate amount of time given to discussion, at no point did it become tedious, even to the more experienced, and the material was presented professionally with Mike's own unique take on the subjects and he really tried to get people involved with Q&A sessions.
Following Mike's initial drill demonstration we gassed up and went hot to start working on our fundamentals and SHO drills. Every drill was walked through step by step and progressed in a linear fashion to single commands that would incorporate all the previously learned steps at the appropriate time. Our initial string was our only opportunity to shoot with both hands throughout the day, and admittedly I aced that portion, shooting at a half dollar size PFC logo from the holster one shot at a time for a full magazine while just minutes later everything else would fall apart.
After giving Mike a baseline of our skills firing with both hands we started off SHO for approximately the next hour. All of the drills in our clinic were either demonstrated and performed from a crawling to walking pace or were described in detail and worked out very well for everyone involved at all skill levels. We began firing single rounds from the low ready and transitioned to firing from retention. Kicking it up a notch we moved on to firing 2 round strings focusing on proper sighting techniques, follow through and trigger reset. We also did some line sprints to single handed shooting which I really enjoyed and I think it helped kick up everybody's enthusiasm and adrenaline. My SHO isn't terrible, not great either, but I definitely need to focus on dryfiring one handed and practicing live fire 1 handed as well.
Moving on we worked on our WHO shooting skills and we mirrored the same drills as on SHO. Suffice it to say SHO is not my strong point and I need a lot of work to get up to speed on my grip and trigger control. Most of my groups were decent in size, very slow to break the shot, but were consistently 4" - 6" low from my intended point of aim. I understand what I need to work on and am determined to become a better single-handed shooter.
OVERVIEW: All in all I had a great time and Mike provided excellent instruction, constructive criticism and some funny anecdotes along the way. In hindsight this was the perfect clinic for me as it really made me focus on my weakpoints and not rely on my 2 handed shooting skills. I would definitely recommend PFC and Mr. Barnhart for anyone's training needs and will be attending their Progressive Handgun 1 (http://www.pfctraining.com/events/2012/03/las-vegas-nv/progressive-handgun-1-fighting-foundation) on 3/24/12. Throughout the entire time a great emphasis was put on safety during the clinic while still maintaining a relaxed atmosphere that was very conducive to learning the course material.
MY EQUIPMENT:
Glock 19 - Gen 3 (Smooth G17 trigger, Vickers mag release & slide stop, Ameriglo Hack front and Pro Op rear)
Raven Concealment holster and mag pouch. I normally carry AIWB but went strong side for my first class.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Each monthly clinic deals with a different aspect of shooting and narrowly focuses on that particular skill. This clinic dealt with SHO and WHO shooting only and was due in part to our lead instructor having had recent shoulder surgery on his support side making it much easier to demo drills.
INSTRUCTOR: Mike Barnhart was our lead instructor for this course. He is a retired Federal Air Marshal and has worked in various other assignments within the U.S Military and Law Enforcement, his resume can be viewed here (http://www.pfctraining.com/about/staff/mike-barnhart) for those interested.
LOCATION & WEATHER CONDITIONS: The class was held at the Clark County Shooting Park (http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/Depts/parks/Pages/clark-county-shooting-park.aspx) and the weather was fantastic. Little chilly in the beginning and a little warm towards the end but I'd guesstimate 70 degrees average with no wind.
MEAT & POTATOES: This is my first time training with PFC and I think their skills & drills clinics are a great way for someone to get an idea of the type of training they can receive if they choose to go further down their training path with them. Mike managed to pack a lot of information and drills into a relatively short 4 hour period and I came away with a lot of things I need to start working on in the immediate future.
My first thoughts hearing the clinic was going to be focused on 1 handed drills was, "Oh, $hi*!", due to my lack of consistent training with this skill and my focusing on other priorities as of late. We started off the day making introductions, a safety lecture and Mike gave us a basic outline of what we could expect from our day. Due to the varying degrees of skill levels amongst the 7 shooters we spent our first 2 hours discussing everything from the basic fundamentals of sight management, trigger management and follow through to one handed grip pressure, trigger reset, the "natural cant" of the pistol along with our own natural shooting stance and point of aim. Although it seems like this was in inordinate amount of time given to discussion, at no point did it become tedious, even to the more experienced, and the material was presented professionally with Mike's own unique take on the subjects and he really tried to get people involved with Q&A sessions.
Following Mike's initial drill demonstration we gassed up and went hot to start working on our fundamentals and SHO drills. Every drill was walked through step by step and progressed in a linear fashion to single commands that would incorporate all the previously learned steps at the appropriate time. Our initial string was our only opportunity to shoot with both hands throughout the day, and admittedly I aced that portion, shooting at a half dollar size PFC logo from the holster one shot at a time for a full magazine while just minutes later everything else would fall apart.
After giving Mike a baseline of our skills firing with both hands we started off SHO for approximately the next hour. All of the drills in our clinic were either demonstrated and performed from a crawling to walking pace or were described in detail and worked out very well for everyone involved at all skill levels. We began firing single rounds from the low ready and transitioned to firing from retention. Kicking it up a notch we moved on to firing 2 round strings focusing on proper sighting techniques, follow through and trigger reset. We also did some line sprints to single handed shooting which I really enjoyed and I think it helped kick up everybody's enthusiasm and adrenaline. My SHO isn't terrible, not great either, but I definitely need to focus on dryfiring one handed and practicing live fire 1 handed as well.
Moving on we worked on our WHO shooting skills and we mirrored the same drills as on SHO. Suffice it to say SHO is not my strong point and I need a lot of work to get up to speed on my grip and trigger control. Most of my groups were decent in size, very slow to break the shot, but were consistently 4" - 6" low from my intended point of aim. I understand what I need to work on and am determined to become a better single-handed shooter.
OVERVIEW: All in all I had a great time and Mike provided excellent instruction, constructive criticism and some funny anecdotes along the way. In hindsight this was the perfect clinic for me as it really made me focus on my weakpoints and not rely on my 2 handed shooting skills. I would definitely recommend PFC and Mr. Barnhart for anyone's training needs and will be attending their Progressive Handgun 1 (http://www.pfctraining.com/events/2012/03/las-vegas-nv/progressive-handgun-1-fighting-foundation) on 3/24/12. Throughout the entire time a great emphasis was put on safety during the clinic while still maintaining a relaxed atmosphere that was very conducive to learning the course material.
MY EQUIPMENT:
Glock 19 - Gen 3 (Smooth G17 trigger, Vickers mag release & slide stop, Ameriglo Hack front and Pro Op rear)
Raven Concealment holster and mag pouch. I normally carry AIWB but went strong side for my first class.