Pittsburg, KS AFHF AAR - Drinking from the firehose!

[Lomshek]

I can’t imagine a better weekend for some hard training. In the days leading up to the class we had torrential rains bordering on flooding in some areas. Both days at the range were 70+ and sunny!

If anyone missed this class but would like to be notified about future training opportunities in Pittsburg, KS send an email to me at roger AT tailwindcyclists DOT com. Your email will only be used by me for notices when we host Todd and other pro instructors from time to time.

We had 10 shooters total. Originally the class filled up at 12 but two of the students had to bail due to family & work. Hopefully they can hit another AFHF elsewhere or hit Pittsburg the next time we host Todd.

Students ran the gamut from at or near retirement age to 24, backgrounds ranged from a few USPSA shooters, solid mindset civilians, military and at least one LEO who doubles as a local instructor. We had students from all over the Midwest and beyond with our youngest coming from Minnesota, another from Nebraska and the longest drive was from the NYC area (20 hours).

First off Todd was the consummate professional instructor and the class was everything I had hoped for. Todd’s explanations and demos were clear and concise. When he did a demo Todd would run it exactly as he described, varying his speed to match the accuracy requirements just as he expected us to do. The rare miss or flub on his part was handled with aplomb and self deprecating humor.

To keep us shooting fast and minimize student down time Todd has us split into two squads (squad 1 and squad alpha). That way while one squad is firing the other can be loading mags. It worked great and had the added benefit of keeping the student/instructor ratio at 5:1 so Todd could focus more attention on each student.

Safety was absolute and well controlled. Todd was clear on his requirements and was polite but rock hard in correcting any potential issues before they became a problem. We couldn’t have been clearer on his expectations and had no major issues.

Personally I was pushed hard and learned a lot. I’ve been shooting USPSA for almost 10 years and am just scraping the B level. I had no illusions of being the best shooter in class but was amazed at how much I learned!

Just a few of the many things I changed or improved significantly with Todd’s lessons; grip & stance were the biggies followed by a much improved draw. I have a long way to go but the press out noticeably sped up my accurate first shot time from the draw which was especially noticed on the low probability targets.

I went from a 12+ second FAST on day one to 7.04 at the end of day two. I keep thinking of ways I could have done something faster to get under 7 but the reality is that was everything I had to give at that time.

I’m gonna drill the fundamentals until my hair hurts because I saw and felt in one weekend how much I improved when I did what Todd was teaching.

I look forward to inviting Todd back in the future for more quality training.

On to the photos & videos…

Todd showing proper reload technique with a field stripped Glock frame for safety when facing the crowd.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3894.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3892.jpg


Grant, JTHhapkido, Ben & Ken working the reloads
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3903.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3904.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3908.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3909.jpg

Yours truly slapping leather
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3948.jpg

Ben giving a great example of the press out. He was the “kid” in the class and from what I saw did the best job out of all of us putting Todd’s lessons into practice.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3946.jpg
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3944.jpg
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3942.jpg

More photos & videos can be seen at photobucket (http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/?start=all). If I have time tomorrow I’ll try to throw a few more up.

[ToddG]

I’m gonna drill the fundamentals until my hair hurts...

Now that's funny...

Thanks again for bringing me out and putting together such a great group of students. Everyone was paying attention and trying the techniques being taught. Students took an average of two and a half seconds off their F.A.S.T. over the weekend. And, we ate at Chili's. Twice. Couldn't ask for more from a host, a class, or a restaurant. :cool:

I definitely look forward to visiting the land of the golden gorilla again!

[Blayglock]

Dang it! I guess I should log on here more so that I could have seen this course. Im in Pitt. If you host again I would like to attend. Thanks for the review.

[Al T.]

I'm in Pitt.

Don't think you are 20 hours from NYC. :) (Hint - wrong state)

[VolGrad]

And, we ate at Chili's. Twice. Couldn't ask for more from a host, a class, or a restaurant. :cool:

I knew Chili's would get a shout out in the thread but even I am surprised it made it in at #2. :D

[ksxdguy]

I knew Chili's would get a shout out in the thread but even I am surprised it made it in at #2. :D

Even more of a mystery than the press-out is WHY would Todd want to eat at Chili's two days in a row.:D

What a great class! My friend Lomshek nailed it precisely. My advice if you haven't taken a class from Todd is to run, not walk to sign up. I have very little professional training experience, but I know quality and professionalism when I see it. It was also great to meet some new shooters who came a long, and I mean really long way to be with us here in Pittsburg, Kansas. Congrats to the coin winners as well. I had a dream last night that I got one, but I digress.

For me personally it was interesting how Todd (other than his opinion of the XD ;) used his knowledge of how the human animal reacts for real, as opposed to how one was taught, to explain his rationale for everything he teaches. I don't think you can ask much more from any instructor. Personally, I will be working on the press-out, his ready position and stance from now on. The biggest thing; however, was what I learned about the RDS pistol. I have elaborated in detail about this in another thread, but suffice to say, a re-evaluation is in order.

I hope we can have Todd back in a year or so; hopefully one who will be much improved will be me. I'm 54, but I think this dog can pick up some new tricks for sure. And maybe we can even get Todd to try out a new restaurant.

My best to all,
Jeff

[ksxdguy]

Don't think you are 20 hours from NYC. :) (Hint - wrong state)

Pittsburg, Kansas (no H). We'd love to have you though. It was an awesome class.

Jeff

[Lomshek]

Local shooters KSXDguy & George getting some rounds downrange.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3940.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3922.jpg

Our local master class USPSA shooter, Shawn Ginardi, worked it hard all weekend. His biggest struggle, from my viewpoint, was tightening up his accuracy requirement while dialing his speed about 5% down.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3907.jpg
Shawn’s a phenomenal shooter and has so many rounds ingrained that changing anything is very difficult. To his credit he never quit trying Todd’s methods and time will tell what he incorporates. I’ll let him add anything else he thinks about the weekend.

Here’s a video of JTHhapkido showing off some incredible footwork and control during the barrel drill. That dude knows how to move!
http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/?action=view&current=100_3927.mp4

Todd demonstrating the Triple Nickel drill
http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/?action=view&current=100_3953.mp4

[Lomshek]

My experience…

Here’s my change in form between day one and day two. I’ve felt pretty solid in form and technique the last few years but under Todd’s patient tutelage I saw a huge difference in accuracy, control and recovery.

Day one
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3916.jpg

Day two
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z67/bonecreekgunclub/AFHF%20Class/100_3949.jpg

Guns used.
My original plan was to use an M&P 9 FS but that gun got returned to me just two days before the class after its second trip to S&W for lousy accuracy (8+ inches at 25 yards) and poor QC (unfinished chamber & muzzle crown on the first replacement barrel).Having no desire to make my primary shooter a gun I hadn’t shot much with such a questionable history made me put the M&P in benchwarmer status.

I shot my old reliable Ruger P94 90% of the time from either a CTAC IWB at 3:30 or a Safariland Custom Fit OWB at 3:00 both under an untucked shirt. I spent some time shooting a Kel-Tec PF9 to see how I did with it on some drills. The PF9 was a challenge; I felt like I shot it pretty well but still struggled with the trigger & tiny grip. The gun was hitting at least 4 inches high at 7 yards so if I carry it I’ll get that fixed.

The Ruger had one failure to extract on day one. That evening I detail stripped the slide, cleaned out the FP channel & extractor groove and re-tensioned the extractor. I went a little overboard on extractor tension which caused a few failures to return to battery early on day two. After a hundred rounds or so that went away. I plan to replace both the firing pin and extractor as they are the originals and have well over 50,000 rounds.

Out of almost 1000 rounds fired I had maybe a 5% light strike issue with the Ruger & Kel-Tec. The ammo I loaded for this class had Remington small rifle primers which in spite of passing my limited testing ahead of class were just too hard for 100% ignition. The M&P striker failed to ignite a single primer when I tried it so no love there. My experiment was looking for a hotter flash to get a more complete powder burn (fewer unburned kernels) with a bonus (if it worked) of only having to stock a single small primer instead of rifle and handgun.

The DA/SA manual safety Ruger was not a problem for me and the slide mounted safety did not add .001 of a second to my draw. Years of practice working the safety have made that an instinctive part of the draw/ready motion. I’m very comfortable with my accuracy on the first DA shot and am able to make fast headshots with no problem (as long as I use my sights).

One area I did have trouble was modifying my draw motion to the press out method. In the past I brought the gun up to chin level and pushed it out at a slight upward angle so I could get a sight picture as the gun is coming on target always waiting to pull the trigger until my arms were at extension.

My DA trigger method is one fast, continuous stroke from start to finish with no staging or milking. Trying to slow that down and work the trigger as I did the press out in slow motion was excruciatingly difficult for me and I don’t feel like I am even close to getting that down. I totally understand the need for a slow motion “by the numbers” (so to speak) practice to master the press out but as I have read many times it is not something that is mastered over a weekend.

[Blayglock]

In addition to practicing my reloads I also need to work on my reading comprehension doh!

[NETim]

Ahem... although only one was worthy of notice, there were TWO shooters from Nebraska in attendance. (What can I say? Comic relief is my calling and my attempts at the FAST test were certainly comical.)

I'd again like to offer my thanks to you Roger and to all the others who made this possible. I'm glad to have had an opportunity to access great training like this, particularly when I can drive in and haul along all the toys and equipment that makes the experience much more enjoyable.

I enjoyed getting to know the other members of the class as well. Great bunch of guys.

I learned some good stuff that I will work hard to incorporate into my shooting routine(s), even if it means starting over in some instances.

And last but not least, for those who don't know him, Todd's an extremely knowledgeable shooter and a gifted instructor. I will offer one word of advice though. If he starts telling you stories about all the hours he spends sharpening his knives while insisting you squat when shooting, you had better squat.

:)

PS For those who may be confused, 12 feet does not equal 3 yards. ;)

[SGinardi]

This class was just horrible. The instructor is a big, smelly dumb head that can't teach (<----Teach - inside joke).


Ok J/K - This class was my first class I have ever taken and all I can say is WOW. Todd is sincerely a really awesome instructor and a really cool human being. I can't say enough good things about him. He really mixed up humor with instructing and made class fun. His personality and how is able to get his point across is what i'm most impressed by.

I enjoyed the time we talked after class and how knowledgeable he truely is. I was really kicking myself after the class because of my own performance on the fast drill. I did retain what he taught and can work and build on it for a long time and hopefully get me out of my plataeu.

Todd,

Thank you sir, you are a wonderful instructor (and shooter) and I WILL look forward to taking another class from you. Thank you so much.



Shawn Ginardi

[Lomshek]

Tim, I thought you were the only Cornhusker? Shows how much attention I paid.

Todd had some innovative techniques for keeping students on task and maintaining form! The sharp stick was a good one too.

[NETim]

Tim, I thought you were the only Cornhusker? Shows how much attention I paid.

Todd had some innovative techniques for keeping students on task and maintaining form! The sharp stick was a good one too.

jthapkido is from Huskerland as well. He comes from the side of the state that knows how to shoot.

And yes, Todd has a way of getting the students' attention. :) Sadly, numbers seem to give him trouble though. (However, a guy who doesn't know how to count to 13 probably shouldn't say anything about someone else's math skills.) :)

[ToddG]

Sadly, numbers seem to give him trouble though.

In my defense, that was only with jth's target(s). It was some kind of lefty hex, I'm certain of it!

[Chemsoldier]

I learned a lot. I have had a number of classes from regional type schools, this is by far the best training I have ever taken. The instructor was an excellent shooter, an excellent instructor and an excellent communicator. I have never had all three in a class before. and it was outstanding. I learned a lot about shooting and myself.

I look forward to taking it again.