the Modern Technique of the pistol
If you want to read about the Modern Technique of the Pistol as developed by Col Jeff Cooper, there are a couple of good sources:
Cooper on Handguns is fascinating. The 1974 edition is more detailed than the 1979 edition. You might be able to find them used on amazon.com or barnes & noble.com or Alibris or one of the other used book vendors. (I bought several copies of the 1979 edition back in 1979 and purchased a few copies of the 1974 edition as I found them in later years)
The Modern Technique of the Pistol by Gregory Boyce Morrison is a 1991 book written by a guy who was an instructor at Gunsite at that time. Jeff Cooper was involved in editing the book. It's still pretty good, and available from the Gunsite pro shop for $26.
(I started studying shooting seriously right after I graduated high school, shot my first IPSC match in 1978, became a cop in 1981 and a firearms instructor in 1982 and I've been active as a cop and an instructor and a competitive shooter for over 30 years. And I'm not done yet)
In my opinion, what Col Cooper developed as far as technique for the pistol was outstanding, and is still very good. (I shoot handguns with a "Chapman" stance -- modified Weaver with a nearly locked elbow on the gun side).
But tactics evolve, techniques evolve, and equipment evolves, and we need to change to keep up with the times. Not change for the sake of change, but change when it makes sense based on our experience and training and circumstance and equipment.
So the question often comes up, is competition shooting relevant to developing "real world" defensive skills, and is it a useful way to develop and test new techniques and new equipment? I believe there is some relevance in some aspects.
I compete regularly in both IPSC/USPSA and IDPA and shoot PPC once in a while, almost always using a "real" holster and whatever my duty gun is at the time. (Currently a Sig 226R-DAK in .40 cal). If you are shooting for defensive purposes, then the techniques used by good shooters in "Production" class in USPSA or in "stock service pistol" class in IDPA might (?) have some relevance for you. Maybe.
Shooting in competition can be fun and it can improve your high performance markshmanship skills to some extent. It depends upon how you approach the activity and how you shoot the match. It depends A LOT on the courses of fire of the individual stages in the match. I've shot many USPSA 32 round field courses that I felt were a waste of time, from the standpoint of shooter development. I go out of my way to shoot USPSA special classifier matches or IDPA classifier matches because I really enjoy them as test of basic skills.
Guys get all wrapped around the axle arguing about some of this stuff. It's like those medieval discussions about how many angels can dance of the head of a pin. Some people get excited arguing about nothing . . .
When shooting a handgun, some people shoot better with some form of the "Modern Isoceles" stance and some shoot better using some modification of the Weaver stance. Some shoot better with a thumbs forward grip. Some shoot better with a traditional thumb over thumb grip. It doesn't matter!!! As an instructor, you need to know the range of acceptable variations of technique so that you can help your students pick that combination of technique that works best for them, their hand size, their grip strength, their weapon choice, etc.
the Modern Technique of the pistol
If you want to read about the Modern Technique of the Pistol as developed by Col Jeff Cooper, there are a couple of good sources:
Cooper on Handguns is fascinating. The 1974 edition is more detailed than the 1979 edition. You might be able to find them used on amazon.com or barnes & noble.com or Alibris or one of the other used book vendors. (I bought several copies of the 1979 edition back in 1979 and purchased a few copies of the 1974 edition as I found them in later years)
The Modern Technique of the Pistolby Gregory Boyce Morrison is a 1991 book written by a guy who was an instructor at Gunsite at that time. Jeff Cooper was involved in editing the book. It's still pretty good, and available from the Gunsite pro shop for $26.
(I started studying shooting seriously right after I graduated high school, shot my first IPSC match in 1978, became a cop in 1981 and a firearms instructor in 1982 and I've been active as a cop and an instructor and a competitive shooter for over 30 years. And I'm not done yet)
In my opinion, what Col Cooper developed as far as technique for the pistol was outstanding, and is still very good. (I shoot handguns with a "Chapman" stance -- modified Weaver with a nearly locked elbow on the gun side).
But tactics evolve, techniques evolve, and equipment evolves, and we need to change to keep up with the times. Not change for the sake of change, but change when it makes sense based on our experience and training and circumstance and equipment.
So the question often comes up, is competition shooting relevant to developing "real world" defensive skills, and is it a useful way to develop and test new techniques and new equipment? I believe there is some relevance in some aspects.
I compete regularly in both IPSC/USPSA and IDPA and shoot PPC once in a while, almost always using a "real" holster and whatever my duty gun is at the time. (Currently a Sig 226R-DAK in .40 cal). If you are shooting for defensive purposes, then the techniques used by good shooters in "Production" class in USPSA or in "stock service pistol" class in IDPA might (?) have some relevance for you. Maybe.
Shooting in competition can be fun and it can improve your high performance markshmanship skills to some extent. It depends upon how you approach the activity and how you shoot the match. It depends A LOT on the courses of fire of the individual stages in the match. I've shot many USPSA 32 round field courses that I felt were a waste of time, from the standpoint of shooter development. I go out of my way to shoot USPSA special classifier matches or IDPA classifier matches because I really enjoy them as test of basic skills.
Guys get all wrapped around the axle arguing about some of this stuff. It's like those medieval discussions about how many angels can dance of the head of a pin. Some people get excited arguing about nothing . . .
When shooting a handgun, some people shoot better with some form of the "Modern Isoceles" stance and some shoot better using some modification of the Weaver stance. Some shoot better with a thumbs forward grip. Some shoot better with a traditional thumb over thumb grip. It doesn't matter!!! As an instructor, you need to know the range of acceptable variations of technique so that you can help your students pick that combination of technique that works best for them, their hand size, their grip strength, their weapon choice, etc.