AAR - Defensive Pistol Workshop 29AUG2020 Cleves, OH

29AUG2020
AAR - Defensive Pistol Workshop
Recommended ammo count - 300
Impact Shooting Center - Cleves, OH
Partly cloudy, high humidity, warm/hot temperature

Problem weapons noted - 2
1 - ammo availability, ran out of .380ACP very early, switched to a MOS Glock (34?) with SRO optic for remainder of class
2 - Glock (17?) with a SRO on it - constantly locking back the slide, on the third new slide stop.

3 things covered
- Tourniquet application, importance, and working with one
Grip, recoil control
Draw stroke
3 things learned
Efficiency of appendix draw
Have a training gun and a carry gun
Aim big, miss big when moving
3 things I’ll be changing
Smaller targets when moving
Starting and ending range sessions with accuracy
Take averages of clean drills, perform more than once


Shane is one of the owners and a great instructor in his own right, and a shooter with the round count to match, hours under the right types of trainers, and the right drive for teaching. Bobby matches the skill level and brings boat loads to the table as an A.I. Their motivations are about success of student’s goals, individualized, and coursework is modified as needed. I went into this course with the stated verbal goal to be sooner, not faster, with my pistol. The only time I heard either instructor mention faster was to illustrate how trying to go fast makes wheels fall off.

The course started with curriculum and a syllabus to ensure a through coverage of the intended topic. We started with a close, pure accuracy assessment with no time or instruction provided for a baseline, and pushed the line back to 15 yards for the same target. A majority of students displayed poor accuracy, recoil control, inability to call sights, etc., and the course was modified immediately to address those concerns and improve their skills, rather than push them through curriculum with skills that won’t allow them to succeed.

Unfortunately this workshop won’t be held again, but for good reason. Shane is not a law enforcement officer, military door kicker, or anything along those lines, but has very good technical skills. He stated he wants to stay in his lane, and if tactics are going to be taught, they should be taught by someone who has done those things in the real world. Bolstering technical skills, efficiency, and safety, will simply allow a student to focus on whatever problem they have with more mental skin in the game, and that is where Shane is shifting his focus of courses.

Shane called me later to apologize for the workshop not being what it was supposed to be. I informed him I’d be disappointed with him as an instructor if he didn’t modify the course to fit his students. This is the sort of guy Shane is - high standards, good communication and diagnostic skills, and actually has the best interest of his students in mind. I’m looking forward to the next course.

Mike F.
Cincinnati, OH