And therein lies the real travesty. The competent folks don't get any skill building, and the frigging slugs who should be selling shoes get a tit stuck in their mouth and one-on-one coaching. Been there, done that, ate the frustration.Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's
But nowadays, with the "No Slug Left Behind" policies of most agencies that nobody dares to challenge... well, anyone depending on the cops to keep him safe is nothing more than a walking future victim file number.
.
Speaking of misplaced shoe salesmen:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...a265ad4526.jpg
.
thanks for sharing the picture.
My predecessor at the FTU had it taped to the fridge door in the range house (where everybody who came through there could see it), along with a hand-lettered sign underneath: "Speed from the holster MATTERS!" When I took over, I just left it there.
Some got it, some didn't, some didn't care.
.
Or as Brother Givens would say, "Draw QUICKLY. Shoot CAREFULLY."
Which always amazed me since we had a decent percentage of shootings where speed DID matter. When it matters, it really matters, especially if your nearest backup might be 20 minutes away.
I have not commented as of yet, but I have a conflicting opinion on that exact type of demo which I have seen for many years. If I am being up front I don't like mashing the trigger as a demo.
It should be a no brainer that if you can get a trigger to manipulate straight to the rear even if you use an object and pound the trigger, the bullet will go where you are aiming it as long as the trigger goes straight to the rear in alignment with the bore. Again this is nothing new and many have used a similar demo by pressing the trigger for the shooter to illustrate a point.
The point isn't how hard you can mash a trigger straight to the rear, but how the shooters trigger finger press can alter the weapon alignment but more so how the grip alters during the pull process and influences the outcome. It is a good thing to illustrate this to reinforce the importance of learning a correct pull to the rear without altering the grip or alignment of the sights. It isn't about making the point that jerking a trigger is not a bad thing, but jerking a trigger usually manifests itself as a nonlinear press to the rear and often includes an alteration in the grip which is what is causing the problem, not how hard you're pulling.
As for the grip in the picture posted, pretty standard thumbs forward grip. I don't teach crushing the grip front to rear but side to side. Myself and those I teach, the primary hands thumb is not clenched but has light pressure only. I can actually place my primary hands thumb on the trigger finger side and shoot the pistol at speed with just as much control and I demo this often. This is a good visual to show that crushing with the thumb is not important. It is more for stabilization as opposed to grip force. Too many people crush with the thumb and fingers in a frontstrap to backstrap crush because we have an opposing thumb and a crushing grip with the thumb is what primates do. But that often hurts a shooters performance. We should be creating a crush from side to side, not front to rear.
I too am sad about the level of general LE firearms training.
Surf, I concur, and I think smashing the trigger so hard as to break it is actually kind of dishonest in trying so very, very hard to push this idea, which is artificial as hell IMHO.
Using the tool to smack the trigger isolates the pull into only that dynamic by itself, and, as you noted, probably means they are causing the trigger to move straight to the rear.
I am the owner of Agile/Training and Consulting
www.agiletactical.com
I was using my strong side thumb so much I was pushing my left hand down with it. That's why he had me go the "high and neutral" right thumb. He didn't teach crushing front to rear, but did tell us to use some push/pull. He did teach the heels of the palm being tight against the grip, which I figure is what you're talking about with crushing side to side.
I can't speak for John Mcphee, and I wasn't in that class.
The demo being discussed has one purpose, and one purpose only. It is to show a student that they can pull the trigger very fast and very hard and still get a good hit, if they do things correctly. A screwdriver being used by an instructor is probably going faster and harder than a trigger finger, and is used as an illustration that speed and power on the trigger are not a problem when you have a proper grip and stance.
I've never seen anyone do this except Rob Leatham. I've seen him do it on about 100 students. I've never seen or heard of a trigger being broken from it.
Rob also believes in gripping a gun VERY hard. That includes front to back gripping. Many top 16 type competitors that i am friendly with also believe this, and actively work to strengthen their grip for this to work better.
For fighting purposes, I do not believe that you will grip the gun less than you do in practice, barring some unusual circumstance. This was reinforced to me just yesterday during a brief but very tense situation.
Reply With Quote