The Balance of Speed, Accuracy and Assessment

[Erick Gelhaus]

I heard it from Scotty Reitz.

Have had a few visits with Reitz and don't recall him discussing this. However, Ed Flosi - formerly of San Jose PD and a CalPOST SME - has advocated for it in print.

[backtrail540]

Scotty is all about absolute clean efficient lines. I could not see this with a pistol unless there was another issue...like a child in front of a suspect.
With the shotgun, it is an indoor ready when not enough room exists to extend a low ready and keep the muzzle off people and to keep it from giving a position away or subject it to a take away.

I'm currently reading through Tactical Reality, and Louis covered this in the Ready or Not article. "the weapon must be in a geometric position that is relative to the threat to allow fast operation if required." Later in the article, the indoor ready is discussed for the same reasons you mentioned. Just thought it was timely, as i was reading this morning and it reminded me of your post. Great minds and all that.

[Dagga Boy]

Indoor ready is a movement technique and should not be used as a challenge or confrontational position. Think of indoor ready as a position you don’t want to be in, but have to and want out of it as much as possible.

[MDFA]

Superb post -- thank you. Lends substance to something that was briefly touched on in the "Good article by Tam" thread: how training purely for a smooth draw and good hits can engender an indiscriminate reflex to shoot once the decision to draw has been made, short-circuiting critical -- here's the operative word -- assessment factors that might otherwise turn a "go" into a "no-go" between draw and trigger pull.

Any recommendations for introducing an assessment element into daily dry fire practice and range drills?

Read Scott Reitz The Art Of Modern Gunfighting. It has dry and range drills covering that skill set. Also better yet, read the book several times and take a class with "Uncle Scotty". I had the good fortune of taking a class a couple years ago with Scotty and would take another again in a heartbeat.

[Sauer Koch]

I'm not sure this really answers your question, but during dry practice I like to practice draws to a low ready position as well as draw and shoot. The low ready I prefer has the muzzle slightly offset to the left or right instead of pointing at the potential target.

Excellent ^^^

The 'quick draw, to low ready' doesn't get much attention, but should. Drill wise, as already stated:

Quick Draw > LR > Assess (no shoot) > re-holster

Then, include: (?)

QD > LR > Assess > Apparent no shoot > SHOOT *emphasizing the transition from a mentally guarded state of probable no-shoot from LR, to SHOOT

*shoot stimulus coming from observing coach, or turning targets (this would be fun & challenging, but turning targets are pretty rare).

Thoughts...?

[Wayne Dobbs]

Excellent ^^^

The 'quick draw, to low ready' doesn't get much attention, but should. Drill wise, as already stated:

Quick Draw > LR > Assess (no shoot) > re-holster

Then, include: (?)

QD > LR > Assess > Apparent no shoot > SHOOT *emphasizing the transition from a mentally guarded state of probable no-shoot from LR, to SHOOT

*shoot stimulus coming from observing coach, or turning targets (this would be fun & challenging, but turning targets are pretty rare).

Thoughts...?

That's a fairly standard drill set that Darryl and I use in classes.

[Sauer Koch]

That's a fairly standard drill set that Darryl and I use in classes.

Good to know. My wife and I drove up to train with Darryl back in November, but this type of drill wasn't part of why we were there, but I'd definitely like to get in on these kind of drills.

Do you cover this in FR, or is it for FR Advanced?

[Wayne Dobbs]

Do you cover this in FR, or is it for FR Advanced?

In First Responder.

[Sauer Koch]

In First Responder.

Thanks. Darryl said that he hoped you guys could work out a date for this class, I hope we can attend.

[Robinson]

Who is instructing to point muzzle left or right instead of up or down?

I learned the offset low ready position from an instructor who is a respected member here. I'll let him speak for himself if he so desires.

Even though it is offset, the gun is still pointed toward the ground in front of you. The reasoning behind it is that the gun is in a ready position but you haven't pointed it at anyone. Practice shows that the time difference vs. low ready toward the person isn't really significant.