CTG Podcast Ep003 - Maximizing Value in Training

The whole point of Performance Shooting is maximizing your efficiency behind your gun in a given situation. So why should your Practice and training be any different?

I started the journey of Practical Shooting as a fresh-out-of-college broke kid who had a job as a Machinist. Not exactly the ideal situation to start Competitive Shooting. But I am a stubborn donkey and wouldn’t be told no.

My whole Career started battling uphill. I was shooting stock G19 with a dot, the same one I also carried and taught with. I was broke AND cheap, so I made do with the bare minimum. But Im thankful for that start because it influenced how I train to this day. I didn’t have the option to buy my way out of a problem, so I trained my way out. I had to learn to identify weak points in my game, make a plan to train it, and add it back to my game.

3gun and USPSA helped me identify. I would show up at a match, and by the time I was driving home I KNEW what needed more practice…it’s often why I lost so it was easy to figure out. How did I plan to make it better though? Youtube could only get me so far…in steps Kita. I wanted to train with a profession coach to better identify my weaknesses and plan how to fix them. But being broke, I needed to find. way to do it….HOSTING. I could host her and with some sweat-equity I get a free slot in the class. Im no stranger to bartering work for what I need so BOOM I got to take my first class in 2018.

After seeing what a 2day class in Coaching was….my training changed forever. Kita used science and data to adjust training like a scientist or nurse. I grew up as an athlete and had an epiphany…I DO KNOW HOW TO TRAIN. I played Lacrosse to a College level, 4 season round, since 6th grade. If I applied the same approach to my Firearms training…I was seeing results.

In Lacrosse, we would work on a skill like passing. Then we would apply passing to a play we would learn. We would test the play again our own defense as a scrimmage. Then came game time. After the game, Monday we changed anything we needed to in Skills. And THERE lies the similarity. In shooting we can work a skill like Draws into Skill pieces like getting the grip, finding your dot, etc. Then you can work draws to a Par time Drill for Metrics. Once you have the drill on a par time, you work a “Drill” like a Bill Drill. Next would be go to a Match, for instance, and see if you can apply the draw to the situations you’re presented.

Next is the magic…go back to the Skill portion and fix the small details that weren’t right in the match. Build them back up through the process to the next match and BOOM you have efficient progress. Skills, Metrics, Drills, Match. SIMPLE but never easy. That is the goal.

So this method of Training guided me through to Master class, shooting 89% of JJ Racaza in 2021 with a Stock G19 with a dot. This is when I started to “polish” some of my gear. Yes you can’t buy your way to GM, but gear can certainly be less than advantageous for pushing limits- which is neccesary for making GM. I had to asses WHY I was having a hard time making GM…

Using my match videos and results, I see that my inconsistent reloads are killing me when running classifiers. I could shoot GM level field courses with my G19 but GMs need to be able to DO EVERYTHING at 95%+ and I realized a simple fact- reloading a full size frame Glock is easier. So I updated my gun to a really fancy…G45. Basically all the sfamiliarity of my G19 plus a bigger grip. Boom reloads are 1sec consistently and I found even my draws improved incrementally.

THAT was my big upgrade. I made GM the next season…at my first match. I Stayed with my training and Dryfire, didn’t shoot for 2 months but dryfired daily, and shot my first classifier at 101%. My training worked, but I did need that extra 5% in gear advantage..but only to crack GM. I didn’t need a $5000 custom 2011…just a full sized Glock up from a Carry size Glock. So is there a Balance? Absolutely…about 95% training and 5% gear. I say that because once you find working gear, it doesn’t need focus like your skill work. Your gear needs to be dependable and reliable, that’s about it until you are literally being held back.