Target Identification: Don’t Shoot Faster Than You Can Process Information

Most of us train on a buzzer.

The buzzer goes off, the gun comes up, and over time we get very fast at shooting on cue. The problem is that we can get so fast that we start shooting faster than we can process information and think.

In this clip from a CQB drill, I add one thing to clearing a room. Before you shoot, you have to say what you see.

The empty wall

Competition shooters who come through this drill are excited about how fast they go. We put up targets with the same man’s face, some holding a gun and some not, and they run through them quickly. Then they find out they shot the wrong guy.

One shooter kept getting faster, so I pulled the target out of the room. He came around the corner, yelled “drop the gun,” and put three rounds into an empty wall. When I asked him what he was shooting at, he knew he had messed up.

That’s a good learning point, and it’s really two lessons. First, he shot an empty wall because he thought the bad guy was there. Second, he said “drop the gun” when there was no gun and no person to hold one.

Say what you see

If you’re having trouble slowing down, identify what you’re looking at by saying what he’s holding: drop the pistol, drop the rifle, do not touch the knife.

You can’t say it until you’ve seen it. That pause is what keeps you from shooting something you never meant to end.

You don’t have to say the make and model. Nobody needs “drop the Glock 17.” You only need to identify what type of weapon it is.

What’s a weapon?

Police tend to say “drop the weapon,” and that’s a legal term. A screwdriver could be a weapon. So could a beer bottle.

For liability, a broad term like that has its place. For training your brain, the question is what you have actually seen. It also matters because your tactics change based on what you’re being threatened with.

Know where the round goes

Don’t forget height over bore if you’re running an optic. Aiming for the face and hitting the throat may not be what you’re going for.

Some guys put the red dot on a man’s face and end up shooting him in the neck without meaning to. Account for the offset of the optic over the barrel so the round goes where you want it to go.

Keep both eyes open, pay attention to where your shots went, and check whether the threat has ended.

Don’t get sucked into the target

While you’re dealing with one threat, others in the room can see you. You want to be looking at one at a time, so don’t get pulled into the target before you’ve finished with the first.

Train it

This isn’t necessarily how I want you to fight in a real home defense situation. It’s a way to train your brain to identify, process the information, and then go through your procedures for getting shots on target, and to know when shooting isn’t appropriate.

In dry fire, say out loud what you see before you press the trigger, and decide whether it’s a threat before you decide to shoot it.

Train it with us

We work this and a lot more in CQB 1 and 2 at Deep Woods Ranch this Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18. Register for CQB 1 & 2