Training Drills, by Rob Leatham

Here are several, perhaps, warm-up drills

Slow Fire Drill — Five shots on target, unlimited time, two hand standing position. Done once each from 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 yards. Each shot reinforces the basics and the shooter also verifies sight zero.

Five-Second Drill — The shooter has five seconds to draw and fire a single shot. This is an opportunity to refresh muscle-memory and make sure every moment from the draw to the shot placement is correct. Then the shooter repeats the Drill with three rounds, then with four rounds, then with five rounds, etc. all the way up to ten rounds in five seconds. Distance begins at 3, then to 5, 7 and 10 yards. All shots must be in the A-zone of the target.

Three-Grasp Drill — The shooter draws and fires two shots from their preferred two-hand stance, then shoots two rounds strong hand only and then two rounds weak hand only. (An alternate version is to fire one shot from each position). This is conducted from 3, 5, 7 and 10 yards, all shots in the A-zone of the target.

Shoot And Move Drill — Fire five shots moving forward. Then five shots retreating. Then begin at the 10 yard line and leave a magazine on the ground at the 3 yard line. At the start signal, move forward firing until you have reached the point where you placed the fresh magazine. Pick up the magazine from the ground and reload and then fire as you retreat back to the starting point.

Shoot – Reload – Shoot Drill — At ten yards, facing a single target. Draw and fire six rounds, reload, and fire another six rounds. The shooter should fire as fast as they can and still keep all hits within the A-zone of the target.

For the average CCW holder, drawing and shooting while retreating could save your life. Practice this because, innately, you may begin to withdraw from a surprise situation. Thousands of rounds down range in training scenarios can help to mitigate this desire, but you just won’t know until heaven forbid, you’re there.

Mr. Leatham offers El Presidente as a concluding drill in this set, but we thought to provide Jeff Cooper’s version below.

El Presidente, Jeff Cooper

El Presidente was designed by Jeff Cooper as a rough benchmark of handgun skills. It is probably the most widely known handgun standard around.

Setup: three IPSC targets, spaced one yard apart, 10 yards distant.

Starting Position: gun holstered, spare magazine on belt, hands held above shoulders (surrender position), facing away (180 degrees) from targets. With standard IPSC comstock scoring.

Drill: At the signal, turn and draw, firing two shots into the A-zone of each target. Reload, and fire two more shots into each target. As originally specified, the Drill only counts if all shots are in the A-zone. A missed A-zone counts as a missed target. But when shot in competition, all hits on the target usually count, Grandmaster.

This set of drills comes to you via Handgun Law dot US. Always check their webpage before traveling between states to make sure you know the latest and important laws of the states you’ll be in.