Quickness vs Speed
by David Colburn
I am once again putting my 2 cents in and making statements based on my experiences. We all talk about speed everyday. This is fast, that was fast, he’s quick, look at him go, etc…..however speed is a relative concept. that is, it relates to the situation you are in. If you are a NASCAR Driver then speed for you is in MPH (miles per hour), if you are a Drag Racer then speed for you is measured in tenths, hundredths or thousandths of a second. If you put all of these measurements together and try to apply them to your life you would go nuts.
So here is how it applies to us in the gun world. We talk about or hear about the Cowboys of the Old West. They whoever they is talk about “the fast draw” or “quickdraw”. How does this relate to today’s conceal carry weapons holders? This is where my opinion may differ from many so-called experts. Most of the experts I see teach to just draw and aim, then shoot. As if your brain could process at that rate somehow, under stress, in an untrained scenario, possibly at night, blah, blah, blah…Who are they kidding? Your brain takes time to process what it sees and I can tell you in a critical situation the first thing you realize is that this is no joke and I may just be in the worst trouble of my life. Only after you have accepted this does your brain allow you to move to the next steps. Now you can focus on the situation and evaluate the circumstances and acquire the target so you can respond. In layman’s terms, you go from “Oh Shit” to “Gottcha”!!!
Practice to be “quick” and smooth. Fast is slow, quick is fast….If you have your gun in your hand as the situation presents itself you have more time to do all the things you must in order to survive. Self-awareness and experience are huge factors here of course and practicing your draw, your draw from concealment, your presentation to your target, etc…all give you time. Break the process down and improve the quickness where you can, Eliminate as much of the human error by bring on your game. Practice your draw, practice your reloads, make sure you have the proper equipment for each “carry day”. Purchase Airsoft guns or blue guns to practice with. Never practice with a loaded gun unless at a range. You can do everything you need to except learn the recoil with an airsoft gun….
If you are going to be sitting all day, standing all day, driving all day, etc…..YOU MAY NOT CARRY THE SAME GUN ALL DAY THE SAME WAY! I personally take at least 2 holsters and possibly 2 guns with me when I go out and I plan my day, my clothing and the way I am going to carry along with the guns that make the most sense. Do you possibly need more than one gun, yes. Do you possibly have to carry different guns for different seasons, yes. Accept that you are the weak link and train the weak link until it’s not the weak link. Embrace your weakness and have fun with it. Shooting sports have been around as long as guns have been with us. the spirit of competition is in all of us and it can be fun, make it fun and pay attention to your training. I got a little off point here but you get the idea.
In summary, train to be as quick as you can, to be as perfect as you can and as aware as possible. In my book quickness counts!