Skill Builder

Skill Builder: Identify, React, Engage:

Unless you are into competitive shooting or have access to a farm, most of us do not get to move around while practicing to shoot.  This is because in a standard range it is not a safe place to fire live ammo unless all safety measures are in place.  Last Friday night I was able to participate in a Skill Builders Class.  The participants in the class were given Simunition guns and Sims bullets to use along with protective eyewear.  We shot at Fit Lights. It’s like Whack-A-Mole with lights and bullets.

There were two choices of 9mm handguns. One was a Smith & Wesson and the other was a Glock.  I am not a Glock girl so I was shooting the S&W.  The main rule is that you only shoot at the RED light. This was a challenge for some of the class. There were 7 lights that would flash multiple colors: ie  yellow, blue, green and red.  These lights were spaced out  10 to 30 feet apart around the room.  This really gave everyone room to move around and aim from different angles. 

Remember the movie “Men in Black” where Will Smith shot the little girl with the school books?  He did not shoot the monster that had a runny nose. Like Will, we needed to think before we took aim and fired.  Some people shot the blue lights.  This was normally due to taking too long to shoot the red and the light had already changed colors before they pulled the trigger. Threats can stop being threats right? We have to know when to stop shooting.  

We did a few drills. Like I said earlier I am not a Glock girl, but one of the drills I picked up the Glock.  That gun was not fun at all.  This drill we had to walk forward while holding the gun and shooting.  The Glock kept jamming, I was very frustrated.  Needless to say I will not shoot a Glock again. However, the other drills were  so much fun.

The John Wick drill was so fun.  We stood in the middle of 4 lights and would all turn red at the same time and we had 3 seconds to shoot them all.  My score was 2.8 seconds but a few people were less than 1.5 seconds.  

The course really highlighted the tricks of the trade to make yourself a better shooter. Yet it was ultimately really fun at the same time.