BAD, FAST- FOREVER.

Done right, speed is a by-product of efficient movement executed with precision.

Most people seek skill with firearms as a means of self-defense. This impetus, of course, carries with it a certain sense of urgency. Images of wild-west gunfights and video snippets from YouTube commandos help drive us to draw and shoot with lightning speed. The quest for speed, though, can infect and impede us. It can strike at the core of our training model, particularly if we don't have a knowledgeable, experienced instructor standing over our shoulder coaching our movements and reminding us to slow down.

Shooting is largely a fine motor skill. It is best learned at a pace that allows for the identification of available efficiencies and the repetition of proper, precise movements. If we “short cut” the skill building process and introduce speed prematurely, we will likely introduce errors or inefficiencies into our movement and our thought processes. Those errors or inefficiencies will turn into training scars (bad habits resulting from improper training). And those training scars will make it very difficult for us to ever achieve the level of execution (speed and accuracy) that we seek.

Slow down, process the movements, get better. Speed will come. Don’t be BAD, FAST- FOREVER.