Intermediate Pistol 101

[Coach]

After teaching this course on June 9th I had some thoughts. I decided to write them down and share them here. I hope perspective students find them to be helpful.

 

[Coach]

IP 101

Intermediate Pistol 101

We at Adaptive Consulting and Training offer a good variety of classes. We have both rifle and pistol courses. We offer medical classes. Our pistol courses begin with an introductory class for the new gun owner. The student in our pistol classes then can choose from the competition courses or the defensive courses.We even have instructors that are certified to teach the NRA courses should the student choose to go that route. However, I would like to take this opportunityto talk about our Intermediate Pistol 101, which might be the most important course that we teach for building skill with a handgun. Intermediate Pistol 101sits at the cross roads between defensive and competitive shooting.

A little history on why the class was developed would be appropriate. As a company thefirst classes we taught were defensive pistol classes, and they were and remain great defensive classes. These courses are designed for the shooter who has some fundamental knowledge of their firearm and how to shoot it in general. We were spending too much time in these classes getting a new gun owner on target and explaining and teaching the fundamentals. This held back the rest of the class. So being fairly good with the obvious we noticed that a need existed for some introductory and intermediate levels of pistol shooting. Being one of the most skeptical and paranoid people around I know what some of you are thinking.They did this to force people into taking more classes so they could make more money. Being capitalists we do not apologize for trying to make money, but the reason this course was developed was that there was a need to fill, not due to profit building.

Intermediate Pistol 101 is a value priced, four-hour class on gun-handling, marksmanship, and the essential skills of driving the gun with your vision, snapping the eyes,calling shots and of course a proper drawstroke. It includes shooting Strong Hand Only and Weak Hand Only. This class then moves on to engaging multiple targets, and how to do so fast and accurately. This class has no classroom session. We start on the range and teach a topic and then we practice it, and then we add skills and practice them. Many classes including some of ours startin the classroom and then move out to the range. While the classroom isnecessary and proper in some cases. Some classes (none of ours) spend way too much time in the classroom. You cannot learn to shoot better by reading a book or listening to a lecture. It is imperative to get the gun in your hands and put rounds down range. Shooting is a hands-on activity.

The skill set taught in this class is essential in both competitive shooting anddefensive shooting. Shooting fast and accurately will be required in both settings. In my experience many shooters, most of them being male, feel that they are beyond a course titled “Basic” or “Intermediate.” The vast majority of those shooters are wrong. Many times they lack the skills taught in this classand in the middle of a defensive of competition class it is difficult to catch them up.

In teaching the use of the handgun I have been surprised by the number of clubs and gunowners who are timid about drawing a gun from the holster. I have run into many people who have owned guns and plinked for decades and have never drawn a gunfrom a holster. Drawing from a holster is not a big deal. There is nothing tofear as long as a few things are done correctly. Unsafe actions by the shooter can lead to disaster but that is true of guns in general.

The difference between being a gun owner and a shooter is the skill and ability touse a gun safely and effectively. Intermediate Pistol 101 by ACT is a great wayto transform from one to the other. Such a transformation is necessary beforeyou can become a competent defensive or competitive shooter. This class is the place to begin training journey, and it is also a great place to refresh it.

 

[rhino]

I should mention that IP101 (and BP100) were developed by Coach and have been very successful in our efforts to help people to move from being a competely new gun owner to being a competent shooter and gun handler.

I've seen people make dramatic progress after completing IP101 and then seeing them again later. Some choose to repeat IP101, sometimes multiple times. Even though the basic concepts are the same, each class is a little different.

As Coach mentioned, if a student can execute the basic marksmanship, shooting, and gun handling tasks efficiently and with confidence, it makes it a lot easier for them to focus on applications, whether it's defense or competition or both.