Courtesy of Breach Bang Clear
Shot timers or not? Are they of any real use? We like a good round or three of debate if learning occurs, and of course if it’s civil discourse. Hell, we like it better than (pre-mustache) Chuck Haggard porn; that’s why we insist everyone agree Jane is an ignorant slut. Some discussions are more heated than others; many never truly go away. An example of the latter is the argument over shot timers in training, which has enjoyed a recent resurgence in the training community (particularly on social media). The following op-ed appeared some time back on Tom Given’s FB page (he’s the editor of the RANGEMASTER newsletter, which you should be reading). We thought it worth reposting here. Mad Duo
Shot Timers or No? Metrics and Mediocrity
Tom Givens
There is a small, but vocal, segment in the defensive training community that discourages the use of stopwatches or electronic timers, and belittles attempts to quantify skill at arms with scored courses and drills. I read some drivel from a couple of these guys on Facebook recently, and was really disturbed by the level of antagonism they showed toward striving for competency with a deadly weapon. They actually used terms like “good enough”, and advised to take one firearms class and move on to other things. In fact, they described anyone who actually bothered to measure performance as a “hobbyist”, and from their tone it was obvious they use that term derisively. Let’s see, someone is trying to kill me, and I’m legally accountable for every bullet I launch, so bare minimum training is “good enough”? WTF?
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