Push Your Limits Defensive Drills

Here's another important video, from the Personal Defense Network. We're back with the SEB target, because, again, it's incredibly versatile and we can run most of the drills I like to do for balance of speed and precision using it or a target like it. What we're gonna do this time is we're gonna run a drill we call push your limits. This drill was actually brought to me by one of the Valhalla staff instructors, Brad Schupan, and I've actually seen it used in different ways by different instructors for different things. Now that I'm aware of exactly what the concepts are behind it, the way I like to use it is to challenge people to find out just how fast they can actually shoot their gun, in a combat accurate way, under certain circumstances.

Right now, the circumstances are going to be about 10 to 11 feet away from the target. We're gonna use the small target areas again. And what we're gonna do, what's going to change is the amount of time that the shooter takes between each shot. So that when we shoot at the first small target, we're actually going to count in full seconds. We're gonna count out loud.

One, 1000, two, 1000, 3, 1000. On each number We will fire a shot. On the second small target, we're going to use the same technique, but we're gonna count a little faster. One, and two, and three, and four, and five. On this last target, what we're actually going to do is count as fast as we can.

One, two, three, four, five, and shoot as fast as we can. Now, if we find out that we can't get the hits at that distance on that target with this firearm, then we'll move closer. We'll make the target bigger. We'll use a different firearm. We will change some variable until we can perform at that level consistently.

And then, we'll change the variables again so that we can continually push our limits. So, if we find out that we can not maintain what we've designated as combat accuracy at any level, we immediately need to change one of the variables and get back within our limits. Find out where they are. Constantly trying to become competent at some given level, with a certain set of variables, and then pushing the envelope to go harder. So, this is one of the few drills where we're going to control the speed of our rounds arbitrarily, and count our rounds arbitrarily, as well as using a relatively small target area while shooting relatively quickly.

Especially in the second and third phases of this push your limits drill. When you're ready. One, 1000, two, 1000, up to five. One, 1000. Two, 1000.

Three, 1000. Four, 1000. Five, 1000. Excellent. And now, one, and two, and three, and four, up to five.

This is one time on the range when we are going to be doing tactical defensive training, and also top the firearm off here in the middle of a drill. It would defeat the purpose of the push your limits drill to not have at least five rounds in the gun. When you're ready. One, and two, and three, and four, and five. Okay.

And now do you have five rounds in the gun? No Okay. Let's switch out. And now one, two, three, four, five, as fast as you can count. Pull the trigger on each number.

Proceed. And holster. We run this drill a lot, and this is not uncommon to see someone who may throw a round somewhere earlier in the drill and then get all five rounds at the fastest level of shooting actually inside of their designated combat accurate area. Behaviorally, we tend to sometimes overthink the problem if we're shooting very slowly. And some people call it choking.

So, we're here, we're, performance anxiety, and we're doing that. And we've done really well the first time. And then we overthink the problem on that second iteration, when obviously it's well within Peter's skill level to have gotten all the shots in. The problem is it's just that kind of distraction that you're going to be dealing with, and potentially much worse, when you're in a dynamic critical incident. Pushing your limits here will at least simulate some of that stress and some of that anxiety, some of that distraction that you may experience during a real dynamic critical incident.

Check out more videos just like this one at the Personal Defense Network.