Square Range Training In a 360 Degree World
By: Steve
Silverman
Note:
Mr. Silverman is the owner of Firearms Research & Instruction
located in Dover, PA. His company has been providing firearms &
self-defense training nationally since 1989 and has trained over
5,000 individuals. Additionally he provides legal advice & expert
testimony in use-of-force/self defense cases.
Due to many
limitations, the vast majority of shooters are forced to do all
their training on a square range utilizing square range techniques
and protocol. This is a shame, as it doesn’t allow the serious
practitioner to learn and to practice skills and techniques that
might be needed to one day save one’s life.
What are the
limitations of square ranges? First, for safety, the 180deg rule
must be enforced. It is deemed unsafe to allow those on the range
to scan 360 degrees, when practicing to look for more threats.
Likewise, many facilities don’t allow drawing from the holster,
moving off the line of attack while drawing/engaging the threat
targets and shooting multiple targets. Some ranges even have rules
about how fast one may shoot – for example, “no more than one round
fired every 3 seconds.” I understand the rationale behind these
rules, but they cause the otherwise serious tactician to be lacking
in necessary skills.
Also, many go
to the range and simply put bullets downrange. They have no plan
before they get to the range. What they are doing is NOT, in my
opinion, training; they are simply slinging lead. For it to be
training, a specific training regimen must be in place prior to
arriving at the range. To help alleviate these shortcomings, many
have gravitated toward the gun games (IPSC and IDPA). This isn’t a
horrible idea. It allows them to get trigger time, to move and
shoot, to draw from a holster, to reload under time constraints,
etc. However, there are many less than optimal aspects of these
games. First, they are games and therefore, there are winners and
losers. Too often this causes bad techniques to be learned/used,
shooting to be too fast, too many innocents (no-shoots) to be shot,
etc, all in the name of winning. Additionally, the 180 rule still
applies, so movement (for safety concerns) is always lateral or
forward. Many matches allow a walk through, so that the
participants can decide, IN ADVANCE, what’s the best way to shoot
the course of fire. Also, many courses of fire are scripted – the
shooter is told who to shoot, when to shoot them and how many times
that they need to be shot. None of this is realistic nor does it
help build the mental skills that we want when faced with a lethal
encounter.
Enter the NTI
Study Group. What Skip, Jim, Hersh, et al have done is give the
serious practitioner a place to REALLY learn proper techniques/skill
sets and a place to practice these newfound skills. The live fire
range exercises are designed to TEACH something, not merely to send
ammo downrange. They have determined the training regimen for the
day and the Team Members simply have to participate to learn
valuable techniques/skills.
Even more
importantly, the Team Members REGULARLY participate in
force-on-force exercises. This is, I believe, what sets them apart
from the average gun carrying person. They are able to practice in
a 360deg environment. They are able to think on their feet, when
the proverbial feces has hit the fan. They are taught how to
think, not simply told what to think. And, by regularly
participating in force-on-force, they are much more prepared to
conquer whatever confronts them.
My advice? If
you are within reasonable distance of West Shore, make sure that you
join and attend the monthly study group meetings. If you are not
local, you owe it to yourself to help start a similar group in your
area. Your life might just depend on it.
