This is not the first time I have commented about the realities of speed. If you remember the whole safety use and how you would die if you used the safety because it was so much slower…ugh.
How Fast Is Fast Enough
Flash forward to today, the argument is about having a super-fast drawstroke. My point is on spending so much of your precious time trying to develop a super-fast drawstroke. To the point other skills and abilities take a back seat. To the point, your maintenance on other more likely skills becomes less and less. It is not surprising to see. All it takes is for a few video posts and everyone is off to the races. Never mind they probably don’t have the skill level across the board, it becomes all consuming. There are a bunch of folks who to be honest are beyond hope within the industry. Their belief is you must have a super-fast drawstroke. Everything else will work itself out in the wash. I wish that were true, but here is the harsh reality check. Nobody knows! Nobody knows what type of gunfight, the distance, the lighting conditions or even the number of opponents you will face. Sure, there are statistics and common sense. However, it is all unknown. Are you truly prepared for the unknown.
Maintenance is the Name of the Game
What does it take to have a super-fast drawstroke. You will need to have in surplus both time and resources. Let’s start with time, you need to have the time to spend countless hours trying to shave off hundredths of a second. You expend a lot of resources in the form of money to purchase ammunition in this pursuit. Both of these commodities cost you in the end. The time you have to allocate means you are spending less time with family, friends or work. Your resources are probably not in surplus enough. Here is the real kicker though, it is the maintenance required to sustain these speeds. The easy part is getting to this point. The hard part, the real work is in maintaining the skill. I can remember at the peak of my swim career if I took off a couple of days I felt it in the pool. It took me a while to figure out, the rest of the folks weren’t really getting faster. I had gotten slower.
The Realities of a Gunfight
At a certain point you have to sprinkle a little reality dust. Yes, you need to have a quick draw. The situation may be going sideways fast and the window of opportunity fleeting to get the gun into play. The one thing I keep coming back to is the importance time and or space. Most violent encounters happen at close ranges where conventional drawstrokes are suboptimal. You either need to create space or time to get to your blaster. The other issue to consider is the force continuum. How often do folks work through a force continuum. I mean really, spend time not just on having a super fast drawstroke where they unleash an unknown number of rounds. But, what about coming to a ready position. Even more important is shooting from close contact or retention. How much time has you spent there. Probably not too much since you spent all the other time goofing off. Let’s not forget the need to positively identify your target. That is a whole other story.
Yes, a quick draw stroke is important. Not at the sacrifice of other critical skills and certainly not at the sacrifice of being able stay on your fee.
