How effective are you with a pistol from the various shooting positions. Do you even practice these shooting positions during your professional development.
Be prepared
When we talk about positions most folks immediately think firing a rifle from the prone and they would be correct. However, being a well rounded shooter means being able to adapt to the situation or as I like to say let the situation dictate. If the situation calls for you using your pistol from a kneeling or prone position can you effectively engage targets while in these positions. Asking this question during a gunfight in one of these positions is the worse time in case it is not obvious.
Thinking big picture
Why may you need to utilize positions in a gunfight? The most likely answer is to take advantage of some form of cover. If you have the opportunity to seek cover, but it requires you to use a position other than standing would you still use it knowing you haven’t in the past. Forcing students to work outside their comfort zone is part of learning. Aside from using cover another reason you might use positions is if you lacked cover and wanted to make your profile smaller. If you find yourself with nothing but air around you and you need to return effective fire reducing your profile is a good idea.
Familiarity breeds comfort
We teach various types of the kneeling and prone positions. Each is somewhat interchangeable with the two platforms, but the rifle has an advantage of allowing us to rest weapon parts on the deck or body parts increasing our stability. Rifles also come with slings; which when used properly can greatly increase your stability for more demanding shots. The key to stability starts with knowing the position, but truthfully it is your mobility. If you are not flexible or lack flexibility then the kneeling position will be challenging or at least challenging on your accuracy potential. Don’t get me wrong, you can still make good hits being as flexible as a board, but you could make even better if you have greater range of motion. Something to work on for sure.
Details, details, details
The prone position is the grand old position for the rifle and allows us to use an unsupported technique of resting our elbows on the ground. The pistol does not afford us this same luxury so learning how to stack your grip, a technique of raising your strong hand in your weak hand grip will give you the next best thing along with incorporating a slight “roll over” technique. The best part about rolling over is increasing your ability to breathe. I know it seems silly to mention this, but a major complaint from students is the pressure their body undergoes in their chest region when attempting prone. I love shooting in these positions and even though the likelihood of employing these techniques is minimal it should not prevent you from practicing them and getting good. It’s part of being a well rounded gunfighter.
Having a familiarity with shooting positions will ensure if an opportunity presents itself you can quickly take the advantage. I promise your opponent will exploit every opportunity themselves in a gunfight.
