Ok, this may ruffle a few butt-feathers out there, but if you’re like most people, here’s how you’re currently training with your handgun…
… You go down to the local range…
… attach your paper target to the zipline…
… close your “non-shooting” eye…
… carefully line up your front and rear sights…
… empty your clip (or wheel) into your target…
… then brag about your 1″ shot group!
Sound familiar?
Well what if I told you that this is actually the LEAST effective way to train with your handgun?
To show you why, here’s one of our simple dry-fire exercises you can do at home…
Basically, if you were to punch your gun out straight in front of you and look at a target (NOT your sights!) with both eyes open, this is what you’d see…
The first thing you’ll notice is that there are 2 pistols in your vision – both slightly transparent.
The other thing you’ll notice is that only ONE of those “ghost guns” is on target with the sights lined up while the other one is off to the side and slightly more invisible.
If you take turns closing each eye, you’ll know which is your dominant eye when shooting naturally from a point-shooting engagement (it’s usually the same eye you used for “aimed shooting”, but not always).
Why Is This Important?
Because it should show you that you don’t NEED to close one eye in order to actually get your sights on target.
In fact, since most gunfights happen in close distances (like in your home), you’ll likely have both eyes open anyway – it’s a biological override you can’t control.
You see, under the stress of a real attack, your body knows that in order to survive, it needs as much sensory input as it can get to make fast decisions about where to run… where to hide… and where to shoot.
And 80% of your sensory input comes through your eyes!
So… if you have one eye closed, you’re literally only getting HALF of the visual cues your brain needs to process your next move and some of your functions (like depth perception) are dwindled to nothing.
Not only will you identify a threat faster (especially when facing multiple threats), but you’ll also increase your reaction time… engagement speed… balance… spatial orientation… and make better tactical decisions.
Bottom line…training to shoot with both eyes open can literally save your life!
How To Train “Point Shooting” At Home…
Now to be honest, “aimed shooting” is a hard habit to break and it does require some practice.
The biggest thing you need to overcome is the expectation that, when you begin training primarily with a “both eyes open” strategy, you’re obviously NOT as likely to get those nice, tight 1″ shot-groups you love so much.
But here’s the good news…
You WILL be better prepared for a deadly force scenario (and in my book, “living” is REALLY something to brag about!) 🙂
Basically all you have to do to train is take any dry-fire drills you can do at home and simply run through it with both eyes open.
I actually recommend you use a SIRT training pistol but they’re kind of expensive ($200 – $400) and they only make them in Glock form.
A better option for most people is to use an airsoft gun (there are ways to use them safely in your home without breaking Great Aunt Bertha’s Tiffany Lamp) because you can better see where you would hit your target, but you can
Again… this really just comes down to confidence.
Run through some dry-fire drills and you’ll soon convert your programming to this close quarters gun-fighting tactic.
