January Drill Of The Month

January Drill
Failure Drill
Skill Focus: Presentation from holster (draw stroke), target transitions
Distance: 7 yards
Target: IDPA, IPSC, or any silhouette style target with an 8″ circle or similar sized chest target area.
Instructions: Place any silhouette style target seven yards away. At the beep, draw from the holster and fire two rounds to the chest area of the target followed by one round at the head (3 rounds total). Focus on a consistent, smooth presentation from the holster. Go as fast as you can and still guarantee hits. Record your time and repeat four times (five repetitions total).
Variations: Try it at 3 or 5 yards if the head box gives you trouble. Stretch it out to 10 or 15 yards if you need a challenge, or place a 3×5 card on the head box. If your shooting range allows, you can also try adding a sidestep during the draw stroke.
The Failure Drill has been around for decades. Because it only requires three rounds, you can repeat it several times in a single range session. For practicing presentations from the holster, I prefer drills like this as opposed to drills that require only a single shot. You can rush the draw stroke and get a really sloppy grip on the pistol and still manage to get off a single shot somewhere near the middle of the target. Firing multiple shots in quick succession requires a solid firing grip on the pistol. If you mess up the draw stroke in this drill, the target and shot timer will show it.

For more drills:
See “Overwatch: Drill of the Month” page