There are lots of places where the "rubber meets the road," in using a handgun for self defense.

Deterrence. Situational Awareness. Flowing through Retention Positions. But for the Draw, where the rubber meets the road is in Position 1 - Presentation Push/Pull, and it's honestly one of the hardest parts of the draw.

There are actually five pieces that make up the Draw, from Snatching the firearm from the holster to the last 4-6 inches of your Full Presentation, but there is no position most likely to stymie a handgun user than Position 1. Lots of things can go wrong.

Things like having the sights not aligned until the last second, crushing the handgun grip, flinching in the shot, winging the elbow, and on and on and on.

Trouble is, we as shooters tend to try and fix problems in total, rather than subdividing the entire action into its component parts. So for this Drill of the Week, we're just going to work on Position 1.

I know, I know, you're high speed and you should be working on that high speed super ninjary, but my suspicion is that you have one or more of the problems that I just listed above, and they're driving you mad. Trust me, working Position 1 WILL make your shooting better and more defensible in a real world encounter.

You can watch the video on the page or jump to the SMT Youtube Channel.

A couple of things to work on while you're practicing this drill:

1. Keep the Shooting Platform (Gun-Wrist-Elbow) in alignment. You'll have better recoil management.
2. Focus on the Vice Grip, the front and back strap of the handgrip. If you're crushing the sides, your bullets will go off course.
3. Be VERY VERY disciplined about your trigger finger. Feel how the pressure slowly builds, keep the finger to the rear until YOU are ready to reset the trigger. Don't let your finger fly off of the trigger after the shot.
4. Stay conscious of how your Primary Hand FOREARM feels in the presentation. If you're flinching, bullets diving down and opposite of your primary hand, the forearm is where the flinch originates muscularly.

As always, go slow, take your time, and be safe.

B