Laser-Assisted Pistol Training

22 July 08

Lasers and Pistol Training: another point, this from my long-time friend and colleague, Claude Werner from the Rogers School:

"We are all familiar with the concept of the eye/target line, but there is another 'line' that is equally important during the pistol's presentation. That is the front-sight/rear-sight line.

An efficient presentation will get this sight-line parallel with the eye-target line quickly, and then drive the sight-line into convergence with the eye-target line as quickly as possible thereafter. The parallel relationship between the sight-line and eye-target line should be substantially established shortly after as the pistol clears the holster and is rotated to horizontal, but I have found that frequently this not the case.

When the sight-line is not parallel to the eye-target line during extension to the target, once the shooter reaches full extension, he must then make separate steps of finding the sights and establishing alignment. This elongated sequence is inefficient and ineffective.

Using a laser during dry-fire will graphically demonstrate to the student where the pistol is actually aligned during all stages of the presentation.

It actually takes very little practice to demonstrate this. The biofeedback loop this sort of practice produces tends to create quick, positive results, just as you noted with your grand-daughter's trigger control."

Comment: Claude has an uncanny talent for seeing things that I tend to gloss over. I hinted at the foregoing in my Quip on the 2008 NTI, but Claude articulates it in detail, the kind of detail necessary for me to fully understand and appreciate the value of laser-assisted pistol training.

/John