You’re Doing it Wrong!
-Matt DeVito (FSP Staff)
In a world where there is a plethora of information available at our fingertips via the internet, we have to take into account the credibility of all of this information. Anyone with an internet persona, some made up gamer name, a camera, and an audience can claim to be an “expert”. You must first ask yourself, who do YOU consider to be an expert? Someone with more experience than you? Someone who seems to know what they are talking about because they throw out high speed buzz words? Someone that is regurgitating what another “expert” taught them? Or, someone who can explain the why questions, because through realistic and frequent training, they have gained proper exposure to a subject and can recognize subject matter at a higher level? You have to keep in mind, these self proclaimed experts of the interweb, or internet warriors as we call them are doing nothing but ripping off legitimate ideas and/or techniques, from
professionals, who are teaching the proper methods all the way through, and not in grainy, segmented, 30 second YouTube videos.
The problem with these internet commandos, is that while yes, they are showing you something they learned (showing and teaching are two very different things, a teacher understands the meaning and concepts behind their subject), they have no understanding of it themselves. Herein lays the problem. Anyone who has put a few hundred rounds down range can show a new shooter how to reload their pistol. It’s easy to show something to someone, because you said so. In order to show someone the most efficient and effective way of doing something, you must know why you are performing that action in such a manner. It’s not just “muscle memory”, there is a specific, logical reason why you’d do it one way over another. You must show the risk/reward and highlight the benefits of the preferred technique. Too often, people say, “we do it like this because”, well because what? Because it looks cool? It’s the only way you know? It’s
accepted? BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE WHY QUESTIONS!
“I reload my pistol this way because I watched a DVD on how to reload faster and this is what they taught me” does not qualify you as an instructor. “I reload my pistol this way due to the fact through excessive training, and repetition, I found that this method works better for me, is faster, more efficient and consistent because it works better with what my body does naturally, I am able to retain my weapon from this position, keep my eyes on the threat, and can assess my environment and decide if I need to reengage or holster after my reload”.
You can see the levels of understanding and recognition in those two instances. One simply “shows” you, while the other makes you understand. Understanding the fundamentals is the key. If you are being taught, and therefore practicing the wrong thing, it can get you killed or injured. What some people attempt to “teach” on a square range, only works in the confines of that space. It will have very little survival positives outside of that space. The best analogy I have for people to understand this, is to give a 16 year old that has never behind the wheel of a car before, the keys, and tell them to drive. There are videos and pictures of people driving all over the internet and television. Gas is go, brake is stop, the big circle thingy turns the car. The same applies to shooting. Without going over proper techniques, methodology, and principles, and just watching a random internet video, you will not know what you’re doing wrong, why it’s wrong, and how to properly fix it. This is the last you will hear of this banter, but please folks, get GOOD RELIABLE information, train your mind, and be safe out there.
