On the Range, Not the Road

I’ve been working a lot of range time the past couple of months.  Combination of LTAC, Army, and Agency Contracts. Talk about a wide range of individuals and experience levels.  One thing that has been common among all these classes is the individual, or individuals, that allow self-induced stress to beat them. 

One of the many reasons we train is to experience the pressure and stress from organized classes.  We want to experience that stress and work through it to success, in a controlled environment.  Some of the individuals in these classes would let the stress of the moment overwhelm them.  I’m sure we have all experienced this at one time or another and can relate.  Another example is not shooting as well as expected and then internally beating yourself up.  Once someone starts that downward spiral, as an instructor, it’s next to impossible do anything for them until they get themselves under control. 

I’ll say this, the day I grew from an ‘ok’ shooter to a good one was the day I could shoot, mess up on paper, and not freak out internally on myself.  I’d then shoot again and do it right. Well, at least better.  That is where we should get ourselves, mentally, as we train. The time to make mistakes is on the range.  As a brother Green Beret (whose day job is full-time SWAT somewhere in the Rockies) said, “Make mistakes on the range, not the road.”

So, what should you do once you feel that stress beating down on you?  First, recognize it!  You can’t make any adjustments unless you realize something is going on.  Next, know that there is nothing wrong with you.  What you are experiencing is normal. It happens to all of us.  After that, the best advice I can give you is to breathe.  Inhale through your nose and out of your mouth.  Take a few deep breaths this way.  It will help you to calm down. 

After you start to calm down, listen to the feedback from the instructor.  Or if you are by yourself, start to take a look at HOW you are doing what you are doing, then begin the process of making changes.  It is only after you start to calm yourself that you will begin to see and understand more clearly.  If you don’t, well, the wheel will keep spinning but the hamster is dead.  You will continue to make the same mistake and only get more frustrated with yourself.   There is nothing wrong with you removing yourself from the firing line or drill to breathe and calm down and then come back to train.

 If you get any negative feedback from an instructor for wanting to take a moment to collect yourself, it’s time to start looking for somewhere else to train.  There is a time and place for an instructor to raise their voice, demand your attention, or surgically yell at the right moment to enhance things.  But if that is all that the instructor can do, yell, scream, belittle students, again I’d say start looking elsewhere.  That “I’m yelling a lot cause I’m hardercore than you” makes me laugh.  I’ve found that usually the loudest guy in the room is the weakest link. 

Another thing that holds people back from getting the most out of range time and training is pride.  Some people have so much pride, they are afraid to push themselves to make mistakes.  They are the guy whose target looks like a tiny hole cut out of it after the conclusion of shooting a series of multiple rounds for a rhythm drill as an example.   They are the student that didn’t push themselves to the failure point, didn’t learn or grow. There should be no egos. 

Training is where we should make the mistakes. It’s the time to shake out kit, try something new, push yourself.  This is a lesson that can only be learned by the individual.  You must go and do.  You must feel that almost overwhelming feeling of self-induced stress, and overcome it (until the next challenge).  Make mistakes on the range, not the road!

Jared