Self Defense versus Competition Shooting

Competition-Based Training

When it comes to shooting at the range and practicing for competitions, the goal is to hit the A Zone on a target as quickly as possible. Typically, people will shoot with a complete belt system that allows their handgun and spare magazines to be easily accessible. Your range belt is going to be set up for the fastest motions possible with the least amount of effort when it comes to magazine changes and movement. Find drills that focus on throttle control, and time-based drills where time adds stress to your overall performance - various drills like the 25,15,10 drill where you fire 5 rounds at 25 yards, 15 yards, and then finish at 10 yards. This forces you to take extra time at the beginning, which will put you behind on time and forces you to fire quicker at the closer targets. It’s all about throttle control and being able to make your hits under a time crunch.

The main goal of competition pistols is to have the most amount of control and ease of shooting without worrying about size or weight. As a result, competitive handguns are extremely easy to shoot fast most times with minimal felt recoil. In most cases, these handguns will have a standard capacity of 17-21 rounds in their magazines with metal or texturized grips. When it comes to competitive gun belts, there's usually a minimal holster with slight retention to keep the gun secure but easy to draw. Magazine holders on a shooter's belt are typically slightly further away from the body to make it easily accessible for a quick reload. Everything is built for speed and efficiency and as a result, can be bulky which it doesn’t matter for competition.  Competitive belts are similar to tactical range belts where they are extremely handy to use but impossible to conceal practically.

Self-Defense Training

Shooting for competition and shooting for self-defense can look nearly identical from afar. While the base skills and fundamentals are very similar, everything else is very different from drawing and even the type of firearm used during training. Like I said earlier, the competitive side of shooting uses equipment and handguns that are designed to be the easiest to shoot quickly. Concealment holsters are designed to be as slim and low profile as possible. The main goal of a carry holster is to offer stability and retention to your carry pistol while keeping it as close to the body as possible. Compared to competitive gear, this mindset is almost directly opposite because it is purpose-built.

Self-defense firearms are built to be easily concealable and depending on the model of the handgun, can end up being tricky to fire under stress. A gun like the SIG P365 or original Glock 43 can be super easy to conceal, but when it comes to shooting, it can start to be a real handful at times. Being able to draw consistently from concealment and fire accurate shots on target is a completely different experience from training in a competitive aspect. When drawing from concealment, the handgun will have a barrier that needs to be cleared before drawing the pistol. This is typically not a big deal with even minimal practice, but it is always better to put in regular training to develop that muscle memory. Given enough reps and practice, drawing and presenting the handgun will become second nature and will become effortless rather than a stressful ordeal.

Deciding What You Want To Train

If you're someone who is interested in both the competition space as well as self-defense, you will definitely get skills being reinforced and your fundamentals will be built up by practicing both skills. Doing both aspects allows you to practice the fundamentals while also practicing the various skills associated with each style of shooting. Of course not everyone will be shooting both and some will lean more into the competitive space while others will be exclusively shooting for the self-defense aspect, which is perfectly fine either way. The biggest takeaway from this concept is to get out and make training a priority, whether it is for competitive reasons or practicing for concealed carry, training is the number one way to improve your skills.

The fundamentals of shooting as well as reloads can be beneficial for overall skill building, but competition training is drastically different from actual self-defense shooting. When it comes to your pistol choice, oftentimes you will have two very different options for competition and concealed carry. Competition guns are typically full-size and weight pistols. Competition shooting really is centered on engaging targets and moving from area to area in the least amount of time possible.

Overall Thoughts

Learning to train for what you are focused on is an important skill. For those of you who are new to shooting, it may be tricky knowing exactly what skills you should be focusing on, but competition shooting involves more shooting and moving from target to target, whereas self-defense shooting is all about drawing from concealment and engaging threats if you absolutely have to.

Either way, it’s great to get out and train at the range to develop your skills but training with purpose will accelerate your ability to grow and will make you advance that much faster. What are some of your favorite drills to practice when at the range? Let me know down in the comments below. If you have questions about range tricks or guns in general, feel free to shoot me a message on Instagram @fridgeoperator. Stay safe out there and we will see you in the next one.