How Not To Draw From A Holster: Break Your Bad Habits
The idea behind a correct draw from your holster is to effectively and safely get your gun on target.
Drawing your gun fast is not as important as drawing your gun smooth and safe. It’s said that smooth is fast. This means that the less you fumble the more likely you are to get your gun on target faster. In order to effectively look at drawing your gun smooth and safe we need to address some techniques and bad habits. We’ll first take about the bad habit known as “Fishing” then address “Bowling” and then finally talk about the correct way to draw from your holster… the “Push out.”
First is fishing…
Fishing – Fishing is the nasty habit of coming out of the holster with the muzzle moving upward before finally being pushed out to your target. This bad habit requires you to bring the muzzle all the way back down on to your target and often can lead to a lot of wasted movement when precious seconds count.
Next is bowling…
Bowling – Bowling is when the gun comes out of the holster and the muzzle is immediately pointed at the ground. The muzzle is then raised to meet your target before finally being pushed out. This bad habit requires you to bring the muzzle all the way back up after wasting a lot of time pointed at the ground.
Finally, we have the push out…
Push out – Pushing out is the proper way to draw your gun from your holster. Push out is when the gun is immediately pivoted once the muzzle clears the top of the holster and is leveled in line with the target. At this point you are able to fire at your target, if needed, before you push your gun all the way out to the target. This is a great technique to use in urban environments and close quarter spaces, such as your home and other indoor areas where there could be a threat really close or even right on top of you. Just because this method allows you to fire from the hip, if need be, doesn’t mean you want to linger there. It is wildly inaccurate to fire from the hip and your goal should always be to push out and get yourself to your ideal grip as soon as possible.
Tip: Keep your support hand on or close to your chest while drawing so you don’t accidentally shoot your hand when drawing quickly and in a high stress environment.
So there you have it. Becoming a better shooter is all about building up good habits and muscle memory while at the same time breaking down and abolishing the bad habits. This is why it’s so important to get good training from industry professionals. You want to learn the techniques the right way the first time so that you aren’t ingraining poor habits that will just be harder to work out of yourself later on down the road. Once you get proper training it’s important to recognize that shooting is a perishable skill and requires consistent practice in order to maintain proficiency. We also can’t stress enough the inherent danger with drawing and reholstering a gun from any holster. Good quality gear, proper professional training, and consistent practice is necessary to insure your safety and the safety of others. Without perfect trigger and muzzle discipline things can go very wrong very quickly. Please get the proper training and practice to make sure you are doing more good than harm. In short, train well and train often if you want to be able to protect the ones you love.
Shoot safe!