“Chance favors the prepared mind.” - Louis Pasteur

SOF soldiers, SWAT officers, and defensive minded civilian shooters often mock the five minute stage walk-throughs and elaborate “make ready” rituals of competition shooters. And their disapproval is understandable at first glance from their perspective. After all, when they get in a gunfight, there won’t be time to halt the action and take five minutes to devise a plan, or call “time out” to take a minute to mentally prepare themselves and rehearse.

This disdain is misplaced however. There are valuable lessons from the make ready process that can be applied across the tactical shooting world, whether LE, Mil, or civilian. The best in the business on the LE and Mil side utilize much of this already, and armed civilians should take note.

How does the artificial gamesmanship of the competition world’s stage planning and make ready apply then? What are the real world applications from the sport’s preparatory rituals and processes?

Special Forces soldiers and SWAT officers already do mission planning and rehearse actions on the objective. This is in essence no different than a competition shooter’s walk-through. Burning your plan into your subconscious ensures that your conscious mind is free to observe the situation and make needed adjustments on the fly efficiently. Rehearsals ensure you perform your tasks correctly under stress and are often the last thing done before infil.

How would this apply though to civilians or beat officers? In your day to day routines play the what-if game with yourself. Come up with plans for situations you might face, then in your training walk through those plans. Do rehearsals.

When I was a young patrol officer, one of my common drills in dry and live fire was based on just such a mental “what if.” Then as a brand new sergeant, I found myself in the situation I had mentally and physically rehearsed countless times. This allowed me to respond correctly under stress, and I won the gunfight without being injured myself. My rehearsals ensured my victory that day.

What about the make ready though? The elaborate pantomime and mental checklist competitors do at the last minute? In truth, that is actually a ritual that puts the competitor in the correct place mentally and allows for one more mental rehearsal before the action begins. This happens in the military and law enforcement world as well, just in a different form. Last minute gear checks before infil are a part of it, running through your plan in your head in the chinook or bearcat during infil, that last calming breath to clear your head at the LCC or breach point. These things are functionally no different than a make ready.

If you’re an armed civilian or a patrol officer, you can take advantage of this as well. Have a gear check and dryfire routine you do before leaving your house for the day or your station fir the shift. It can be short, but use it to get your mind right just in case this is the day it needs to be. In your range training develop a short ritual involving a calming breath and a mental preparatory cue for performance. When you suspect that something may turn violent, you can use that short breathing and thought sequence to prepare yourself for performance if you need it. That then is your make ready. And it will help you if things go south.

Develop your processes that ensure your best performance. Burn them into your brain. Make them habits and they will stand you in good stead should the day come you ever need them. Make Ready.