“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle

There is a pattern I see in many law enforcement, military, and defensive shooters’ outlook on firearms training. They look at training as something you solely do in a course or class. Or if your unit or organization sends you to the range. These events are training, and valuable for development as a shooter, but they are not the heart of training.

There are “a-ha” moments that happen in a class, times when a shooter “levels up” due to a personal breakthrough. But these moments are not the norm, and even accounting for them there is only so much a shooter can improve in a few days of training. To reach high levels of skill in any endeavor requires many hours of dedicated practice. What then does that practice look like?

Practice needs to be frequent. Fifteen minutes of dry fire six days a week is better for improvement than an hour and a half once a week.

Practice needs to be deliberate. It needs to be planned out to address the shooter’s current needs. Training has to change as skill improves so that you keep improving.

Practice needs to be purposeful. Going through the motions with empty repetitions is wasted effort and time. Each repetition of each skill or drill needs to be done with a clear mental focus on improvement.

Practice needs to be consistent. Consistent effort over time yields results.

Practice needs to be playful. The concept of interleaving practice, or mixing repetitions of several different skills or drills within a practice has been shown to be a powerful tool for performance improvement. This feels like play not work.

If you carry a gun for a living or for self-defense, you can’t expect to master your craft without practice. Deliberate and purposeful practice that is frequent and consistent. If you are law enforcement or military, you can’t expect your unit or agency to do this for you. If you are a responsible armed civilian, no amount of weekend training classes will make up for not practicing on your own.

Training courses are valuable. But they are valuable because they inform your own training, not because they are a substitute. Seek out effective training from quality instructors, and then use what you learn in your own training. Put in the effort and master your craft. Practice.