I've been able to do a lot more shooting recently, and have noticed a training scar I need to get rid of: As soon as I'm done with the last target, I pull the gun into a high ready. Right away. To me, this seems like a terrible habit. What if I have to re-engage? In real life, people don't explode and vanish when touched by bullets, so I'm thinking the gun needs to stay up until I'm sure that it's time to put it away. What'd be a good way to get rid of this habit?

End your array on a high difficulty steel target.

High ready is where you should be once a threat has been eliminated.  That is the time you should be looking for more threats, ready to engage if needed.

By high ready do you mean arms still extended? Or pulled back into your chest but still up? I had the same thing for a little while, fell into bad habits of pulling back into the chest after the last shot but still keeping eyes on the target(s).

I can see both sides of it, keeping the gun pulled in and not fully extended could protect from strikes or attempted gun grabs, but would make a followup shot slower as you would have to press out and find the front sight again.

I'd rather see you go to the low ready position after your last shot on the target (threat).  Keep your arms extended and the two hand combat grip in place but lower the arms thereby muzzling the ground 10-12 feet in front of you.  That allows you to view the threat to ensure it stays neutralized and then do a scan of the area checking for other threats.

Pat McNamara teaches to scan with the arms moving together with the eyes to perform the scan.  In a warzone this is gonna be prudent and more 'accepted' than an urban street or at the mall for obvious reasons.

Likewise, it's not doable on a civilian course training line for safety reasons, as well.  We, as trainers, need to always be aware of the limitations and compromises that must be considered for practical, safe, productive teaching.

Hey Kilroy, training scars can be tough to spot, a pain to break, but well worth your time to do so. As a side note, it's a good thing that you were able to identify a potential problem with your current training routine.

You may want to consider vividly visualizing the targets as real threats. Instead of only instantly coming to a ready position (or some other non-pointed in position) you could intersperse  "following" the last target down and reassess the threats (while pointed in), set up a target with a "failure to stop" drill (perhaps a Newbold self healing target as your pelvic/head shot), or come to some other ready position suited to your immediate scenario.

Don't forget your dry practice, as you probably already know, dry practice is the key to building the skills you are trying to ingrain.

As you pointed out, real life doesn't replicate the training environment, so it's okay to come to the high ready sometimes (as the situation dictates), and your training to address different situations (failure to stop, bad guys friends/accomplices showing up, etc.,) will serve you well.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the help and encouragement gents. What I've been doing is getting a final sight picture before putting the gun down. So for a two shot string, it's two shoots, acquire a third sight picture on the target, decide not to shoot, then look around and decide to put the gun back in the holster. That string of actions more closely matches what a good real-world sequence should be.

Ignoring any range-isms, here is what I think is ideal (this is also as explained to me by a Gunsight instructor breaking me of the twist the neck like an owl to scan behind training scar).

After the string of fire (threat is down), drop the gun to arms out low ready so your own arms aren't in the way of assessing who you just shot.  Scan the forward 180, eyes following gun ( range note, you can keep the muzzle safely in the rang fan, peripheral catches the last few degrees either side).  Then come to a compressed high ready and physically turn around and scan the rear.

So, dry fire and shooting by yourself not on a formal range, do the whole thing.  On a formal range, skip the rear scan.  I also use position SUL doing the rear scan dry fire and FoF etc. with others present so I don't muzzle them.  I run a P226 and de-cock after the forward 180 scan.

This way seems to make sense to me and devoid of training scars...I hope!

Change up how many shots you are putting on a target, double taps, Mozambique, 5-10, full mags.

Be aware of doing the same drills over and over again, it can make good and bad habits into natural reflexes.

also look for targets that fall when you hit them.

+1

... but I would also like to add: Movement is life. If you're not moving then you're dying. Shoot the string, move to Box B, shoot the next string and finish. You will act differently under movement. Running a  Shapes and Colors drill may help.

Treat it like real life: Shoot, move, analyze, engage next threat. Repeat as necessary.

It's possible that you don't have a problem with recovering to high-ready too quickly. Your problem may be lack of movement. You might just have too much time on your hands because you're not moving and that is causing you to obsess over minutia.

EDIT: I didn't realize I was dumping in an ancient thread. This thread was on page 1 so I thought it was new.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUwnDCSlCNW/?taken-by=colionnoir
Saw this yesterday on Instagram, it's exactly the terrible training habits I'm talking about.

Always reacquire your target after firing.

One round = two sight pictures
two rounds = three
etc.

If you had an array of targets laterally and/or in depth, re-index your targets (with your weapon) to ensure that no more threats exist.

Then you reholster

That is the extent of your post firing iteration actions.

I understand you point of view and I recognize that there are a lot of silly range theatrics. Still, I have been in a few fights - and I can speak from experience that it is very easy to get target fixated. I have seen very little training that fills the gap of Martial Conflict that is missing at the range. Once I relax and divest myself of target fixation, my next natural tendency is to want to light a cigar and write a song about my heroic deeds - this is just as bad as target fixation.

After the initial phase of a conflict, I like to get moving - even if that is only square-boxing the scene of the conflict. I can watch any bystanders and gauge their reactions to my movement. It's easier to tell if someone has a hardon for you if you make them keep adjusting to your movement. The correct answer for how we would best train into this gap is very elusive. I do not think the "Scan and Assess" people are very far off of the mark for what can be done.

"Then you reholster" - There is room for interpretation here. If I were training for Martial Conflict then I would probably work some manual of arms into the mix - make sure the magazine is seated, do a press-check, estimate round consumption, bump your inconvenient reloads forward, etc. I would prefer the term "Prepare for your next string" which would encompass any other preparations you need including the reholstering.

"Always reacquire your target after firing." - Absolutely. And if it's still presenting a threat then treat it accordingly. How we reasonably translate that onto the range is a nebulous question.

The people doing the silly dances are trying to answer these questions but I don't think these questions will be answered on the range. The answers will probably be found on the street.

For the sake of my own curiosity, how much experience do you have on two way ranges?  In two way scenarios?

Are you speaking from actual real world experience, or from a knowledge base derived from training courses and online videos?

@SWedd523

I speak from the position of a person who has witnessed a significant volume of violence, much of it being from organized gangs. Most of this violence did not involve weaponry, though some of it did involve mass stompings against lone individuals - which presents its own specific nature and legal conundrums. Out of the few firearms confrontations that I have encountered, only a handful involved anyone discharging a firearm. Most of them only involved posturing or positioning to a more advantageous tactical location. I have seen a few blades and improvised weapons come into use. I had a singular incident where an element was sent to my location for the purpose of eliminating me specifically. I did something counterintuitive that turned the attempted elimination into a non-contact incident.

Much of my experience was obtained in years prior to any significant training courses or training videos being available. In recent years, I have gone through phases where I have immersed myself with training information. I first cull the gems from the chaff using my own personal filter and then reference said gems to other people I know that have significant experience for further filtration. I am confident that what I have learned from outside sources is legitimate because my real world experience supports it. That which cannot be reconciled with my real world experiences is either discarded or  reserved for future analysis.

In this last paragraph I would like to thank you for your question because it caused personal introspection and an observation: I have accumulated an array of presentational mechanics from outside sources. All of my movement and situational analysis is based on my real world experience. I find this an interesting point. I trust others to show me how to do something but I do not trust anyone to tell me when, where or how the "doing" gets applied - that element is all mine.

EDIT: I would like to revisit a line from my previous post:

"The people doing the silly dances are trying to answer these questions but I don't think these questions will be answered on the range. The answers will probably be found on the street. "

... and I would like to make the following observation: You will learn more about Armed Combat during actual Unarmed Combat than you will learn during Armed Training.