Author – Tom Alibrando
To live fire demo or not live fire demo? That is the question…and let me bring the bottom-line up front. You need to be capable of showing everything, live, in front of students, every time.
So let me tell you a story.
When I was in basic instructor school (not even a firearms related school) we studied adult learning techniques. If they knew you were a firearms instructor/ SWAT guy, they would not let you teach anything firearms related. My initial thought was “but that’s what I’m doing this for. Let me just get started”. It was a great school. I could not imagine how diverse my teaching career would become. I taught search and seizure issues, land navigation, protective operations, motorcade operations, history of law enforcement…basically anything and everything peripheral to any primary job I was ever a part of.
The tactical/firearms portion occupied a majority of my time, but this course prepared me for everything. I disliked the idea of going through a school and not teaching what I was paid to do. In the end, was the best thing that could have happened to me. It pushed principals of communication and learning in any field. I felt like I could teach almost anything. It defined human learning and how people retain information at every level. So, imagine my surprise while attending a formal firearms instructor school, we were informed not to live fire demo. Many reasons were provided to avoid the practice…none of which I cared for. But we will circle back to this.
We learn things in three ways which most will know: auditory (hearing), visual (seeing), tactile (touching/ physically doing). All you need to know is hearing /seeing/ doing. Studying law…pretty much a straight up hearing and comprehending thing. A diagram that show a process is a visual tool in that aids in understanding. Its another inroad to student comprehension. But, in this type of subject, it’s difficult to add a tactile method of learning. The only tactile portion comes from understanding of the law resulting in an arrest. That’s where the “hands on” applies.
Driving, shooting, defensive tactics, tactical combat casualty care and the like all require a lot of “touch” training. One of the hardest types of training is making a student understand how something is supposed to feel. To do it properly, the individual has to CORRECTLY repeat the physical task to a level that ultimately leads to repeated success. This requires direct concentration and attention to detail. It is a repeated and usually initially awkward until they get the process. At the end of a training session, you’ll observe the students not just physically tired, but mentally tired. This is happening in the frontal lobe. Eventually, it needs to migrate to the mid brain, meaning the skills are hard wired and reactive in nature. Basically, it has to transition from actively thinking about every step to acting on every step with out thinking.
You don’t think about swinging a baseball bat to hit the ball. That has to be well programed ahead of time if any level of success takes place. The key phrases are correctly executed, repeated and programmed into the mid brain. The first repetitions of any task are the most critical. In short, if you learn it wrong in the beginning, you will execute it incorrectly forever. (Ok, it can be corrected. But it requires three things: someone willing to point out the problem, someone willing to check their ego, and someone patient enough to execute twice the proper repetitions to overwrite the original poor programing.)
You’ll hear me use computer like terms a lot because the brain is the most complex operating system ever. Some have better brain housing groups than others. Some learn at faster rates then others. At the end of the day, we are teaching life saving and or life taking skills that have to be learned at a high and competent level. It has to happen on demand and under extreme stress. We all know that this form of stress will degrade performance, not enhance it. No matter how they arrive to that high standard, we have to get them there and it’s our job to do it…so back to the subject at hand.
Here are the arguments against live fire demonstrations (that I’ve heard)
- If you miss, you will lose all credibility
- If you execute the drill, technique incorrectly, you will lose all credibility
- If you execute the drill perfectly and incredibly fast, the students with try to push their speed in lieu of technique thus learning incorrectly
- It takes too much time and slows training momentum
Half of the arguments involve losing credibility. The latter have to do with moving at a pace that cannot be comprehended or disrupting training momentum. Either way, people are visual learners. They need to see to understand. They need to do to know. So, by removing visual learning from the equation we create a learning deficit for the student. We handicap ourselves as instructors because we are afraid of making a mistake with one of the most effective tools we have.
Who loses in the end…everyone. The student doesn’t retain the information as efficiently as they could, or worse, fails to learn it correctly at all. Training time is lost trying to course correct what students are NOT accomplishing because they don’t understand what they were supposed to do in the first place. Frustration can set in on both sides. The instructor needs to train to a level that the demonstration can be repeated consistently and smoothly. It should be as easy as walking. If you can’t do it, how can you explain it?
What’s the instructor’s job? Teach a new skill to the highest level possible in the time you have with the student. Make the student better than when they first came to you. Show them ways of correcting themselves so they can properly improve on their own. Nowhere in this statement does it say “outshoot any student that you have”. Nowhere does it say “be perfect and superhuman in every demo you do.”
Here are principals that I use when demonstrating. I hope they help.
- When teaching a new skill set, do not necessarily demo at 100 percent. Everything I do is in 3’s. The first iteration, I explain as I go through the technique, stopping at critical points along the way. The second, I explain a little less but continue the action in a smooth and continuous manner. The last evolution is done at a constant speed with no explanation during the drill so they can see the end result once all of the skill sets are tied together.
- Never let the student stand behind you when you demonstrate. Looking at the back of your head does nothing for your presentation. They need to be off to the sides and you may draw their attention to a specific element of your drill. For instance, on a rhythm drill, the student needs to visually focus on your trigger management; preferably on the side they can see your trigger finger. Before starting, make sure they have a visual lane to what they need to see. Otherwise, it’s waisted ammo.
- Never outrun what your student can comprehend. If they cannot see the learning objective because you’re moving at max speed, they cannot learn it. There is an exception to this. On occasion, you have to show what is possible if the technique is executed properly. The student will doubt that a drill can be executed any quicker that “x” seconds. To make them believe in the theory, increasing speed is to build confidence in what you’re showing them. Be careful not to “show off”. It’s not for that, it’s just to prove the concept.
- Never let the student look at the target during the demo…if they do, they miss what made the hits possible in the first place. Even in a simple low ready presentation, several steps occur. These have to be explained and shown in detail. Everything from the: 1. pivot point at the toe of the stock in the shoulder. 2. to increasing tension into the shoulder during presentation. 3. to eyes moving to the sights as the safety comes off. 4. To the finger moving to the trigger and prepping for the distance they have to engage. One movement with multiple considerations. A simple movement, that if executed incorrectly, costs the student time and accuracy. It’s the little things that add up. The little things that can’t be described sometimes, but can be shown. They need to look at you.
- Occasionally, having shown some of the core techniques several times, I’ll ask the students if they need to see it live. Sometimes they acknowledge that they have the concept and I opt out. On other occasions, I’ll see the look from a few students that tells me I need to press on. You don’t have to show everything live. Just new and critical parts. You can isolate the specific skill you are trying to accomplish and forgo the rest. It can save time and at this point, they know you can hit the plate. Sometimes its about everything prior to dropping the hammer that’s important.
Let’s address the “if you fail to execute the drill properly, you lose all credibility”. You should practice what you are showing them. That means you can’t be lazy as an instructor and rest on what you used to do, but what you can do. The demo needs to apply to the evolution and needs to be practical to the student you are showing it to. Again, demonstrating at a slower pace allows the student to see the drill and minimizes your chance of making a mistake. Most importantly, practice on your own time. You should step up to the plate confident you can swing.
I have made mistakes during a demo. It usually occurs when I talk through the demo while trying to execute it quickly. (I’m usually rushing because of limited time). Trying to talk and shoot is a divided attention task. You can do either one, or the other, but doing both simultaneously leads to doing both poorly. I’ll stop, breathe, and do it one more time…after I shut up.
“A demo takes too much time.” If your shooting demo takes more than a few minutes, you’re practicing. It’s not your time to practice, it’s theirs. This principal addresses the concern of time management. Demos enhance the instruction, it is not the sole instructional avenue. It shouldn’t take a long time. It should be seamless from the purpose, to the explanation, to the demo, to the students executing it on the range. You only have so long; make the most of it.
What happens if you miss during a demo? Everyone misses. I’ve seen the best competitive shooters miss. It’s how you handle the miss that increases your credibility. When I teach, I preach always end with a hit. If you make a mistake, make it up. Fix the problem and hit. On the occasions that I do miss, what the student sees is an immediate make up shot…a correction. It shows that you practice what you preach. It validates your mindset. If you practice regularly, you’re still operating at a higher level than your students. The fact that you’re human does not work against you. Do not make excuses for a mistake; accept it and use it as a learning tool. In the end, they will identify closer with you.
It is very rare that I have been out shot by a student. But when it happens, it does two things: makes me happy then drives me to practice more. If they leave better off than when they showed up, you’ve done your job. Check your ego at the door. We train a variety of shooters with a variety of skill sets. No matter how much time you have with them, it’s never enough. For the most part, I am preparing people for a lethal force encounter, either professionally or personally. I take that seriously. What we show has to work for people to come home or defend their home. Every high-quality instructor demos the drill for the student because they know it lends credibility to what they are professing and is the most effective method for delivering accurate information.
Up your game. If you teach, practice. If you practice, show it. It’s hard to do in our busy lives, but your students deserve no less.
About the Author: Tom Alibrando served as a police officer in Arizona for 11 years. In that time, he was an instructor, taught at the Police Academy, SWAT team member and LE Sniper. He also has been to Iraq, Afghanistan, West Africa, and Mexico serving with the Department of State/Blackwater and Academi in a protective detail, as well as an intelligence specialist, assistant team leader and foreign national trainer. Tom was also a program manager for training for Academi Training Services as well as instructor for a variety of programs there before leaving for IWI in 2016.He currently works as the LE Sales Manager for Israel Weapon Industries as well as managing the IWI US Academy.
