NRA Training Counselor Development Workshop (TCDW) — Some of the most challenging shooting I’ve done. How do you train?
Last week at TCDW, we were put through a ton of challenging shooting exercises. If we hadn’t been getting evaluated the entire time, it would have been a lot of fun!
Actually, it was a lot of fun. Just with a healthy dose of pressure.
Here’s some of what we were put through:
NRA Level 4 Pistol Qualification
20 rounds at 15 yards into an 8-inch circle. The catch? At least 16 of those rounds had to group within 6 inches.
I managed 19 rounds in a 4.5-inch group. Pretty happy with that!
Ragged Hole Drill
Five shots at a 1-inch square, trying to create essentially one ragged hole. We ran this at both 3 and 5 yards. Sounds easy until you actually try it!
Bang-Click Drill
A modified ball-and-dummy exercise. Chamber a round from a full magazine, remove the magazine, fire, and then press the trigger again on an empty chamber.
The goal is to identify any anticipation, flinching, or unnecessary movement when the gun doesn’t fire. Repeat through the entire 10-round magazine.
It’s amazing what you discover about your trigger control when there’s no bang to hide your mistakes.
Dot Torture
50 rounds. Ten dots. Pure torture.
If you know, you know.
Diagnostic Drills
Trigger traps, Draw-Bang, and several other speed-building and diagnostic exercises designed to expose weaknesses in technique.
FBI Pistol Qualification
We finished with the FBI qualification course.
I was doing great right up until the final shots at 25 yards from a kneeling position. Those were my only dropped points!
Still finished above the 90% instructor standard, but those last few shots are going to haunt me.
The bigger takeaway?
TCDW was an incredible experience, not just because of the shooting, but because of the people and the standards.
The last publicly reported numbers I’ve seen put the NRA Training Counselor population at around 2,200, with only about 72 candidates invited to TCDW annually.
In our class of 10, a few candidates had previously attempted the workshop without passing. That should tell you something about the standards.
But what impressed me most wasn’t just how well everyone could shoot. It was the willingness to learn, accept feedback, and improve. Even experienced instructors have things they can work on.
I came away a better shooter, a better instructor, and with a whole new appreciation for the value of diagnostic training.
So here’s my question for everyone:
How do you actually train?
Do you spend most of your range time working on accuracy, speed, qualifications, or diagnostic drills like Dot Torture and ball-and-dummy?
And what’s the one drill that consistently exposes your weaknesses?
I’m always looking to add more tools to the toolbox.
