Mastering the draw stroke is essential for anyone interested in self-protection or firearm training. My name is Hank Hayes of Intuitive Self Protection and in this blog, we’ll break down the key elements of the draw stroke and provide a step-by-step guide to help you improve your technique. From establishing the correct stance to achieving a smooth follow-through, we will cover all the fundamentals necessary for a successful draw stroke.
Okay, now we’re gonna put together the Big Six, which are the broken down elements of your draw stroke. Let's do this!
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Proper Pistol Stance
Step 1: Establish the Pistol Stance. So, let’s talk about stance. Your stance is a solid, athletic stance and our system is integrated so it’s that same stance that you’re gonna be able to utilize for your fighting, pistol and rifle. Feet about shoulder width apart with your dominant foot in the arch of your non-dominant foot and lean slightly forward but not like old school police from the 50’s.
Master Firing Grip
Step 2: Master the Pistol Grip. If you don’t have your master grip, check out this video and get that down. No master grip, everything else is no good! You’re gonna sink that master grip and the off hand goes up on the body.
Pistol Presentation
Step 3: Execute the Presentation. Once your weapon system clears your holster, your off hand goes up and into play (please reference video above). During your presentation, you are looking down your sight line and orienting your weapon system towards the threat line. You are always threat-focused!
Sight Picture and Sight Alignment
Step 4: Achieve Sight Picture and Sight Alignment. Once you’ve achieved proper sight alignment, make sure you’ve got a good sight picture. Don’t mistake that cell phone for a gun because you’ll be in jail and Bubba will be taking your dessert and more. So your sight picture and sight alignment has to be on point!
Pistol Trigger Control
Step 5: Master Trigger Control. Once you’ve got a good sight picture and sight alignment, put your finger on the trigger and work through the slack and the stages of your trigger. Take a shot and look at your work through your sights.
Pistol Follow Through
Step 6: Follow Through and Reset. After taking a shot, reset the trigger. Safely and reluctantly bring your weapon system back to the holster once your threat is down and only when your threat is down. You can look at your holster for a visual snapshot to get it right back in as needed.
Summary
So, there you have it! To master that draw stroke, make sure you:
Nail your stance
Perfect your grip
Execute a smooth presentation
Achieve a sharp sight picture and sight alignment
Master trigger control
Follow through with control
Next time, we’ll cover the three step draw stroke which will then become just simply the draw stroke. Once you get that down, we’ll move into building a sub two second draw stroke. We’ll also get into how to do the slide lock reload and an administrative reload so you have a more complete package to work with.
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About the Author
Hank Hayes is a Combat Arts Hall of Famer and inventor of the No Lie Blade. He is the founder and CEO of both Intuitive Self Protection and NLB Tactical and creator of the ISP/NLB viscous fighting system. Since 1998, he has trained well over 30,000 Military and Law Enforcement personnel via Government contract mainly at the elite special teams level and continues to train both civilians and MIL/LE how to come home safe.