The TTPOA Podcast – Train-Up Series: Teaching Practical Shooting to Police Recruits
Date: October 29, 2025
Host: Derek and Brandon
Guests: Chansey and Brian, Range Instructors – North Texas Agency
Episode Theme: Modernizing firearms instruction for recruits by focusing on practical shooting, debunking outdated methods, encouraging student-driven progress, and emphasizing movement, decision-making, and realistic application.
Episode Overview
This episode of the TTPOA Train-Up Series dives into how practical shooting concepts—often developed in competitive or performance-based shooting—are being integrated into the training of police recruits. The discussion is led by experienced SWAT team leaders along with their agency’s primary firearms instructors, Chansey and Brian. The episode covers the entire recruit firearms training process, focusing on how practical skill-building and individualized learning have modernized the range experience for new officers.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Structure of Recruit Firearms Training
[02:38–04:35]
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Day 1:
- Classroom: Gear issuance, PowerPoint, policies.
- Afternoon: Dummy drills—weapon manipulation (loading/unloading, stoppages) with dummies. Initial observation of handling skills, many recruits never handled firearms before.
- End of Day 1: Uninstructed shooting (three magazines, five yards), to benchmark recruits’ raw abilities.
-
Class Demographics:
- Large agencies (~30–55 recruits per group), lessons universally applicable—even for small agency instructors.
"At the end of day one, it’s three mags to capacity, zero instruction, five yard line. We just let them shoot...we want to see what we’re starting off with.”
—Brian [03:13]
2. Core Training Philosophy & Fundamentals
[04:35–07:12]
- Day 2:
- Immediate focus on grip and trigger manipulation.
- Stance is taught as a luxury—not a crutch. Reality is dynamic.
- Early myth-busting: “Don’t slap the trigger”—debunked; good grip enables practical trigger work.
“We debunk the whole do not slap the trigger thing right out the gate with them.”
—Brian [04:51]
- Grip Fitment: Backstraps and trigger reach are adjusted for individual hand size; fit matters for performance.
"You’ve got some guys...with giant hands...if you give them a gun that’s just out of the box...they’re gonna fight it."
—Chansey [05:15]
3. Deliberate, Skill-Building Drills & Demo Standards
[07:12–09:10]
-
Live Fire Progression:
- Doubles: First hour of range instruction. Reactive and predictive doubles.
- Bill Drills: Rapid six-shot strings to build confidence and teach vision/grip.
-
Demo Philosophy:
- Instructors must be able to demo every skill at controlled, attainable speeds.
- Avoid “look how fast I am”—demonstrate what’s possible for the average learner.
“If I go, if I’m running as fast as I can...they aren’t going to do anything other than that when maybe they aren’t there yet...they’re literally getting nothing other than making six bullets into brass.”
—Brian [08:38]
4. Adapting to Optics: Teaching the Dot
[09:14–12:09]
- Most recruits are new to red dot sights (RDS), often transitioning from iron sights.
- Heavy focus on “index”—bringing gun up so dot is automatically in line with the eyes. Visual drills emphasize the minimal movement required to find the dot.
- Honest discussion: Even advanced shooters occasionally “lose the dot” under stress or while moving.
“There’s no secret sauce in finding the dot. It should bring the gun to your eyes.”
—Brian [11:35]
5. Movement, Transitions, and Vision
[16:00–21:19]
- Bill Drills: Markers for errors like trigger freeze, over-gripping, pushing low/left. Instructors ask for aggressive but conscious performance—learn by failing safely.
"Have you ever heard an instructor tell you to be lazy? I want you to be lazy and I want you to fail."
—Brian [16:00]
- Transitions:
- Taught “backwards”—eyes lead, then gun follows, regardless of direction.
- Emphasis on visual acuity, threat/target discrimination (important for real-world multi-threat, no-shoot decision making).
“The thing is, to keep them from thinking they need to find the target to be able to shoot it. We take that part out of it.”
—Chansey [18:05]
- Realistic context: Knowing who or what to shoot, and processing moving, changing environments.
"They move. Right? So we’re having to work on tracking someone who’s moving because they’re getting shot at or they’re trying to get an advantage on us…"
—Derek [19:46]
6. Competitive Shooting: Processing & Tactical Benefits
[21:13–22:32]
- Importance of processing information quickly—parallels with competitive shooting (e.g., USPSA matches, field courses).
- Recruits (and officers) often resistant; instructors stress that competition sharpens skills relevant for real-world CQB and threat response.
"When you learn how to battle with yourself for results, you’re going to get them a hell of a lot faster than you will trying to battle the person next to you."
—Chansey [36:19]
7. Dynamic Drills, Individualized Coaching, and Building Resilience
[23:03–26:24]
- Moving and shooting begins immediately—no “range choreography” (no snakes, no artificial up/downs).
- Drills are tailored in real-time to each student’s development. Breaks are often used for targeted one-on-one coaching or remediation.
“It’s not teaching to a script...we’ll get in students’ ears and be like, listen, on the next drill, this is what I want you to do.”
—Brian [25:29]
- Failure is encouraged: Students are given permission to push and fail—critical for learning and for long-term adaptation.
8. Standards and Evaluation
[27:06–29:33]
- Quals are run “cold” (no rehearsal); foundational skills ensure passing.
- Agency qual is much higher than state minimums; pass rates high (98.97% average over 47 recruits, nine total quals).
- Vision and reaction-based elements added last (turning targets, one-handed shooting).
9. Instructor Evolution & Honest Reflection
[30:15–36:00]
- Both instructors acknowledge early career “dogmatic” teaching—took years of failing, networking, and competing to evolve.
- Influence from top instructors (e.g., Rob Latham, Ben Stoeger)—lessons learned not always absorbed immediately due to comfort zones and career stage.
- Emphasis on continuous learning, peer review, and breaking from comfort to fuel skill development for both students and instructors.
“Your comfort zone is the biggest vice that everybody has. And we push people to get out of their comfort zone from day one.”
—Brian [37:46]
10. Community, Growth, and Instructor Culture
[37:46–39:29]
- Instructors stay current by constantly creating and tweaking drills—every class is different.
- Strong peer group on the “Tier 1 Cops” chat, always sharing, challenging, and innovating.
"Every time I’ve ever been around [Ben Stoeger] or talked with him with classes, there’s always stuff new that he’s adding. And I mean, he’s one of the top level guys in the world and he’s doing it. So some low-level dude at the local police department, range guy, I think you need to do that too."
—Derek [38:21]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On abandoning old-school range choreography:
"We treat them like how we expect them to perform on the streets...not the old, you know, ready to move, move...that’s not natural."
—Brian [23:28] -
On demo standards:
"You better be able to demo everything."
—Chansey [07:26] -
On dot shooting and ‘finding the dot’:
"There’s nothing in this world that's straighter than your line of sight. So bring the gun into that."
—Chansey [09:37] -
On promoting failure and learning speed:
“You have to learn how to go fast. You have to go fast, to learn how to process fast.”
—Chansey [14:39] -
On comfort zones and instructor stagnation:
"Your comfort zone is the biggest vice anybody has...We push people to get out of their comfort zone from day one."
—Brian [37:46]
Timestamps for Important Segments
- [02:38] – Day One Structure and Uninstructed Baseline Shooting
- [04:53] – Debunking Old Trigger Control Dogma
- [07:12] – Starting Early with Doubles and Bill Drills
- [09:14] – Teaching Proper Index for Red Dot Sights
- [16:00] – Allowing Failure, Teaching Aggressive Shooting
- [18:05] – Teaching Transitions (Eyes Lead Gun) and Visual Processing
- [23:03] – Movement and Dynamic Drills for Recruits
- [27:06] – Qualifying Standards and Evaluation
- [30:15] – Instructor Reflection: Moving Beyond Old Habits
- [36:19] – Competing with Yourself, Not with Others
- [37:46] – Breaking Comfort Zones and Culture of Growth
Final Thoughts
The instructors’ approach represents a major shift from rote, static qualification focus to a dynamic, feedback-driven, practical shooting curriculum for police recruits. By emphasizing realistic handling, movement, visual processing, allowance for failure, and a culture of constant instructor growth, they are producing better-prepared officers—and encouraging a broader evolution in police firearms training.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where the team discusses train-up challenges and strategies for established officers already in the department.