Split the Difference drill

Recently trainer Bob Jewell sent me a new drill & target he developed, called the “Split the Difference” drill. It’s 11 rounds, shot from 3 or 5 yards on a variety of numbered dots.

print this on 8.5×11 paper

You shoot the dots in order, firing two shots on all the shaded dots (1, 3, 6, 7) and one shot on all the white dots (2, 4, 5). That requires a lot of zigzagging around the target to get to all the shapes in numerical order. It’s intended for guns that hold 11 or more rounds. Those trying this drill with a lower capacity gun can either reload or shoot fewer dots, with adjusted goal times. Add 2 seconds to the goal time if you have to reload. If you shoot fewer dots, lower the goal time by 0.5 second shot not fired.

He suggests a goal time of 6 seconds for 3 yards and 8 seconds for 5 yards, with a goal of having roughly 0.5 second splits and transitions. There is no time added for shots outside the circles. Your score doesn’t count unless all 11 shots are acceptable hits.

Here’s a video of me shooting it at 5 yards in 8.05. If you look at the target shown at the end of the video, it shows the hits from both my first run (with one miss on the “5” dot) and my second run. The second run is the one shown in the video. I had to slow down a little to shoot clean which put me just over the 8 second goal.

It’s a challenging drill. Dave Reichek (USPSA/IDPA Master class shooter) and I each shot the drill twice, and my last run was the only clean run out of the 4 tries, with each of the others having one shot just outside a circle.

Give this drill a try next time you go to the range. If the range won’t let you draw, start from ready. Try it at 3 yards first and keep working at it until you can shoot it clean. Then move back to 5 yards.For a lot of shooters, running this drill with no time limit just trying to shoot it clean may be the place to start. Then try a 10 or 12 second par and work down in time from there. The drill is short enough that it can be run 9 times with 2 boxes (100 rounds) of ammo.

About the drill’s designer: Bob Jewell has been carrying a concealed handgun for over 20 years. He is a Rangemaster and NRA Certified Instructor as well as a graduate of the Law of Self Defense Instructor Program. He annually participates in firearms, legal, medical, and personal defense training from top instructors and teaches advanced concealed carry classes.

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