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SGT Lee Dimaculangan – Alternate Shooting Positions

Whether you’re a shooter in the military, or in law enforcement, you can’t always rely on shooting from the standing position. Sometimes targets are too difficult to see, and you have to shoot them from different positions. In this Pro Tip, I’ll be showing you some different techniques on how to shoot from alternate positions.  In this particular case, this port is too short for me to be shooting in the standing, but too high for me to be shooting in the kneeling. So, this is going to require me to shoot in the squatting positions.  Let me show you how to shoot in the squatting position. From the standing position I’m going to draw my pistol, while at the same time taking my weak side foot one step away from my body. I’m going to bend my knees as low as I can, depending on how low my targets are. This wide base between my legs allows me to manage my balance a lot better as I engage the targets.  Notice as I’m shooting I have a forward lean on my upper body. This forward stance allows me to better manage the recoil.   In this situation, I’m going to want to be engaging these targets from the kneeling position. So from the standing, what I’m going to do is draw my pistol, while at the same time taking my strong side foot one step to the rear as I plant my knee to the ground.  At the same time I’m also going to present my gun to the target acquiring my sights. Notice the shoulder width distance between my leg and my knee, and I do this because I want to maintain my balance as I engage these targets.      Make sure you don’t start shooting until after your knee has touched the ground. Any little bobble with your sights or body movement might force a bad shot.  One final note is that I have most of my body weight on the weak hand side of my body, or my left side. Something that’s unique to this position. Now, we’re going to go to the prone position. From the standing, what I’m going to do is draw my pistol, while at the same time looking at the ground where my weak hand is going to be placed. While going to the ground, I maintain a high ready position with my pistol, and once I make contact with the ground with my weak side hand, I’m going to thrust both legs to the rear. Once my upper body has made contact with the ground, I’m going to thrust my pistol forward, take my two-hand grip, and re-acquire my sights on target.   Now that I’ve shown you the three alternate positions, practice them, and they will make you a better shooter. Until next time, Stay Army strong. CLICK HERE FOR PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION