Whatever gun training you’re doing (you are training, right?), whether its concealed carry training or training for competition, some skeet and trap shooting before dove, pheasant or duck season, or long-range rifle shooting prior to pursuing roving protein treats from Nature’s Meat Aisle, you should do it with a partner.
Granted, some of us are, by nature, introverts, some of us bordering on the anti-social. Some people are so far gone psychologically they leave nasty remarks for strangers to read on the internet. After all, such folks are usually desperately in need of a hug or therapy, which is why they do those things.
Still, when you can get out there to train, you should do it with a partner whenever possible. Here are three reasons why the buddy system is a really good idea.
Accountability
The first is accountability, and this applies across several dimensions. Granted, this requires you to pick somebody who isn’t going to BS you or be a “yes” man (or “yes” woman). You need someone who will tell you when you do something wrong.
A good training partner will call you out on anything unsafe, which is good for all the obvious reasons. If we’re going to say that we’re safe and responsible gun owners, then we better act the part. That means holding each other accountable when we do dumb stuff at the range.
A good partner will also hold you accountable for mistakes. They’ll tell you if you’re flinching just before pulling the trigger, that you’re rushing the shot or any other flubs you may be making but don’t realize.
Remember the 5 P’s: Proper Practice Prevents Poor Performance. Getting called out or encouraged to do better helps you improve rather than just getting comfortable.
Synergy, aka Mutually Beneficial Competition
“Synergy” is one of those business-speak buzzwords that makes me want to employ dynamic paradigm-shifting outside-the-box solutions to the speaker’s personal branding or – in plain English – beat them around the head and shoulders for saying that kind of thing.
What the term means is when two people or organizations do something together for their mutual benefit, sometimes in a competitive fashion.
In other words, get a training partner who you can compete with. You’ll work harder to try to beat them, they’ll work harder to try and beat you, and the end result is both of you will become better shooters for it at the end of the day.
It Gets You Out Of The House And Socializing
Look, sometimes it’s good to get out of the house and interacting with other adults human beings. As much as family time or alone time is good and necessary, you also need time for friends and so on. Diminishing Marginal Utility applies just as much to people as it does to anything else, and compartmentalization (separating various areas of your life) has its benefits as well.
Anything else you want to add? Just here for the discussion? I’ll give you a topic: the “Ford v. Ferrari” movie looks pretty darn good, but Dan Gurney deserves his own biopic. Discuss.