The FAST Drill: The fundamentals, accuracy and speed test (VIDEO)

The fundamentals, accuracy and speed test packs a huge amount of learning opportunities into one fun but far-from-easy package.

The FAST drill is shot at seven yards using a downloadable target from the pistol-training website. The shooter begins with the pistol concealed or in a “duty” type retention holster loaded with only two rounds and a second, fully loaded, magazine on their belt.

On the buzzer, the shooter draws and fires two round into the 3×5 box at the top of the target, performs a slide lock reload and fires four rounds into the eight-inch circle in the center of the target. Misses to the 3×5 box add two seconds and misses to the 8-inch circle add one second to the overall time.

The scoring system for the drill is as follows:

  • 10 or more seconds: Novice
  • Less than 10 seconds: Intermediate
  • Less than 7 seconds: Advanced
  • Less than 5 seconds: Expert

The takeaway

This drill is a hard one for sure! As the name suggests it tests your fundamentals, accuracy and speed. The time penalties are stiff and the margins for error are small, but in a defensive shooting encounter the margins and penalties are even more severe. And we like the fact that you can’t really game this drill.

The FAST drill is specifically designed NOT to be endlessly practiced, but rather to show you what areas of your draw, trigger press, reload and recoil control need work, it, like most good drills is diagnostic. Give it a try next time your one the range and see how you stack up to the times listed on the pistol-training.com website. Good luck!

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