John Correia
ASP (Active Self Protection)

It continues to boggle my mind that a small segment of the defensive training world insists that timers are useless in defensive firearms training.

Honestly, that’s like saying “Grades are useless in measuring student’s learning.” This showcases a gross misunderstanding of what grades ARE. They don’t measure. They acknowledge and demonstrate an objective standard of achievement, which can then be correlated into other areas to prepare a student to achieve “in the real world.”

It’s like looking at racing and saying, “Qualifying laps are bogus and don’t reflect how races will go, so get rid of them because they don’t help you in the race.” That’s not what qualifying laps are. Qualifying shows your raw ability with your equipment to see what your best is, so that you can be ranked with your peers as the race starts. It is an acknowledgment of your demonstrated maximum ability in ideal conditions, which tends to correlate to success on race day.

There IS a timer in your gunfight. There’s no beep, but there IS a timer. Make no mistake, I have seen gunfights won by a tenth and lost by a tenth.

No one is saying “if you’re X fast on the timer, you’ll win.” We’re saying, “This objective standard showcases a certain level of proficiency with this critical task which will give you maximum advantage in a defensive shooting.”

Failing to recognize that is…puzzling.