Pistol Throttle Control: When Do You Speed Up or Slow Down?

One of my favorite drills to test my patience is the pistol throttle control drill. This drill tests your accuracy concerning close open paper targets (no no-shoots or partial targets) and a small, far steel target. It will test your visual patience on targets for which you need to get a better sight picture. Likewise, it also tests your respect for “easier” targets.

Running Pistol Throttle Control Drills

You’ll find it easy to get A zone hits on paper and not hit the steel. Similarly, you might over-focus on the steel to make that hit but score Cs or Ds on the paper targets. For this drill, set a goal to get all A-zone hits on paper and impact steel on your first engagement.

The author used the Laugo Arms Alien Creator pistol and Kestrel KST1000 for her pistol throttle control drill.

Equipment Needed

Two Paper Targets (USPSA, IDPA, GSSF, your choice of “scorable” target)
One Small Steel Target (Author Used a Caldwell 33% IPSC)
Pistol (Author Used the Laugo Arms Alien Creator pistol)
Holster
Timer (Author Used Kestrel KST1000)

The author used a Caldwell 33% IPSC target for her drill.

The Pistol Throttle Control Drill

First, set up two paper targets five to seven yards away from your shooting position, leaving a wide gap between them. Then, set up a steel target in the middle of the paper targets, 10 yards or further back from them.

On the timer’s beep, shoot two shots on the left paper, impact the steel target, and shoot two shots on the right paper. Do not shoot this in any other order other than paper-steel-paper. You can run it in the opposite direction, but shooting the steel between paper targets is intentional.

Set up two paper targets five to seven yards away with a wide gap between them and a steel target in the middle of the paper targets, 10 yards or further back from them.

This drill mixes speed and accuracy, so your hits must be in the A zones to count as a clean run time. If you track times with Cs or Ds, add penalty time for the lower scores, such as +0.25 for each Charlie and +0.50 for each Delta.

Also, pay attention to your draw time. I recommend recording your first shot time to see if your draw is consistent and if you can decrease this time while still maintaining accuracy.

Visual Patience

It’s super easy to throw two shots at a close, wide-open paper target. However, impacting a far, small steel target takes visual patience. Missing steel targets can be a massive time suck. It is extremely frustrating when you miss the steel and don’t get that immediate audible or visual feedback.

Usually, you make a quick pick-up shot, and if you miss again, you become more frustrated. The cycle repeats itself until you slow down and focus on your sight picture.

The author running the pistol throttle control drill.

I promise you, every pro shooter in the country has experienced the “accuracy by volume” strategy when they go to war, missing steel and losing their patience with the target. Did you know that it’s faster to get the sight picture right and impact your target on the first shot than it is to miss the first and hit it on your second shot?

I assure you, you can’t miss fast enough. Shooters who take even a tenth or two-tenths of a second longer to hit the steel on the first shot will always be faster than those who shoot it in two shots.

Where Your Eyes Go, Your Gun Follows

Your eyes should lead this entire drill, from each target to the next. Before the timer goes off, you should be staring at the A zone of the first paper target. The goal is to be as target-focused as possible on the paper targets. As you shoot at each paper target, your sights will be blurry as you focus on the A zone.

When you fire two shots, your peripheral vision will still allow you to see if your sights are aligned or if the red dot is in the A zone. After the second shot, your eyes should immediately move to the steel target. This is where you should have the most visual patience.

Some people have the trained skill to remain target-focused and see their blurry iron sights align or red dot come across the steel target as they pull the trigger. It feels like rolling through a STOP sign rather than coming to a complete standstill.

Other people must switch over to being sight-focused to impact the steel target. This means a physical pause to confirm the iron sights are aligned or the red dot is on the steel.

Finally, your eyes should transition to the second paper target as your gun is in recoil. Focus your eyes only on the A zone and fire the final two shots when you see your sights come across this zone.

After practicing this drill, you will begin to find a balance between when you need to be target-focused vs. sight-focused.