I’m thinking about taking an upcoming PF class. The last time I attended was over 15 years ago and I learned a ton from Jerry and Bruce.

I’m curious, how has the coursework evolved over the years? What are you doing the same? What’s different?

Cheers,
David S.

I was hoping that some of our frequent students would pop in and comment on the changes they have observed.

I ll hit this up in a day or so and talk about all the changes that have been made recently, and historical changes to the programs that have been made over the years.

It is ever evolving.

Well I just took the class again, last time was 2007, 1st time 2005.
Until recently I still carried around half of a playing card.

There have been many changes over the years in the lesson plan.

It started out as a three day course. The third day was shooting on the move in the morning, and some situational type stuff in the afternoon. There was a lot of stuff jammed into it. The problem was there was very little structure in the early days. Each class was a little different. It led to some complaints. Did I mention there was a lot of material?

As we began evolve, things started to change. About 7-8 years ago, we dropped the third day largely because shooting on the move was a time waster. At that point, the first day was all draw and fire multiple shots, the second day was half day of strong hand/weak hand, and a half day multiple targets. It too had some problems. It covered a lot of material. The structure was better and it was more consistent across the board.

I struggled with some things.

I never wanted OpSpec Training to be personality centric. I wanted the curriculum to carry itself. No matter who is teaching it, I wanted the same high quality product that it has become. With a wide range of students, PF in the current form at the time was still sporadic at meeting some of my self imposed goals. One was round count. Some classes had students that were on it, and the round count was closer to 1000. In some classes, it was closer to 500. This wasn't meeting my goal to push everyone out of their comfort zone. Newer shooters, A class shooters, everyone. We used strong hand/weak hand as a make up. So, if a class ran long on the first day, we played catch up and cut strong hand/weak hand short.

So, we put our heads together and looked at the goals from the learning objectives. What we came up with is the best, most consistent version yet. Starting the first class of this year, we cut out strong hand/weak hand. We used the time saved to get more quality reps in with the gun in two hands. I had several repeat students in the Daytona Beach and Mesa class. They all said they liked the latest version the best. So, after Mesa, I rewrote the lesson plan. HR and Steve495 ran it in Colorado and got the same results. It is still packed with a whole lot of stuff. But, it is more even consistent than it ever has been. Strong emphasis is put on all the stuff that matters whether you are a C class shooter, or a SEAL.

What hasn't changed? Trigger control. Prepping the trigger is still the answer to every question. The class is still designed to teach you how to train on your own, how to set realistic goals, and crush them.

Our line up of other classes now fall better in line with PF. Applied Fundamentals is an awesome addition to the class. HR Hawk knocked it out of the park when he developed it. MOAC lived in my head for two years before I was brave enough to put it on. It fills up quickly every year. We are truly blessed.

So, that is it in a nutshell. I am proud of what it has become.

Sounds good. I should be signing up for the SATX class in the next couple weeks. I’m really looking forward to focusing on prepping the trigger as it relates to DASA. I’m glad that’s still a key component of the class.

I took my first PF class in 2006 in Houston, my second around '09 in Dallas, and I have hosted them in S.A. in 2012 and 2015.

Each time it was a little different, and I think each time a little better. Student-teacher ratio improved. The amount of material became less, but more focused. Time on the range became more efficiently used. Drills became more purposeful.

From some interviews I've seen over the last year or so, I expect this year might be quite a bit different from '15.

quote:

Originally posted by Davenator:
I’m thinking about taking an upcoming PF class. The last time I attended was over 15 years ago

You and I were in the same class, either late 2010 or early 2011, in Orlando.

That would make it around eight years, not fifteen.

I am certain that it was after August 2010, because my prostate cancer radiation treatment finished that month, and I know for sure that I was in that class after the cancer treatment. I was carrying a P250 while I was in treatment; I subsequently sold it and bought a P228, which is what I used in the class.

eh' math is hard. . . or time flies. I dunno.

Hope all is well, V. You still flying?

Sorry, been stuck in the lounge and hadn’t gotten over here. Been to PF several times, went to PF in Mesa with the lovely bride in February. I went to Applied Fundamentals with the son last November, and last year was the first year I didn’t make it to MOAC. I still got a heck of a lot out of PF. I dunno if I am just a slow learner (probably) or if the class keeps getting better every time, but I always come away better off than I arrived.