So, it may just be me. I will readily admit that it could be just my perception. It could be that I am totally wrong about this. You can make your own decision after I lay it out from my perspective. But, just to confirm my theory, I Googled “Ball and dummy drill” right before I started writing this article. Then, I clicked on the first link and read the training article all the way through. I am not going to list the company that sponsored the article because it is of no relevance. However, it did confirm my suspicions. Therefore, I feel totally comfortable posing the following question.

Is the famous “ball and dummy” drill missing something?

Let me clarify …

Just about every time I observe the ball and dummy drill being taught or written about, there is a large portion of the training or the write-up that focuses on identifying the problem. This is a good thing. That is what I believe half of the drill is supposed to do. However, it is the other half that I have an issue with. You see, after the drill is conducted and the problem is identified, there is a huge failure to provide a real solution to the problem. In my opinion, the ball and dummy drill continually falls short of its goal whenever it is presented. Maybe it is because the drill is being presented as a correction drill rather than an identification drill. Or maybe the original drill was never intended to correct the problem at all. Either way, every student needs to know how to correct each problem they encounter while shooting. I believe that this drill can do both.

When you were originally taught this drill, were you able to correct the problem right then and there? Did it solve your anticipation issues on the spot? Or did it just identify the issue with no immediate solution? Solving this problem (mentally and physically) probably took many range days to fix outside of conducting the drill. If this was your experience, then it is possible that you felt like I did when I first learned it.

If you are not familiar with this drill, it is a widely used shooting exercise that is supposed to help a shooter with anticipation issues (flinching as the gun discharges). When a semi-auto pistol shooter anticipates, the typical result is the round hitting lower on the target because of a last-second “flinch” to counter the impending discharge of the weapon. Since we know what happens when the gun goes “bang,” we compensate by tensing up our muscles to absorb the anticipated “explosion” happening inside the gun while it is in our hands. It can feel like an autonomic response with which you have no control. But you do have control. That is what the ball and dummy drill is supposed to solve. 

Using this drill assists in identifying if the shooter does, in fact, have an anticipation problem. If you have been shooting for any length of time, then you are probably aware of the two main problems that every pistol shooter deals with. It is controlling shots on the “X” axis (rounds hitting to the right or left of the target) and on the “Y” axis (rounds hitting higher or lower on the target). The ball and dummy drill is designed to help along the “Y” axis (for help on the “X” axis, see my article entitled “Call Your Shots: Using a True Thumbs Forward Grip” at bit.ly/3INZoJx).

There may be some slight variations to this drill, but the main steps to conducting it are as follows. First, have another person load one of your pistol magazines with randomly placed live and dummy rounds. Then, insert the magazine into your weapon without looking at it. You are not supposed to know the order of the rounds. After this, have a paper target set at a reasonable distance, charge your weapon and begin to slowly engage the target one round at a time. If you have anticipation issues, you will notice a “flinch” of your hands (and typically your eyelids) when you press the trigger on one of the dummy rounds. The flinch can be large or small. Obviously, the less the flinch, the better. This is where the drill shines and clearly helps a shooter identify the problem of anticipation.

How the rest of the drill is presented is where I have a huge issue. Sometimes, that may be the end of the drill. Some trainers will have you go through the rest of your random live/dummy magazine, which just continues to confirm there is a problem, but no solution to solving the problem is ever offered. The other thing I see or read about is having the shooter immediately shoot 10 perfectly slow and deliberate shots on target and then go back to the random/live magazine and do the drill over again. Now, that may solve the problem for some, but every time I read that solution in a training article, I tend to notice it is mentioned at the very end of the piece and presented in a quick one or two lines. It feels like a last-second, “try this, it might work” offering rather than a methodical step-by-step process.

And now that I have ranted about what I believe does not work, let me tell you about what I know works. The next section will outline a methodical step-by-step process of what I believe should be the entire ball and dummy drill. If you have anticipation issues, follow this process and you will be able to identify and correct the problem typically in one shooting session. Every time I have presented this drill to a shooter with an anticipation problem, they were able to fix the problem normally within 20–30 minutes. However, there is a caveat. Although the problem is identified and corrected within a 30-minute timespan, the shooter will typically have the anticipation issue arise again later in the session (or during the next shooting session). But because they understand why it happens and how to systematically correct it, the problem gets easier and easier to solve until it is no longer a problem. Doing it this way saves a ton of time, money, ammunition and shooter frustration. That is a win in my book.

Here is the ball and dummy drill, including identification and correction:

1. Have another person fully load your semi-auto pistol magazine with randomly placed live and dummy rounds. For a better outcome, use a 1:1 ratio of live and dummy rounds.
2. Insert the magazine into your weapon without looking at it. Then, charge your weapon.
3. Set up a paper target at a reasonable distance. I prefer five to seven yards. This is close enough to see pattern deviations without having to deal with a huge visual spread on the target. However, there is nothing wrong with shooting from the three-yard line if that is more manageable for you.
4. Begin to engage the same spot on the center of your target one round at a time with slow, deliberate trigger presses. When you press on a dummy round, observe all “flinches” that occur. Continue through your random live/dummy magazine until it is empty.
5. If no “flinches” occurred, you do not have an anticipation problem, and you can move on to another shooting drill. Your paper target will also confirm this, as the hit pattern deviation will be minimal.
6. If “flinching” did occur, then have that other person load your magazine with live and dummy rounds once again. But this time, it will be in sequence. It should be set up with a live round on top, then a dummy round, then a live round, then a dummy round, etc., until the entire magazine is fully loaded.
7. Charge your weapon and begin to engage your target exactly as you did before. Except now, you know the exact shooting sequence. This is where you begin to solve your anticipation problem.
8. While shooting through this first sequential magazine, you will notice that you are able to make some corrections and that the anticipation is lessening. Finish the magazine.
9. Now, have that same person fully load your magazine again with randomly placed live and dummy rounds. Engage your target and continue to check for “flinching.”
10. Do this interchange of magazines (random/sequential) three times each for a total of six magazines. At a reasonable pace, this drill should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

At the end of the drill, you will have probably solved your anticipation issue, at least for now. Just remember, it may rear its ugly head again. But since you solved the problem once, you will be able to solve it again until it is no longer a problem. Thank you for continuing to allow me to relay my thoughts in print and online. If you have any questions, please get in touch. Until then, #staysafe and #stayready.