Principles, Pressure & Performance
Marksmanship often gets all the attention in a firearms course. That’s fine – for sport shooting. But in real-world encounters, paper targets don’t shoot back, and X-rings don’t charge you with a knife.
Decades ago, Applegate and Cooper said what still holds true today: marksmanship is only one part of the equation. At Top Gun Training Centre, we agree. That’s why marksmanship is just one leg of our Combat Triad, built alongside gun handling and tactics. When trained together, these three skills form the Combat Triad, a proven foundation for surviving and winning in high-stress encounters.
Traditional Principles: The Fundamentals Still Matter
We start with the basics—but we don’t stop there. Our combat-proven approach means training shooters in foundational skills, then reinforcing and adapting those skills under realistic stress.
We cover the essentials:
- Stance: Weaver, Isosceles, or whatever works for the shooter
- Grip: One- or two-handed, fitted properly for control
- Breathing: Controlled breathing is hard under stress, but trainable
- Sights: Alignment and picture that adapts to the sight system
- Trigger Control: Compressed, surprise break—no slapping
- Follow-Through: Maintain position until the shot cycle is complete
It’s not about perfecting shots in ideal conditions. It’s about building control that holds when your heart rate spikes.
Combat Targeting: Hitting What Matters
In defensive shooting, we don’t chase bullseye’s. We teach our students to shoot center of visible mass: the biggest, most available part of the threat. This method accounts for survival stress effects such as tunnel vision and degraded fine motor skills, ensuring you can still stop the threat under pressure. It might be a knee, a shoulder, or a foot sticking out behind cover. You don’t wait for the perfect shot. You take the one you have.
We also drill the “Three D’s of Defense”:
- Distract the attacker with your first round
- Disrupt their ability to react with the second
- Destroy their will or ability to continue with the third
Three rounds. Fast. Accurate. Repeat until the threat stops.
Performance Under Pressure: What Science Tells Us
Decades of real-world incidents and scientific studies—from The Jedi Project to On Killing—all show the same truth: even highly qualified shooters often fail under pressure. Under real-world survival stress, shooters often experience tunnel vision, auditory exclusion, and loss of fine motor skills. Our stress inoculation drills prepare you to perform despite these effects.
Why?
Because they’ve trained for accuracy, not violence.
Because they’ve rehearsed targets, not attackers.
Because they’ve never truly practiced what it feels like to shoot under stress.
We train differently. From the start, our approach includes stress conditioning, real-life scenarios, and movement under fire. Because in a real confrontation, hesitation kills and survival favors the shooter who’s trained their mind, not just their trigger finger.
Train for Combat, Not Competition
Marksmanship matters. But it’s only useful if you’ve trained it to survive—not just to score points. At Top Gun Training Centre, we’ve built our marksmanship program around the realities of combat, not the rules of the range.
Whether you’re a civilian, a law enforcement officer, or a service member, the principles are the same: Train under pressure. Adapt to the environment. Shoot until the threat stops.
Marksmanship is only one leg of the Combat Triad—when combined with strong gun handling and tactical skills, it creates a complete combat-ready shooter.
Ready to Train With Purpose?
When you’re ready to move beyond the basics and train with purpose, Top Gun Training Centre is here to support your journey. Our certified instructors provide hands-on guidance in an environment built for real-world scenarios, not just target practice. If you’re serious about building confidence, sharpening your skills, and performing under pressure, view our training options or contact us today to schedule your session.