The Secret to a Faster Draw

If you’re a new shooter, or even someone with a few reps under your belt, there’s a strong chance you’re chasing speed too early. I get it. You’ve trained some fundamentals, started hitting targets, and now you want to post split times like the pros.

But here’s the truth: Speed without efficiency is a ceiling you’ll never break.

That’s the trap. I see it all the time, young shooters posting videos where they’re going too fast, too soon. The result? Sloppy mechanics, inconsistent hits, and long-term plateaus they can’t break through.

So, let’s talk about what actually works.

Don’t Train for Speed. Train for Efficiency.

Nobody wants to hear this, especially Type-A personalities. I get it. I’m wired the same way. We want to go fast, push harder, and hit that next level. But speed is a byproduct of efficiency, not the other way around.

If you chase speed, your form will unravel, and your shooting will plateau. However, if you build smooth, efficient mechanics, speed will follow naturally, and it’ll be sustainable.

A Better Training Progression

When I train, especially during dry fire or warm-ups, I go slow. Painfully slow. I start at what feels like 50% speed and focus entirely on clean, deliberate movements.

Once I’ve got that dialed in, I bump up to 70%, then 80%. Every now and then, I’ll go full-speed, like testing your one-rep max on a bench press. But that’s the exception, not the rule. 

Trying to go full speed every rep will just make you a sloppy shooter. You actually won’t get any better.

Golf and Draw Strokes

Shooting is like golf—which I’m terrible at by the way—but the analogy holds. As I understand it, if you swing a golf club at 100% of your strength, you’ll slice the ball, but if you swing at 85-90%, you achieve better control, cleaner contact, and straighter shots.

The same goes for your draw stroke. I want consistency. I want your draw to be repeatable and efficient every single time.

What an Efficient Draw Looks Like

Let’s break it down:

1. Defeat the Garment & Establish a Solid Grip (Position One)

Regardless of your concealment setup, you should be able to reliably and quickly clear your cover garment and establish your grip in one motion. Secure a firm purchase immediately. For me, that’s a simultaneous sweep of my garment and grabbing my pistol. No delay.

2. Draw & Position Two

Draw the firearm straight up, then rotate your elbow into your ribs as you index your support hand under the gun after releasing your hold on your garment.

This “Position Two” positions the gun toward the threat as quickly as possible (youcould fire from this position if necessary).  

3. Presentation, Position Three, Sight Picture, and Shot

As you present your pistol straight out to your target, roll your support hand into a full firing grip.  Remember, drive the gun straight up (not in a bowl or arc), and as you do so, prep the trigger to find that wall.

Once you reach full extension, you’ve picked up your sights, and you can EASY squeeze the trigger, feel the break, and release the shot.

(Don’t forget your follow-up sight picture!) This system is built for consistency. With it, I’m regularly hitting sub-second draws with accurate hits from concealment. But for this to work, you’ve got to practice, practice, practice. 

Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire. 

The Results of Efficiency

Aim for these benchmarks at five yards:

• Slow, deliberate draw: 1.5 seconds with a clean hit
• Increase speed slightly while maintaining fundamentals from above: 1.25 seconds
• Add more speed: 1.15 seconds. 

Keep pushing while staying dedicated to the fundamentals.

• 1.05 seconds: your accuracy might start to fade
• Sub 1 second: grip might begin to fail and not pick up sights.  

Use this guide as a tool to evaluate your draw. As you practice both with dry fire and with live ammunition, you’ll find that you’ll slowly get better. This is not some gimmick you can employ, and overnight, you’re suddenly a world champion grand master shooter.  

This takes years of dedication and practice to get that sub 0.8-second draw with an accurate hit. Push until you feel that failure, then back off and prioritize fundamentals.

The speed will come. I promise you. 

Final Advice

Slow down. Build clean, efficient movements. Get the reps in. Then—only then—will speed come naturally and consistently.

This isn’t glamorous advice. But it’s what separates long-term performance from short-term hype.

If you're looking to practice your dry-fire and draw stroke from the comfort of your home, subscribe to WPSN (Warrior Poet Society Network) to instantly gain access to an extensive library of online training content, straight from John.

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Remember, Train hard. Train smart. Stay efficient.