imported post
My wife and I attended Pat Goodale's two-day Defensive Handgun I & II at his Practical Firearms Training range in WV.
His curriculum focused on Mindset/Tactics, Gun Handling and Marksmanship. Pat ran a very professional and intensive course.
The class size was 21, organized into two drill rotations. He had three other instructors assisting, providing a nice 5-to-1 instructor/student ratio. The other instructors were also experienced; one was an armorer providing quick on-site corrective adjustments and repairs.
Day 1 consisted of 4 hours classroom, 5 hours range time; Day 2 was all range time. We expended about 250-300 rounds on Day 1 and 500-600 on Day 2.
Mindset was heavily emphasized during all instruction and drills, whether firing at a threat 1 yard away or sighting in on a target 80 yards away. We learned close quarter tactics, shooting on the move, failure recovery, how to effectively fire from every position imaginable, and worked through scenario-based situations. We utilized paper and steel targets, vehicles and wall structures. At all times Pat stressed the mindset and challenged us to think through decisions. We appreciated his attention to safety - necessary when operating a hot range for 9 hours.
There was a mix of students, from experienced to new handgun owners, age ranges (18 - 60's) and male/female.
This is our first defensive training (other than the VA CHP class) so I can't compare it to others. I can say that we would highly recommend the training to anyone that wants to take their defensive capabilities to the next level.
One nice benefit is that class alumni can contact Pat and arrange to come out and shoot at his range for free - he has plenty of steel targets! Hotels are about 20 minutes away and a campground is nearby.
Let me know if you have any specific questions. I could see us taking this training again in the future - it would be good to regularly train those fundamentals so that they become a natural reaction!