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Shot Placement and Stopping Power: The Realistic Self-Defense Drill Most Shooters Skip

Updated: 1 day ago



Cardboard Lies and the Street Doesn’t

I want to talk about shot placement and stopping power, because these are two words people throw around like they’re magic spells.


Here’s the reality: in a deadly-force encounter, you don’t get the luxury of range rules, bright lighting, and a clean silhouette that politely shows you where the “A-zone” is. Your threat won’t be made of cardboard. They’ll be wearing clothes. They’ll be moving. Your brain will be under pressure. And if your training is built on clean targets and comfortable habits, you’re gambling with outcomes.


That’s why I’m a believer in adding realism whenever you can—safely, deliberately, and with a plan. We do this in War HOGG courses for one reason: it reveals what you actually know, not what you think you know.


The “Stopping Power” Trap

When most people say “stopping power,” what they really mean is: “I want a guaranteed result from one shot.”


That’s not how the real world works.


You can argue calibers all day. You can argue brand names. You can argue energy numbers. Meanwhile, the one variable you control the most is where you place rounds, and whether you can place them again under stress.


Shot placement is not a concept. It’s a skill. And like every skill, it comes from repetitions that are honest.


If you want a simple rule that’ll keep you grounded, it’s this: stop chasing magic bullets and start chasing better hits.


“Center Mass” Isn’t a Strategy—It’s a Default

I see it constantly: shooters are trained to aim “center mass,” and they treat that like the answer to every problem. But “center mass” becomes a bad habit when you don’t define what you mean by it.


What happens on the range is predictable. You present the gun, you see a big torso, and you put rounds low because that’s where your eyes naturally settle, especially if you’re rushing or you’re trying to “go fast.”


Then you get to real life, and the torso isn’t a bright paper outline. It’s a shirt, a jacket, a hoodie, maybe a logo, maybe a pocket, maybe a belt line, maybe a weird angle. Your eyes grab something that looks like the center, and you dump rounds into a place that doesn’t solve the problem.


In one training example, we had a student get so fixated on a circular logo on the left side of a T-shirt that his shots were missing the vitals altogether. That’s how fast your brain will latch onto the wrong “aim point” when visual information is messy.


The T-Shirt Drill: Simple, Cheap, and Brutally Honest

This is one of the easiest ways to add realism without turning your training into a circus.


In War HOGG Tactical courses, I have students bring old T-shirts. As a finishing point, we put the shirts over the targets and I let them shoot with no instruction on where to aim. Halfway through, I stop them and have them look at what they did.


What do we typically see? Shots low, because they defaulted to a vague idea of “center mass.” Then I give them critical information on where to aim, and you watch the group immediately tighten up and move hits to a better location. That little shift can change everything.


We believe in the T-shirt drill so much that every War HOGG Tactical course incorporates it into the training program.


Not because it’s cute. Because it works.


Why Clothing Changes Everything

Clothing does two things that most shooters don’t account for.


First, it obscures the vital zone. A clean silhouette target is basically a cheat code. Clothing deletes that cheat code.


Second, clothing creates visual clutter, and clutter changes your decision-making. Your eye grabs contrast. It grabs shapes. It grabs logos and seams and collars and whatever pops first.


That’s the point: you’re building the ability to see what matters and ignore what doesn’t, because that’s what your brain has to do in real life.


How to Set Up the Drill the Right Way

You don’t need special equipment to do this. You need a humanoid silhouette target with vitals and an old T-shirt you don’t mind stapling.


The basic setup is straightforward: pick a base target with a humanoid silhouette and vitals so you can evaluate placement, cut old shirts in half so you get more reps per shirt, then staple the shirt so it covers the torso and creates realistic concealment.


Now you’ve turned a clean, easy target into something closer to a real problem, without spending a bunch of money or turning your range day into chaos.


The Goal: Better Hits, Faster Feedback

If you want to improve, you need feedback that matters.


The T-shirt drill gives you instant feedback because it exposes a few things right away:


Your aiming reference might be wrong.


Your eyes might be driving the gun to the wrong spot.


Your “speed” might be bought with sloppy placement.


Your group might look “fine” on cardboard, but look terrible when the target stops helping you.


That’s honest feedback. And honest feedback is a gift, if you’re willing to accept it.


Shot Placement Is a System, Not a Single Point

I’m not going to pretend there’s one magic spot that works in every situation. Real fights are messy.


But I will tell you this: if your training never forces you to think about placement, then your default will show up under stress. And for most people, the default is “low middle” because it’s comfortable and fast.


So build a system.


A system means you understand what you’re trying to affect, you choose an aiming point that supports that goal, and you can repeat it at speed with accountability.


That’s why this drill matters: it pushes you out of “comfortable” and forces you into “intentional.”


This Belongs in Self-Defense and Law Enforcement Training

This drill isn’t just for gun people who like drills.


This should be incorporated into self-defense and law enforcement firearms training programs because it builds realistic decision-making under visual clutter and pressure.


If you’re an officer running a red dot pistol, or a responsibly armed citizen trying to do this right, the target you choose and the realism you add matters. Have a plan for dry fire and live fire, and don’t forget to add realism to your marksmanship training.


Track It or It Didn’t Happen

One of the biggest differences between people who “shoot sometimes” and people who actually improve is simple: the improvers track their work.


If you don’t record what you did, you’re guessing.


That’s why I keep pushing The Firearms Training Notebook concept: record your shooting performance data, identify where you’re slipping, and build a plan to be 1% better every day.


If your group is drifting low when the shirt goes on the target, write it down. If your first shot is consistently off because your eyes latch onto a logo, write it down. Then fix it with intention.


The Mindset: Train Like You Might Need It

If you’ve watched the video tied to this topic, you already know the direction: shot placement and stopping power aren’t internet debates—they’re survival skills.

So here’s the takeaway I want you to leave with:

Add realism to your training.

Stop letting cardboard teach you bad habits.

Define your aiming points.

Demand accountability from your hits.

Then do it again—because skill isn’t something you own, it’s something you maintain.


Train hard, stay safe, and I’ll see you On The Range - Rick


Pistol Shooting Drill - How To Add Realism to Your Firearms Training and understanding shot placement and stopping power.


Adding Realism to your range training is something you should do as much as possible. The why is very simple, if you are ever in a deadly force situation, your threat will not be made of cardboard. Understanding shot placement and stopping power is critical in a self defense situation.


Adding Realism to Firearms Training

In every War HOGG Tactical course, I have the students bring out old t-shirts. As a finishing point to the training, we place t-shirts over their targets. I let the students shoot the drill with no instruction on where to aim.


About half way through the drill, I stop them, let the students look at their target. What I typically see is shots down low be cause they are shooting "center mass". I then give them some critical information on where to aim and watch their shots move to a better shot placement location. This should be something that is incorporated in to a self defense and law enforcement firearms training program.


Shot Placement and Stopping Power


In the video above, I give a full demonstration of how adding this little bit of realism to your firearms training could help save your life in a deadly force encounter.


Let me know what you are doing to add realism to your firearms training?


If you are ready to take your shooting skills to the next level, join us in one of our courses for personalized instruction and expert coaching via combat experience.


Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more training videos at https://www.youtube.com/c/WarHOGGTacticalInc

 

The Firearms Training Notebook

Ensure you have a firearms training plan when conducting your marksmanship training program. The Firearms Training Notebook is a tool to record your data, see where you need to improve on your marksmanship or gun handling skills and develop a plan to Be 1% Better Everyday with your firearms.


“The Firearms Training Notebook” Available on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3TcCT56 


Train Hard, Stay Safe and see you “On The Range” - Rick



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Rick Hogg is the owner of War HOGG Tactical, Inc. and is a 29 year US Army Special Operation Combat Veteran, as well as an SOF K9 handler, that has taken his 13 combat deployment, both Iraq and Afghanistan, and teaching experience as a Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat (SFAUC) instructor and harnessed them into a combat proven techniques training company, War HOGG Tactical, Inc.


Veteran owned, War HOGG Tactical, Inc. a North Carolina firearms training company that travels the country teaching firearms training, tactical training and K9 training to civilians, military and law enforcement agencies teaching through combat proven techniques and experience to improve students marksmanship proficiency. War HOGG also conducts product development and product field testing along with a variety of consulting services in the defense, firearms and entertainment / film industry.


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