Intermediate
Pistol
Lateral Push
Source: Common dry-fire training standard
4s
Par Time
5 yd
Distance
5
Reps
Lateral Push is a movement conditioner that doubles as a sight stability test. You lay a line on the floor perpendicular to your target — rope, target stick, or tape. You start on one side of the line, draw to a sight picture, then push explosively across the line to the other side and acquire another sight picture. You repeat four times for a total of five sight pictures including the draw. Par time is four seconds.
The drill rewards committed pushes. Small steps cheat you of the actual challenge. The point is to feel your weight going from full-brake-on-one-side to full-brake-on-the-other-side as fast as your legs can deliver. If you ever feel comfortable while doing this drill, you are not pushing hard enough. By the end of a proper set, your legs should be tired.
Hold the gun high throughout. Letting it drop between sight pictures wastes time you do not have. Keep the gun in your eyeline and let your legs do the work. Also resist the temptation to cheat by crowding the line — push all the way across, plant both feet wide, and only then evaluate the sight picture. Cutting that distance short is the most common failure mode.
Range Setup
Setup
Mark a line on the floor perpendicular to a single target at 5 yards (rope, target stick, or tape). Pistol confirmed unloaded, holstered. Start on one side of the line. Shot timer set to par 4.0 seconds.
Scoring
At the par beep, you must have made four side-to-side moves with both feet fully planted on the appropriate side at each rest, and acquired five sight pictures total (one per stop including the draw). Crowding the line or cutting short any push = failed rep.
Tips
Keep the gun high between pushes. Drop it and you are paying time to bring it back up — time you do not have.
Progression
Cut the par by 0.2 seconds once you can hit 4.0 cleanly. Add a reload at each push (the drill becomes Lateral Push with Reloads — par grows to 6.0 s).