# El Presidente Shooting Drill

What is El Presidente?
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"El Presidente" is a shooting drill originally developed by Jeff Cooper (remember the **[4 firearm safety rules](https://www.pewpewtactical.com/4-firearms-safety-rules/)**) when he was training security for a South American president. The name came about when it was incorporated into USPSA/IPSC as a standardized stage.
It consists of:
- Standing 10 yards away, back facing three targets that are 1 yard away from each other
- Hands at the surrender position
- Turning around and shooting two into the center circle of each target
- Mandatory reload
- Shooting two more into the center of each target
Why It's Awesome
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Cooper didn't come up with the drill as a stage for "race" guns to set time records, but rather as a way to gauge overall shooter proficiency. The drill takes into account everything that you would need...movement, draw, reload, and engagement of multiple targets.
So what's a good time? The par time is 10 seconds which is considered good while pros can routinely get into the 4-5 second mark.
And from Cooper **[himself](http://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2010/10/5/el-presidente/)**, he believed a well executed El Presidente should sound like 6 evenly spaced shots followed by a lull for reloading, and then 6 evenly spaced shots again. However, most beginners sound like three double taps, a reload pause, and three double taps again. This is most likely due to trying to shoot too fast or not transitioning targets quickly enough.
El Presidente Shooting Tips
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So how do you get a faster time and make your drill sound like 6 evenly spaced shots?
- Spin on your holster side since this is the shortest path
- Practice not getting you legs crossed on the turn
- Be careful of the 180 degree rule...don't unholster your gun until you are facing the target
- Work on controlled pairs of shooting...wait for the sights to settle before you shoot again. It's not just shooting twice as fast as possible.
- Move your eyes first during a transition and then move your gun sights. This will help speed up your time a lot and get you to your drill sounding like evenly spaced shots.
- And of course...practice your reloads until they are muscle memory
- The order of shooting the targets is personal preference but I like going right to left, then left to right after a reload
Conclusion
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El Presidente is one of my favorite drills to train and see where I'm at in terms of skill. If you're working on shooting more accurately with a pistol, check out our super **[in-depth guide](https://www.pewpewtactical.com/ultimate-guide-shoot-pistol-accurately/)** that focuses on stance, grip, sight picture, dry-fire drills, and more shooting range drills.
And here's the full video from Travis Tomasie:

                
                
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