I should note that before I say anything else, that:
1) I know Jerry, and I've shot both with him (on a squad),
2) and shot against him (in the same division, though thank god not in a man-vs-man steel knockdown competition because that would have been ridiculous), and
3) he's a good person who is remarkably patient with all the fans who bother him during matches,
4) while still being an absolute freak of nature in terms of speed, precision, and gun-handling skills. (Much of which came from continuous, dedicated practice, but some of which is just because he is a freak of nature.)
Here's Expert Pistolero Jerry Miculek demonstrating the Draw:
I'm going to link directly to Jerry's video, because giving click-bait clicks to groups that merely show Jerry's video on their page annoys me. (They are making money off his work. While I'm completely good with people sharing his video and discussing it, in this case they aren't actually doing anything other than posting it for clicks.)
Anyhow, the first thing I immediately thought I saw him doing (wrong) with his draw was putting his shooting finger into the trigger guard at about 10 degrees or so from the vertical, as he is bringing his handgun up to shoot.
But then later in the video he says that the trigger finger must never be on the trigger/in the trigger guard until the handgun is level (90 degrees from vertical) and pointed downrange.
I agree that there is a certain amount of "do as I say, not as I do" here. (Interestingly enough, he talks about the "Filipino draw" and the "American draw," suggests the American draw version as a better choice for most, but actually defaults to the Filipino draw style when pushed for speed on a close open target. He does that in Steel Challenge, too.)
When I first watched the slow-mo stuff, it certainly seemed to me that he was putting his finger into the trigger guard REALLY early, and he certainly wasn't getting the gun pointed in the direction of the target until the end.
The slo-mo there, however, is a really good example of the difference between the "Filipino draw" and a bowling draw, though. The "Filipino draw" goes up in an arc to the target, and while the sights aren't on target (or really in the eye-target view line at all) until the end, the gun itself acts in a smooth arc without any inefficiency or loss of direction motion at all. A bowling draw, on the other hand, tends to include body english (that detracts from precision and slows down the draw), the extension of the arm and hand past the gun in the early parts of the draw (you can see that at 1:21 or 1:22 in my video) with the gun being "cast" toward the target so that there is significant wrist motion all through the draw.
You can see in the slow-mo part of Jerry's video how while there is some wrist motion in the beginning, the wrist is pretty much finished moving in the first 30 degrees or so, and the arms just arc the gun up straight into the aiming point. Pretty much no wasted movement, which makes it very different from the bowling draw.
So--back to the trigger finger thing:
He clearly says that the finger shouldn't be on the trigger until the gun is parallel to the ground. And, he clearly is putting it in the trigger guard earlier than that himself.
Now, is it as bad as the video initially looks? (With the finger on the trigger pretty much right after it clear the holster?)
.....I don't think so. I'm not CERTAIN, but I don't think so.
Jerry says: "What you're seeing is just the camera angle. My finger is just bent along the frame and I don't actually start to put my finger in the trigger guard until it clears my body."
Looking at it...I don't see his finger actually moving into the trigger guard until the gun is about 30 degrees from vertical down (it was certainly bent, and certainly NEXT to it very early, though) ---but that may also be completely the camera angle with the finger beside-but-outside the trigger guard), because it is ALSO obvious that he doesn't actually take up any slack on the trigger until it is almost completely extended and on target. It
looks to me like his finger is IN the guard early on, but not putting any tension on the trigger till almost the end of the draw.
But---I dunno. :/ I
do know that camera angles make things hard to tell, I know that I don't draw in that fashion, and I know that neither I nor he suggest that other people draw that way.
I also note that you don't have to draw in that fashion to get .75 second draws, either. My speed limit (currently) consistently limits out to about .80 for a draw to an A-zone at 7 yards, though I've hit .76 before. He, of course, can hit .75 all day. However, plenty of people can also do that using the draw he
says you should use (with the finger outside the trigger guard until the gun is horizontal) and manage those sorts of times. (I've seen Matt Mink and Ben Stoeger both in a class demonstrate 0.75 draws on demand. I've seen Manny Bragg hit draws in .60s multiple times in a row in a class, which is fun to watch.)
Last comment: Jerry has performed literally millions of draws. I've never heard of him putting an ND into the ground, which makes me think he is getting his finger on the trigger later than it looks, because when you are practicing to push your speed, you DO sometimes pull the trigger early--and he hasn't shot himself.
I strongly suggest, however, that nobody performs draws like he does with respect to finger placement.
