View Full Version : IDPA
USMGoldenEagle
03-15-09, 15:51
I just competed in my first IDPA match. What a great time. We did some really cool tactical shooting stations. I can't wait for next month's match. I think I'm hooked.
Easy to get hooked! I started about 18 months ago at our local club and am now getting ready to "travel" to other clubs to compete as well. My 15 yr old son has joined me and it is a great father/son outing!
Buckaroo
I don't think I've been to an IDPA match with my club in over a year. I enjoy the shooting, but once you're there for two long they get to know you and put you to work. I stopped going when it turned into getting there early to set up, SO the whole day, paste when the lazy ****ers wouldn't, then stay late to tear down.
I knew I had been gone a long time when they started calling some guys "regulars" that I had never met before. :D
I still run our Tuesday night events, of which there are two.
I see you are in FL, what club did you shoot with? This is the one I belong to
www.tssaidpa.us
I started with IDPA and I still shoot it when I can. Now I'm also shooting USPSA and 3-gun. I'm the guy that's usually at the bottom of the list but I just like having fun and working on my accuracy.
John Hearne
03-17-09, 09:32
Another good use for IDPA matches is to practice your rifle skills. I've had good luck with shooting my 9mm AR as a second gun in my local IDPA matches. The real-world use of the rifle, especially for the armed citizen, looks a lot more like an IDPA match than Camp Perry.
http://dvctargets.com/misc/comp/idpa_w_carbine_1.jpg
I shot my first IDPA match on the 28th of march. It was a qualifier and I shot a 200.46.:eek: But at least I made marksman. I pretty much suck at shooting pistols but it was a good time. I can see how someone could really improve their pistol shooting skills quickly if you stick with it. My clubs next match is april 18th. I will report back with more results then.
USMGoldenEagle
04-12-09, 18:02
Not bad. My first time I scored 125.32 with 92%.
The match director said I am phenomenal for a first timer....He didn't realize that I am our country's secret weapon and that I always do phenomenal when it comes to killing.
I shot my first IDPA match on the 28th of march. It was a qualifier and I shot a 200.46.:eek: But at least I made marksman. I pretty much suck at shooting pistols but it was a good time. I can see how someone could really improve their pistol shooting skills quickly if you stick with it.
Shooting the Classifier as your first IDPA "match" is a hard way to begin. You had to juggle a bunch of new-to-you rules and procedures on top of the shooting challenge, plus the stress of knowing that it was "going on your permanent record," so to speak.
You've definitely hit on the key benefit of competition shooting, though. It motivates people to practice and improve. It's easy to go to the range by yourself or with your buddies and feel "good enough." Once you see how serious shooters can perform with a gun, it changes your perspective.
Making Marksman your first time out isn't bad at all. I made Sharpshooter (just one step up) my first time, I think ... that was in '97 or '98. The last time I shot it for official score (at a match with witnesses, etc.) was last year, 80.85 (75.85 with 10 points down). There's an existing thread here with some tips & tricks that can shave a few seconds here and there off your Classifier score.
rubberneck
04-13-09, 12:05
I don't think I've been to an IDPA match with my club in over a year. I enjoy the shooting, but once you're there for two long they get to know you and put you to work. I stopped going when it turned into getting there early to set up, SO the whole day, paste when the lazy ****ers wouldn't, then stay late to tear down.
I agree, it is much better when you let someone else do all the heavy lifting so that you can just sit back and enjoy yourself worry free. Why help out when you can let some poor slob do everything for you and then when that handful of guys gets burned out you can enjoy having no matches to attend. BTW at our matches those "lazy ****ers" would be strongly encouraged to paste and reset or never return. Their choice.
There's an existing thread here with some tips & tricks that can shave a few seconds here and there off your Classifier score.
It's kind of a funny catch-22. If you're good enough to be able to take advantage of some of those tips and tricks, you're good enough not to need them. I've watched guys try so hard to "game" themselves at the Classifier that they wind up psyching themselves out or just confusing themselves trying to remember too much. I've always shot the classifier best just by relaxing and shooting.
It's kind of a funny catch-22. If you're good enough to be able to take advantage of some of those tips and tricks, you're good enough not to need them.
I don't follow. If something saves me two seconds, it saves me two seconds. No matter how good or bad I am, two seconds is two seconds.
I've watched guys try so hard to "game" themselves at the Classifier that they wind up psyching themselves out or just confusing themselves trying to remember too much.
Having poor mental game skills is certainly an issue, but the fact that some people can't perform under stress doesn't mean the plan is bad. The difference between my "relax & shoot" and "focus & shoot" score on the IDPA Classifier is about 10-15 seconds (difference between ~80 and low 90's).
rubberneck
04-13-09, 13:25
I don't follow. If something saves me two seconds, it saves me two seconds. No matter how good or bad I am, two seconds is two seconds.
Once you make master there is no place to go. You can shave two seconds off your classifier and you'll still be a master. I think that was the point he was trying to make.
Once you make master there is no place to go. You can shave two seconds off your classifier and you'll still be a master. I think that was the point he was trying to make.
If your goal in life is to make Master class in IDPA, sure. But like most shooting tests, one could also just use it to measure progress. My score improves year by year. Classification isn't my goal.
However, it's certainly not true that only a Master class shooter can take advantage of those tips & tricks. It's a mistake to assume that only the best shooters are capable of having good mental game.
My point was that you don't see very many guys with otherwise piss-poor shooting abilities that are also capable of playing the mental game.
My point was that you don't see very many guys with otherwise piss-poor shooting abilities that are also capable of playing the mental game.
I agree, "piss-poor" shooters are generally poor across the board. However, your post said this:
It's kind of a funny catch-22. If you're good enough to be able to take advantage of some of those tips and tricks, you're good enough not to need them.
Those tips definitely help people who fall in between "piss-poor" and Master-class.
Failure2Stop
04-13-09, 15:30
Every game can be played better by gaming, and every shooting game can be benefitted by shooting better.
People get all insulted when it is implied that they are better at playing the game instead of fawning over their Musashi-esque killing ability, when in all reality they simply play the game better. And that's ok. If you want to win IDPA matches you need to improve not only your raw shooting ability, but your ability to play a game better than the next guy. I have seen better shooters beated by better players more often than the reverse (though much more prevalently in USPSA).
When all else is equal, excelling at anything will make you better, and frankly it is easier to learn how to shoot a stage than it is to equally improve your raw shooting ability, unless you really suck at shooting.
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