Well I went to my IDPA orientation class tonight

[buddycraigg]

I’m ashamed with how I conducted myself.

I normally carry IWB, with my shirt tucked in, at 2 O’clock.
That doesn’t fit IDPA rules, so I had to use my belt holster.

Since I’m use to pulling my shirt up while grabbing the grip, I was not use to putting my support hand flat against my chest.
I covered the fingers of my support hand NOT once, NOT twice, BUT three times during live fire.
I’m lucky I didn’t get banned from the range.

Now for the really embarrassing part.
My 45, 9, 380 and 25 are all subcompact sized or smaller.
The first reload I did, I went from my 10 round mag to 16.
The extra inch on the grip totally freaked me out and I put my support hand someplace that it shouldn’t be.
I got lucky and only took a small chunk of skin out of my thumb with the slide.
(And yes, I hold my gun “tea cup” style. I’m trying to fix that bad habit.)
I switched to my 16 round for the first shots and then used my 10 for the reload without anymore hand placement problems.
** other than I covered my left hand for the 3rd time for the night at some point.

Luckily, I can still count to 10 without taking off my shoes, but man that was a humbling experience.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

[pax]

You just discovered what competition is best for, in terms of practicing for self-defense. Because of its inherent limitations, competition is generally lousy for learning defensive tactics, and it's also often a detriment to mindset. But it is totally awesome at helping people find and correct equipment deficiencies and firearms-handling habits which may otherwise distract, injure, or kill them in a real situation.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

Yep.

Remember, though: it's not really how much you practice, as it is what you practice, that makes the difference. A dozen years of faithfully practicing the wrong thing can make you really really good at doing the wrong thing.

pax

[Samurai]

Plus, you have to admit, IDPA is AWFULLY FUN!!!

Don't sweat the mistakes too badly. As Miyamoto Musashi once said, "It may be difficult at first, but everything is difficult at first."

[Sigma 40 Blaster]

The first match is always the most humbling. It gets better, buzzer shock plays a big part in stuff like that too.

I have found that I am switching my carry gear to find a way to carry and shoot IDPA with the same gear in the same positions so my "muscle memory" doesn't get confused.

I don't worry about winning or even competing, except against myself. Shoot for the sake of improving accuracy first and you'll be surprised how much faster you get.

Bandage yourself up and hit the range (or a safe room in your house) to do some dry fire/cold gun drills. That type of practice has helped me more than actual trigger time.

[Harrigan]

I have read the added pressure of competition is a great training aid, and as long a IDPA dosn't go the way of race guns it sounds like the best close to life training option without taking a expensive training course.

[mbs357]

@Pax: This is why I wish there was a more defensive oriented competition circuit...drawing from concealed with combat style guns. Would be nice.

[M1911]

Practice dry in your basement. Start doing draws and reholstering very slowly -- focus on correct technique. Do 10 or 20 each. The speed up a little, doing 10 or 20 more. Then speed up more, another 10 or 20 reps. Finish off with 10 slow reps.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

If everyone shot IDPA with their carry guns, you would see J frames, Kel-tecs, Kahrs, G26s, etc. It's a game that is slightly more realistic than IPSC.

The tendency to adopt actions and equipment to shave time is a risk in gun games. I was told that I was pieing too slowly. I knew where the target was. It was friendly and acknowledged that I was being tactical () but it was contrary to my score. On the other hand, I don't want to sit around and watch someone like a turtle pie everything.

I shot a match with my 642 for fun. My view is to shoot for enjoyment and some trigger time to improve that technical set of skills. I got a great tip from Tom Givens in a tactical class and IDPA gives me a more stressful scenario to practice it. It cleaned up some of my shooting problems. I also then go to the IDPA range on off days to practice shooting when moving. Can't do that on commercial ranges.

I also shoot steel lately as that is good practice for faster shots at a distance with little targets. Good for trigger control - my bete noir at times.

[Scattergun Bob]

I thing you are well ahead of many folks who have not experienced failures when it meant something.

This is of great value because it exposed one of the truisms of conflict to you; Stress makes us beat ourselves, we can win against an adversity, we will most likely loose if we must fight an adversity and ourselves.

Push yourself hard, use this sport to expose your flaws and then correct them. It is one way to gain the confidence and decisiveness needed for what you may find on the street. For:
"Once the combat envelope wraps its' cold clammy arms around you, there is more than enough to think about besides how your weapon works, what condition of readiness IT IS IN, or where it shoot."

Good Luck & Be Safe

[buddycraigg]

Scattergun Bob, do you mind if i quote you and post it on a different forum?

[Scattergun Bob]

Both of the quotes are hard fought thoughts from me, so I would like the credit please.

Remember: Quoting a fool only adds your name to that list.

Good Luck And Be Safe

[buddycraigg]

deal