"Things I've Learned" by An SO

[Duane Thomas]

The following was written by Ken Reed, a member of the Parma, Idaho IDPA club and published on their Yahoo website. I thought you might get a kick out of it.

"...below are a few of the things I've learned this year...If some of this offends you, let me say I'm sorry up front, and you should ask yourself why it applies to you.

o Learned the 4 count draw.... properly this time.

o Learned the popular 1911 grip where the thumb goes over the safety and the thumbs are parallel.

o Learned to be a Safety Officer whose major job is to make sure each shooter is safe, but the job comes down to doing anything and everything necessary to get all the shooters through the stage safely and quickly.

o Learned that being a Safety Officer is a lot of hard work, but occasionally one of the shooters will say or do something that makes it worthwhile.  I learned that a simple "thank you" is very pleasant to hear, and refreshing after a long day in the hot sun.

o Learned that some people take offense if you ask them to remove the weeds from a shooting bay while they are basically waiting around to shoot with nothing to do.

o Learned that if you loan something to someone, basically say goodbye to it.  Friends forget, and it isn't worth the friendship.

o Learned 4 prone shooting positions for rifle.

o Learned snap shooting of a carbine.

o Learned it is much harder to be zero points down on each target than it is to go fast.

o Learned that if you jerk the trigger hard enough you can miss 4 feet low at 25 yards.

o Learned that magazines are usually the problem when a reliable gun starts malfunctioning.

o Learned that anytime you see someone shoot a revolver in competition, be prepared to have your butt kicked by that person.

o Learned that the simplest looking stages can be great fun, and offer interesting challenges.

o Learned that I like at least two strings on a COF.  The second, to clean up the mess I made on the first string.

o Learned that many folks have no idea where their guns are zeroed.

o Learned that you can shoot a Glock in a course of fire and not turn to the dark side.

o Learned that new shooters seem to come and go and only about 1 in 5 continues with IDPA.  There must be something more to learn here.

o Learned that many folks that tell you they have been shooting all their life do not have a handle on the 4 basic safety rules.

o Learned that people tend to shoot low on clothed targets.

o Learned that great holsters are worth their weight in gold.  Thanks Beverly.

o Learned that when a shooter comes to the line to shoot a COF, many times they didn't listen at the shooters briefing, haven't read the posted COF, haven't been paying attention to the shooters that went before them, and don't have their magazines full.

o Learned that people run as quickly as they can through PAR time stages, just like regular stages.

o Learned that many folks aren't used to doing threat identification, especially at night.

o Learned that most folks don't practice between matches, and that many folks have never shot with a flashlight.

I'm sure I learned a lot more than this, but can't remember it all right now.  Old brain cells I guess."

[bird]

Wow,

Many of the statements really hit home...

So much to learn, so little time...

Do you have a link for this?

Ken Reed is almost as good as you are,

although his thoughts are a bit scattered...

He is not the Juggernaught that you are though Duane.

Not A$$ ki$$ing mind you,

Just how I see them in my world..

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[j1b]

"Learned its much harder to be zero points down on a target than going fast"

Never have I heard a song sung truer. IDPA is tough and challenging. An IPSC shooter would learn a ton by shooting a couple months worth of IDPA matches. I generally consider myslef a decent IPSC shooter - and got SEVERLY humbled my first couple of IDPA matches.

I wonder if that's why so many IPSC shooters are scared of IDPA??? Don't know - just asking.

[Duane Thomas]

Strange, I've always been a better IDPA shooter than IPSC. The pace is SO much more fast-paced in IPSC. In IDPA you have to hit the target center most of the time, ideally every time; you have to use cover; do tactical or slide-lock instead of speed reloads....you know all that stuff that forces you to slow down. Whereas someone whose only match experience is IDPA might find an IDPA course of fire overwhelming, someone with a lot of experience with IPSC, when they slow down to shoot IDPA, feels like they have all the time in the world. If an experienced IPSCer gets reamed at an IDPA match I'd pretty much bet it's because they went into hose mode and vampired their final score with penalties.

Of course, that's my impression, not the way I really did it myself. Personally, I shot IDPA before IPSC. After a year of shooting IPSC, three months ago I went back to IDPA - while still shooting IPSC of course - and I've won all three monthly matches I've shot since then.

[cpty1]

I find IPDA more mentally challenging for me than IPSC.  What I mean by that is you not only have to have your mental game in order from a shooting perspective, but you also have to remember a bunch of other stuff also on some courses of fire.  Remember to shoot this target three times, this one four times, tactical priority, tactical sequence, shoot this target while retreating to the oblique, etc.  I enjoy both disciplines.  I feel I am a better IPSC shooter because I shoot IPDA, and I'm a better IDPA shooter because I shoot IPSC.

[Duane Thomas]

I don't really feel I'm a better IPSCer for shooting IDPA - but I definitely feel I'm a better IDPAer for shooting IPSC. Of the two of them, although, as I said, I'm a far better IDPA shooter than IPSC, I probably enjoy IPSC more. That may be because all the stuff in IDPA just seems to come naturally to me, but the absolute economy of motion required by IPSC is something I've got to learn painfully, inch by inch.

[j1b]

I guess my only point is that most IPSC folks don't focus on points that much. On a 22 round course - dropping 7 or 8 points probably falls within the relm of acceptable. In IDPA you've just added 3.4 - to 4 seconds to your run. Put in that perspective - it is not acceptable.

I agree that my IPSC experience has benefitted me in IDPA - although I've never found that lull in the action that you mentioned. My loads have still got to be crisp - my draws the same. Target aquisition is that much more important. To be honest I think top level IDPA is tougher than top level IPSC. In IPSC - you continue to focus on the speed and get your hits. In IDPA - you still have to have the speed - but you can't drop any points.

I think that makes it tougher. I've enjoyed IDPA since I've started shooting it - but it took me a long time buttering up to the idea of doing it. IDPA for me was something those "other guys" did.

JB

[Chuck D]

Love the comment about revolver shooters....so true !

Also love the comments about IDPA's scoring system. Accuracy plays a MAJOR part of obtaining success in IDPA.

[Tree Rat]

Very few want to be one......Tree Rat.