Things A Newbie Has Learned About Ipsc

[Genghis]

I saw the topic "Everything We Know About IPSC" and started thinking about some things I've learned in about four months of competition shooting. The old topic is posted at http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...ic=2582&hl=area .

I shot in the Area 4 Championship as a D-Class Limited shooter. I’m trying to focus on improving in every match, using the principle, “Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.” Without duplicating any of the previous posts, here are some things I've learned in that eye-opener and in the other five IPSC matches I've shot.

When you’re first getting started, find at least one mentor who knows what he or she is talking about, and listen. This can keep you from wasting money, and from acquiring bad habits that will be hard to break later. You get bonus points if the mentor is willing to shoot with you and coach you before each stage, then critique you afterwards. Oh yeah, listen to what the mentor says.

Know the rules, especially those relating to safety and scoring.

At least at the beginning, be painfully aware of the 180 as you plan each stage.

If you’re trying to improve (and you should always be trying to improve), focus on one specific thing during a stage or match. For example, when I first started I had to tell myself to take the safety off my 1911 during the draw. And when I shot a new gun at Area 4, I focused on prepping the trigger when I was shooting steel plates.

Zero your gun at 15 yards or so, but also shoot it at 50 yards so you know where it shoots. Whenever you change a part on the gun or anything about the ammo, put a lot of rounds through it to make sure you haven’t changed the reliability equation.

Find a shooting buddy who’s roughly at your level, not only so you can compete, but also so you can “caddy” for each other when needed. Sometimes you need someone to load mags or to run to the car for something. It also helps to dissect a match over a beer with someone who just shot it with you.

Eliminate distractions so you can concentrate on the A-zone. Take care of collateral matters ahead of time. Get to the match early so you can calm down and focus on the business at hand. Don’t let your fan club or anyone else distract you. Make sure you bring a bag of earplugs and some cheap safety glasses for guests. Make sure your gun runs so you aren’t always worrying about what to do if it jams.

This is one thing I really hate about IPSC and IDPA, but you must rehearse each stage, planning each shot, each reload, and (in some cases) each step. This may not be the way real gunfights go down, but the way these sports are played, you can’t just step up to the line and start running around shooting things.

Don’t be afraid to shoot a stage differently from how others did it, but (especially if you’re a newbie) ask yourself why the bad*sses shoot it a certain way.

Take notes, either after each stage or right after each match, to keep track of what you did right and what you did wrong. This also helps quantify gun problems, if you make a note of each failure and the likely cause. Keep track of skills you need to develop, and design each practice session specifically to develop those skills. Keep track of equipment you might want to buy in the future, and the reputation of that equipment among other shooters in that sport.

Use a camera phone or digital camera to photograph your score sheets, then go through each stage when the result are posted and analyze how your performance on each stage affected the outcome.

[sturmruger]

I have been shooting now for just a little over a year. I couldn't agree with your post more!

One of the things that has really helped me out is my good shooting buddy Aaron. We almost always go to the range together and being able compete against each other in our practice sessions make practice challenging and fun. We pooled our resources and bought a gun and belt so that we can bring people to our practice sessions and some of the local club matches. My goal is to get 3 people per year out to the range for some run and gun indoctorination.

The only other thing I can add to what you said is for the really new people. TAKE IT SLOW get your hits the speed will come with time.

[Genghis]

sturmruger -

I talked a friend into shooting these matches with me. I loaned him my Witness .40 and he's into the game almost as much as I am.

We went out to the range before he shot in any matches, and set up a simple run-and-gun exercise. We timed each other, improving our times each time we ran through it. And he got accustomed to the range commands.

At one recent steel match, the slide release on my P14.45 broke. We shared the Witness, after checking with the RO's to make sure it was legal, and we both finished the match. It was tough adjusting to the harder trigger, but better than going home.

We use my digital camera or my camera phone to record each other shooting stages. This helps us analyze our successes and failures.

He only has three mags at this time, so I frequently get drafted to load for him during stages like Moe, Larry, and Curly where he doesn't have a chance to load between strings. No, I don't run after him during stages, loading mags and handing them to him!

He jumped right into IDPA and steel matches, but was reluctant to shoot IPSC because of the tougher competition. He shot his first IPSC match a week and a half ago, and he's more hooked on that than either of the other two.

At another recent steel match I would have had my first top 10 finish except for him (he finished 10th, I finished 11th), so there is a price to bringing new people into the sport.