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Tier 3 matches


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22 hours ago, Jim Watson said:

Most high end and well traveled shooters are interesting to get

Thanks for the compliment. Haha

 

It all depends on what you want out of it. Of you identify as a "competitor" a good match is invaluable. If you're there as a hobbyist or to have fun it might not be worth it.

 

Exposure to new things is the best value. If you only know your local club match you probably don't know much.

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On 1/15/2020 at 10:25 AM, Jim Watson said:

More and better stages.

Hobnobbing with The Right People.  Most high end and well traveled shooters are interesting to get to know.

 

More - yes.

 

Better - not necessarily - a lot of them don't follow their own rules (read illegal stages.)

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Usually better props, better looking stages. Stages with more options. 
Most clubs have their own flavor, you ca usually guess how each clubs stages will be. A level 3 will be all the stage designers mixed into one big match. 
My personal expirence is that there is a bigger diffeeence between local stages vs big match stages in IDPA then there is in USPSA. 
Also get to see some of the big names in the sport. Last year I ended up squadding with Mason Lane. Was awesome not only watching him shoot but he’s very down to earth and it was awesome chatting with him during the match. 

Edited by Malarky112
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  • 1 year later...
On 1/21/2020 at 8:53 AM, RePete said:

 

More - yes.

 

Better - not necessarily - a lot of them don't follow their own rules (read illegal stages.)

 

I have personally found that major matches are significantly more likely follow the rulebook and to NOT have "local rules" based on the MD's personal opinions. 

 

Obviously, opinions vary on this, and it really seems to depend on where (geographically) you are.  The majors I've been able to attend (which aren't many, maybe 1-2 a year, though I'm getting three this year) have all been solid in terms of interesting stages with some actual choices in what you do, with a good mix of skills being tested, all following the rulebook.

 

Local matches I've seen tend to more often have local rules added depending on the MD's "interpretation" of what IDPA "should be about."

 

That's from a fairly small sampling of majors, though:  Arkansas State, Iowa State, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State matches, plus the Silver Dollar match that used to be held at the Double Tap Ranch in Texas. 

 

The fun I've had at majors is why I stay shooting IDPA, really. 

 

 

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1. The strong desire to get my head handed to me.  🤔

2. As has already been noted, usually the stage props are more developed. While I have found local clubs can put on stages as good or better ( and frequently we steal the stages for our own local matches) they typically don't have all the gear to put together the typically prop intensive stages for every stage that are often seen at majors.

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Solely to earn points to shoot at Nats. That's the only reason I do it now. But in years past I did it because you saw better stages and better shooters than I ever would have locally. Also when I was new I seemed to learn as much about myself and my shooting in one big match as I would in 4 or 5 local matches.

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On 2/4/2021 at 6:41 AM, rowdyb said:

Also when I was new I seemed to learn as much about myself and my shooting in one big match as I would in 4 or 5 local matches.

 

That's a huge part of it.

 

There's a lot to learn about the nature of long/multi-day matches too, down to silly things like how you manage your water/calorie intake. 

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On 2/5/2021 at 5:22 PM, matteekay said:

silly things like how you manage your water/calorie intake. 

 

I was rather famous as the guy who passed out on the Brock's Gap (Birmingham, Ala.) range and tested their emergency measures.

It wasn't very hot and I had been hydrating as well as usual.  

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  • 7 months later...

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