Idpa Nationals.

[firewalker]

I shot the nationals, while i did not place, that does not mean that i shot poorly. Of the last 3 nationals i have shot this one seemed to be the best.

The courses of fire were challenging. Yes maybe they were simple concepts, But how many of those that showed can say that they won that "simple" stage? I found that in the course of shooting the match, my points were much better if i shot them at the skill level i was at. If i felt it was to easy and tried to "burn" down the stage i was usually comsumed in the fire.

I spoke with no one that shot the match that felt like the nationals was a "farce" this year

When i shoot a match i dont look at the stage and ask if its "tactical" I ask how they want it shot and try to shoot it as fast as possible with in those guide lines. Those that talk on here that it was not a nationals lvl match need to look in the mirror and ask themselves why they didnt shoot better?

On a better note i met a lot of good shooters, and saw a lot of old friends Even put a few faces with names on here now.

Other than the good shooters i saw,and good match i shot in, and new people i met there was also the side match that i really liked How many liked the BUG Match?

Everyone was heads up, same guns, same ammo.same course. All i will add at this point is more BUG BUG BUG

Frederick Haring

[Jane]

I have every intention of attending PA. (as a side note I would prefer that you all not badmouth PA for their Gun laws, as they will isssue CCW permits to out of state citizens and the legislature rejected gun bans this week) BTW I spent some time in the airport with Ted. I believe that he will be a great MD for next year.

BTW... here's a link on PA's CCW reciprocity.

[aclundwall]

For the record, I liked stages 3, 4, 12, and especially stage 8 (the one with the 35 yard targets). I would also have liked stages 7 and 16 if they hadn't been split into separate strings. And, I'm OK with a short, point blank, tac sequence stage now and then. Just not 4 or 5 of them in the same match.

FTDR seems to be saying that all the criticism is coming from people who did poorly, but that's not necessarily the case. In fact, except for the stage where I earned my procedural, I did pretty well on those short, boring stages. I shot the 7th fastest overall time on the El Prez, and 32nd fastest overall on the standards, even WITH an unfortunate failure drill on the last string. And, I managed to eke out a tropy in spite of several malfunctions that occurred, ironically, on the stages that I actually thought were fun and interesting. So, the stages that I liked the least were the ones, generally speaking, where I did the best. Surely that proves that I'm not lobbying for a match more closely tailored to MY practice regimen!!! All I'm saying is that I thought it was kind of boring, compared to all the other matches I've went to since last year's Nationals, and not a particularly thorough test of all the skills native to IDPA shooting.

Art Lundwall

[Gregg K]

so what you guys are saying is that the nationals was a farce, and that it would have been acceptable if each course of fire was designed around your personal practice

I wonder how many people that trophied in there class and division has similar complaints

I hope you guys at least enjoyed part of the time spent there

I think your taking some minor criticism to seriously.

I said that I enjoyed the match and that the SO's did a great job and worked hard.

Just because the COF's were not my favorite kind has nothing to do with me being able to enjoy the match. I shot poor on the first day and much better on the second. The first day was entirely my fault and had nothing to do with the COF's.

To answer your last question about assuming that anyone who voiced any criticism must not have trophied... I did win my class and division. I didn't see anyone except you call the Nationals a farce. As I said before, they were fun and those that worked to put it on should be commended for their hard work. No body is ever going to be happy with every aspect of a match. The goal is to have the overall experience a good one and I think that it was.

Peace

[Crusher]

".....I feel a little gypped...."

I was not there so I can't make comment on the Nats.

HOWEVER I never want to have one customer leave a local match I am involved with that has that thought after spending $ 15 and an hour or two of total travel time. Matches are about the customers (competitors) and allways leave them wanting more when they have finished the last stage, it's what keeps them comming back (many times with freinds) and growing the sport.

[aclundwall]

No matter what, I was still shooting, instead of sitting on my arse. That's a good thing.

[Chills1994]

Okie dokey, aclundwall

Yes, I could see how you would feel gypped having several stages similar like that. Of course you want to see all the gee whiz moving, swinging, drop turning, uber activating, neato stuff on stages, especially at a nationals level match. Yep, I can understand that. Completely!

(I didn't shoot nationals this year, so I can't really comment on THOSE stages)

I see running competitors through stages a lot like running subjects through psychological experiments/surveys. If all of the conditions are kept the same for everyone, then the data, or in this case the scores, are valid and reliable. Of course, you can't control the weather. I'm sure the rain and the mud slowed people down. That also made them a little apprehensive about dropping empty mags down into the muck, too, instead of concentrating on shooting and moving.

But you take your chances when you send in your match application and money.

(As a side not here in this thread, it seems that there is a trend for the negativity towards IDPA to come out in IDPA related threads. That is unfortunate. Yep, I know I'll sound just a wee bit hypocritical here. I've done enough IDPA bashing on this site and on idpaforum.com. I really don't want to continue that trend, but....)

I'll side w/ aclundwall here. I really don't like the 1-1-1-1-2-whatever stages. They're too academic or textbook like. If IDPA is trying to simulate "tactical real world scenarios", what bad guys are going to stick around all statue like while their buddies get one hit a piece, and some poor schlub gets two while the "good guy" swings back to dump one more round into the other bad guys??????

But I suppose that IDPA is trying to work within the current tactical paradigms and the limitations of the ranges we compete on.

But again if everybody shoots it the same or w/in the parameters of the CoF, I have absolutely no beef with it.

Now if somebody came up with a larger air hockey type range where the bad guys bug out after the first bang, that would be really cool.

LOL

That won't happen any time soon, though. Maybe Valhalla has something like that already. I dunno.

Somebody else mentioned that the Nat's stressed reloads off the clock this year. I don't know what to tell ya. I've been to only two major matches. One emphasized shooting to slide lock and had zero RWR's or TR's. Another major match had several RWR's or TR's and just a few slide lock reloads.

It's kind of a crap shoot, I guess. Practice what you want to practice. Don't try to guess what the SO's and MD's are going to come up w/ next year.

Heck, next year Nat's could be all Mozambiques, or tons of head shots, or lots of start with six in the gun, or lots of "hostage" non threats with lots of shoot throughs possible.

If you like doing reloads, there's always the single stack division in USPSA or shooting any revolver in any action pistol competition.

As for me knocking next year's location on idpaforum.com....well, that's not my whole opinion of the state. I just don't think highly of Philadelphia and it's anti-gun politicians.

So yeah, maybe it's a good thing IDPA is moving the Nat's location around. I will try to attend two major matches before the next Nat's application window opens up, just so I can be eligible to apply. I never did say that I wasn't going to attend next year.

I mean, where else can rank amateurs like myself compete "against " pros like Rob Leatham, Jerry Miculek, and Dave Sevigny at a National level?

Wow! 185 seconds with a total of 24 total points down for an 18 stage match!

Just wow!

[Bones]

For the record and from someone who shot it, worked it and watched it (i.e. an informed opinion)

To all the SOs, CASA staff and shooters: Thank You. You done good. (How'd I do with the accent?)

Craig

Edited October 2, 2006 by Bones

[shooterready]

The match was great! My only gripe was the weather. I had to shoot in the rain both days. But, rule #1 is "life isn't fair". So I guess there is always next year.

I had to take 3 days of vacation to drive from MI. Shot Friday morning and Sat. afternoon. Slopping around in the mud cost me about 40s between both days, not to mention the humidity and fogging glasses .

In summary, I had a great time , met a bunch of great people, got to meet a few of the pros, spend time with my Dad (he was our 1 man fan club) and a couple of old shooting buddies.

[Chills1994]

Mmmmnnn....

Note to self:

Remember to pack along anti-fog spray, like the paintballers use, for my shooting glasses. Place it in the range bag, especially when going to a major match.

Edited to add: also bring rain poncho or rain jacet and a baseball style cap to keep rain drops off the lenses.

Edited October 5, 2006 by Chills1994