sturmruger
Member
I just got done reading CZ52GUY’s post about his first IDPA match. I decided that I would share my experiences from my first match which was an IPSC match at my local club here in River Falls, WI.
I was very happy that our club organized an orientation class for all of us newbie’s. We learned a ton in the orientation, and also got to setup a small stage so we could get a feel for what we would be doing when it came time for the real thing. All last week I practiced safely drawing my gun, and tac reloads to prepare for the real thing on Sunday.
It was a long week. I was really looking forward to shooting my first match so the whole week seemed to drag by. Sunday I loaded the car up and headed out to help setup the stages. I got to the club about 45 min early to find they were putting the finishing touches on the third stage. I guess if I want to help setup I will have to get there earlier next time. I helped them finish off the third stage and went to round up my equipment. I was all setup to shoot my new XD40. I bought a good belt, and had 4 mags along.
I brought my bag with my gun to the safety area, got my holster and mag pouches lined up and holstered my gun. There were 5 new shooters at the match we were all told that we would be allowed to go last. I was happy with this because it would allow us to see how everyone was shooting the stages so we could formulate a plan of action. There were 7 shooters before me, and all of them shot the course a just a little bit differently. I had to pick a plan and go with it. The first stage was setup with a bunch of barrels and allot of close shooting. I played it very simply, didn’t try to rush, or complicate things by running. I have heard people say that this type of shooting is mostly mental, and I never believed it until I was right there shooting. It is amazing how you can have a well formulated plan and the whole thing can go right out the window the minute that little buzzer goes off. It took me 22 seconds to shoot that first stage, but it felt like it was only 5 seconds!! I was most nervous about walking though the stage and forgetting to remove my finger from the trigger. Luckily I didn’t make this mistake. It was like my mind couldn’t keep up with the rest of my body. That felt strange because other physical activities like typing the opposite is true. When I am typing allot of times my mind is a whole sentence ahead of what my fingers can type. While shooting it felt like my mind was playing catch up the whole stage.
The second and third stages were relatively straight forward. There were a few moving targets that made things interesting, but those I was able to shoot with good accuracy. There were about 26 people shooting at our match. I learned so much by just watching the more experienced shooters run the stages. I am going to try to get to every match I can to maximize me learning. Luckily my gun never had any problems there were a few other guys that had issues with their guns and it didn’t look like any fun.
I was hoping to get through the match without making an ass of myself, but unfortunately I did do something stupid. I volunteered to help tape targets and was doing fine until the 5th shooter. I saw the score keeper walk by one of the targets. I thought he had written down the hits for the targets he had walked by, but he hadn’t yet. When he finally got to the target I was just standing there like an idiot. They offered the guy a reshoot which he accepted. I felt like I was two inches tall. The rest of the match I endured some well deserved ribbing. I can guarantee I won’t do that ever again.
A few observations from my first match.
I was very happy that our club organized an orientation class for all of us newbie’s. We learned a ton in the orientation, and also got to setup a small stage so we could get a feel for what we would be doing when it came time for the real thing. All last week I practiced safely drawing my gun, and tac reloads to prepare for the real thing on Sunday.
It was a long week. I was really looking forward to shooting my first match so the whole week seemed to drag by. Sunday I loaded the car up and headed out to help setup the stages. I got to the club about 45 min early to find they were putting the finishing touches on the third stage. I guess if I want to help setup I will have to get there earlier next time. I helped them finish off the third stage and went to round up my equipment. I was all setup to shoot my new XD40. I bought a good belt, and had 4 mags along.
I brought my bag with my gun to the safety area, got my holster and mag pouches lined up and holstered my gun. There were 5 new shooters at the match we were all told that we would be allowed to go last. I was happy with this because it would allow us to see how everyone was shooting the stages so we could formulate a plan of action. There were 7 shooters before me, and all of them shot the course a just a little bit differently. I had to pick a plan and go with it. The first stage was setup with a bunch of barrels and allot of close shooting. I played it very simply, didn’t try to rush, or complicate things by running. I have heard people say that this type of shooting is mostly mental, and I never believed it until I was right there shooting. It is amazing how you can have a well formulated plan and the whole thing can go right out the window the minute that little buzzer goes off. It took me 22 seconds to shoot that first stage, but it felt like it was only 5 seconds!! I was most nervous about walking though the stage and forgetting to remove my finger from the trigger. Luckily I didn’t make this mistake. It was like my mind couldn’t keep up with the rest of my body. That felt strange because other physical activities like typing the opposite is true. When I am typing allot of times my mind is a whole sentence ahead of what my fingers can type. While shooting it felt like my mind was playing catch up the whole stage.
The second and third stages were relatively straight forward. There were a few moving targets that made things interesting, but those I was able to shoot with good accuracy. There were about 26 people shooting at our match. I learned so much by just watching the more experienced shooters run the stages. I am going to try to get to every match I can to maximize me learning. Luckily my gun never had any problems there were a few other guys that had issues with their guns and it didn’t look like any fun.
I was hoping to get through the match without making an ass of myself, but unfortunately I did do something stupid. I volunteered to help tape targets and was doing fine until the 5th shooter. I saw the score keeper walk by one of the targets. I thought he had written down the hits for the targets he had walked by, but he hadn’t yet. When he finally got to the target I was just standing there like an idiot. They offered the guy a reshoot which he accepted. I felt like I was two inches tall. The rest of the match I endured some well deserved ribbing. I can guarantee I won’t do that ever again.
A few observations from my first match.
- The more experienced shooters would walk through a stage trying to plan how to shoot the course with as little walking as possible
- If people know you are a new shooter they will do whatever they can to help you out, and offer lots of good advice. If you are new don’t be shy and letting everyone know that.
- Allot of the gun related issues I saw seemed to be magazine related. Buy good mags
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you are unsure of what the proper procedure is on a stage.
- Don’t beat yourself up too much, try to have fun and take it slow the first couple of times
- IF YOU ARE SIITING ON THE FENCE AND CANâ€T DECIDE IF YOU WANT TO TRY THIS KIND OF SHOOTING DON’T WAIT. THIS IS THE MOST FUN YOU CAN HAVE WITH YOUR CLOTHES ON.
