Well, I agree and disagree that a fast draw is not the greatest need in competition, or real life for that matter. I agree in that it is more important to get the gun out consistently and find the front sight/index depending on target and range. I also agree as to what Harold said, a .03 draw from triple retention deep cover doesn't mean squat if it took 10 seconds for you to orient and react to the threat.
That said, if you can get a consistent and fast draw you are ahead of the game. Matt Burkett will tell you that .3 difference in draw over a big match is two or three seconds, often the winning margin. In real life .3 seconds can be a real long time. As far as being .5 slower than Joe Blow on the draw and making it up later, Jarrett will be the first one to tell you that you can never "make up time". This usually is said about people that screw up somewhere in the stage and then shoot faster to compensate. Never works out well.
What match was this Chris, Fredricksburg? Who the heck won? He may have been drawing 1.2 that day, but watching him crank out consistent sub second runs on "Speed Option" is something to see.
As to my earlier time post and observations, here's a link to the results.
http://ncrr.net/IDPA/matchresults/03-10-2005T.htm Stage 3 string 1 is a 3yd draw and fire one from an IDPA legal rig, no concealment required. That is a pretty average crowd of shooters, some reasonably good ones mixed in. As I said before, not a lot of times under 1.4. I was wrong in remembering my raw time as 4.5, it was 5.27, probably because that was the world's slowest headshot on string 3. My String one was the .88, I just shot it from retention, as did many other slower folks.
Some of the claims I see on threads like this astound.
