My first IPSC match in a long time

[Ian]

I shot a couple of IPSC matches about 5 years ago, and have done pitifully little shooting since then...but I just found myself in a new situation where I have access to a weekly match. I went for the first time tonight, and it was a definite eye-opener. I'm WAY out of practice. I hit two no-shoots, ran out of ammo on two stages (I only took three mags; should have known better), and I will be extremely lucky if I don't come in dead last out of about 50 shooters.

I have a 3-part plan to suck less in the future:

1) dry fire practice
2) air pistol practice
3) continue to shoot the weekly matches

It's nice to actually be able to shoot competitively again, and I want to get better!

 

[ljnowell]

Congrats on getting back into the swing of things! I had a bad back injury and was out of competitive shooting for quite a while. I still cant do action pistol but I am shooting bullseye now.

It just feels good to compete, gets one's blood going, doesnt it?

Keep up the practice you will get better. I know its a cliche, but there are no losers in competitive shooting, at least you are out there banging away.

 

[Ian]

Yep, it's all about practice. I shot another match today (they have a monthly 3-gun match that I didn't want to miss), and did much better.

 

[mgmorden]

Congrats on getting back into the saddle. I've been shooting USPSA/ISPC for a little over a year now and its amazing the impact its had on my skill level. I've improved more in that year than in the previous 10 years of informal static shooting from a line.

It all comes in time though. I was so nervous and new that I think I had at least one FTE penalty from skipping targets at my first 3-4 matches. Eventually though you get into a groove and things start falling into place. Most importantly, you'll start to realize how much of the game really isn't even about shooting. Mental breakdown of the stage into strings between reloads is a huge part of things. Shooting while moving (even if its just walking along while you shoot) also cuts down on times tremendously.

I recently also started doing Steel Challenge and can honestly say that if you have that available in your area its a blast too. I've been using rimfire there though, and its quickly made me hate my .22 plinker pistol that had an "occasional" jam. Just goofing around and shooting I don't care - it's a .22. After starting to take it to matches though I've cursed more at that thing than I care to admit, and am now looking to completely rebuild it now .