IDPA not training? Idpa competition is training! Much more so than Joe the Plumber gets, he just puts gun in holster, takes it off at night! What IDPA does, is give you draw and fire training! If you use all the same components, in all the same places, concealed by the same cover, as you did going to the match, and going home, as you shoot the match, and as I did at my last match, stop for breakfast. IDPA or defense of life, is based on launching a bullet at a target, cardboard, or criminal, no difference. Power factor? Must knock down a pepper popper, 147g copper jacketed reload ($200.00 a thousand) or exceed 1000 fps, with a JHP, of modern design capable of creating the desired affect, stopping, when fired at a human adversary, if enough hit the person, in the right place. As much as is possible with any piece of equipment, work first time all the time! The holster used should be same for CCW as the match! Now that is a lot of mating of components, suitable for both endeavors, and used in my case twice a month, with the expenditure of around 400 rounds, both carry and match guns are Glock 19s. Truglow sights, factory triggers, Glock extended slide lock levers. The pistol is always the same, in the same holster, in the same place, spare magazine also, same place same pouch, same size, Glock 17 magazines, for match or carry. And last but not least, same cover garment. Not training? Let the dissent begin! __________________ Be Safe.
Hi Scouse, good to see you over here. In this writer's opinion, IDPA (or any other) competition fits into the training picture more as qualification and skill assessment than as pure training. Basic training: you learn what to do. Qualification: you apply what you learned in training, testing and assessing those skills with a view toward improving them. At a local IDPA match, you're paying $10-$20 to shoot four to six staged scenarios that would cost you much more to set up for yourself. You will see the results in both hit value and elapsed time, to compare your performance against others. If there are ten people on your shooting squad, you get to watch the other nine -- some of whom may be more skilled and experienced than you -- and assess how they solve the same problem. A draw to the shot speeded up here...a shortcut between the starting position and getting to cover there...and how a top shooter "sets up" his or her stance to be able to deliver two shots in less than a fifth of a second, hitting center with both. There will be opportunity at the sidelines to ask questions of other shooters as to how they do it, and most will be happy to watch you shoot when your turn comes, and offer critiques and suggestions. Thus, while the stated purpose of IDPA is sport, the training is what you make of it, and the training potential is definitely there. The group I shoot with brings still cameras and Flip video to matches, and after the match we'll look at the pix and vid to critique ourselves: "Damn, I didn't realize I was bending my elbow!" "My shoulders are back?!? No WONDER it was taking me so long to get back on target between shots." Example: in the current issue of GUNS magazine (available online at www.gunsmagazine.com), my Ayoob on Handguns column focuses on cutting back on follow-through to improve overall shooting speed. All the photos illustrating the point were taken at IDPA matches, from the Nationals down to local level. There are lessons to be learned in that environment. Lots of good skill-building repetition, plus useful feedback and analysis -- yes, the training potential is definitely there, but it's up to the competitor to seek it out. best, Mas
Good reply Mas, The real nice people who share the squad make it a good day for all, the last IDPA match I shot at our club, I only dropped 7 points out of a couple of hundred rounds? I am real interested in accuracy, and at 74 YOA I ain't winning much! See you at the Sun Shine Games?
