Posted: 8/24/2012 10:04:22 AM EDT
| Hi there! I participated in an IDPA shoot last year and loved the experience, but felt like I really could have used much, much more training. Does IDPA offer training classes that prepare you for these shoots? I've looked on their site but have been unsuccessful in locating any prep classes or even if they are offered. If they don't offer prep classes, what are some suggestions for training? I did horrible at shooting behind cover and would like to refine some of the other skills before I participate again. Thanks so much for the input. I really appreciate it! |
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IDPA (the national organization) does not have a basic shooter training program that I am aware of. I would contact your local ranges that offer IDPA events and inquire about such opportunities. My club has hosted such events a few times in the past, as volunteer efforts put on by the local cadre of certified Safety Officers. My range also offers IDPA practice nights on Thursdays in the spring and summer so new shooters can work on their skills without being under the pressure of a timer and an audience. I always recommend that interested friends take at least one basic defensive pistol class from a reputable trainer before getting involved in competitive shooting. |
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Most of your better ran clubs will require new shooters to attend a "new shooter orientation" prior to shooting a match. Then for your first match all the new folks are squadded together and you'll have an experienced crew in that bay to work with them.
Start attending as many locale club matches as you can. Shooting the classifier won't prepare you for a match, it will just rank everyone together at their own skill level. |
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Most of your better ran clubs will require new shooters to attend a "new shooter orientation" prior to shooting a match. Then for your first match all the new folks are squadded together and you'll have an experienced crew in that bay to work with them. Start attending as many locale club matches as you can. Shooting the classifier won't prepare you for a match, it will just rank everyone together at their own skill level. My advice is to keep shooting the matches, you will get more comfortable with it and improve as you go. Also save some card board boxes and make your own practice stages |
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Quoted: My advice is to keep shooting the matches, you will get more comfortable with it and improve as you go. Also save some card board boxes and make your own practice stages Yep as long as you have the safe gun handling aspects down, then shoot the matches and ask advise from your squad mates and you will get better while have fun. |
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Just watch out on some of those "general training courses", some are good and some are bad, really bad. I would watch a video like :http://www.panteaoproductions.com/instructors/bob-vogel and then set up some type of dry fire program to work on what you are learning. You should have a 3:1 ratio of dry fire to live fire. Edit: I dont mean not to look for firearms classes, just make sure you are getting good instruction for the money you are paying.  |
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The Collin County IDPA (north of Dallas TX) has on its web site a very good page on tips for shooting the classifier and improving your score.
One of the things that kills a lot of shooter is that they have a bad habit of crowding cover. It slows you down. http://www.ccidpa.org/ Scroll down to the "Tips, notes and data" link on the left side of the page near the bottom. Tons of good advice here. Here's my top 6 tips: 1. Above all, have fun! 
2. The more personal range time you can get practicing "holster work", reloads, etc. the better. This can be difficult as many public ranges prohibit drawing from a holster or "rapid firing". 3. Preparing for a match is much like preparing for a taking a test: stay physically fit, get adequate rest (esp. the night before a match), eat right. PRACTICE. 4. Make sure your range bag and gear is fully packed and ready go the night before. I used to have this (anal retentive to some) pre-match day ritual where I'd chamber check all my ammo, load all my magazines, trim my fingernails, apply anti-fog to my shooting glasses, etc. My range bag was always 100% ready-to-go. Makes life easier. 5. Don't shoot a match on an empty stomach. Stay hydrated! 6. You cannot shoot fast enough to miss. Slow down, get the hits and the speed will come. Work on analyzing how you will shoot each stage (without airgunning, of course). I'd like to ask you to make it a personal goal to actively recruit more women into this sport. We need more women shooters in IDPA. If you have to squad up together, so be it. Good luck to you! 
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The Collin County IDPA (north of Dallas TX) has on its web site a very good page on tips for shooting the classifier and improving your score. One of the things that kills a lot of shooter is that they have a bad habit of crowding cover. It slows you down. http://www.ccidpa.org/ Scroll down to the "Tips, notes and data" link on the left side of the page near the bottom. Tons of good advice here. Here's my top 6 tips: 1. Above all, have fun!
2. The more personal range time you can get practicing "holster work", reloads, etc. the better. This can be difficult as many public ranges prohibit drawing from a holster or "rapid firing". 3. Preparing for a match is much like preparing for a taking a test: stay physically fit, get adequate rest (esp. the night before a match), eat right. PRACTICE. 4. Make sure your range bag and gear is fully packed and ready go the night before. I used to have this (anal retentive to some) pre-match day ritual where I'd chamber check all my ammo, load all my magazines, trim my fingernails, apply anti-fog to my shooting glasses, etc. My range bag was always 100% ready-to-go. Makes life easier. 5. Don't shoot a match on an empty stomach. Stay hydrated! 6. You cannot shoot fast enough to miss. Slow down, get the hits and the speed will come. Work on analyzing how you will shoot each stage (without airgunning, of course). I'd like to ask you to make it a personal goal to actively recruit more women into this sport. We need more women shooters in IDPA. If you have to squad up together, so be it. Good luck to you!
Thank you!! 
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It was interesting to read CCIDPA's suggestion that you not specifically train for the classifier as you could end up moving up in classification but competing at the bottom.
That's not always a bad thing. Worse are the "sandbaggers". No further explanation needed. 
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IDPA TV: 150 round practice drill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzJrdATG9-o&feature=plcp Drills from pistol-training.com: pistol-training.com/drills |
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IDPA TV: 150 round practice drill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzJrdATG9-o&feature=plcp Drills from pistol-training.com: pistol-training.com/drills thanks, those are good |
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Growing as comfortable as possible with your pistol I think is key in any training situation. I’m former U.S. Army, but I always thought that the old Marine Corps tradition of naming your rifle is a great example. Handle it every day, disassemble/assemble and clean it as much as possible. Familiarize yourself and be able to know in detail how your specific firearm functions, what are the common malfunctions associated with the manufacture/model of your firearm, and be able to fully manipulate the firearm both strong and weak side. All the same points also apply to the manner in which you carry.
Other than that, the big time saver is being as proficient as possible during draws and reloads. Consistency is the key to both. I still do this from time to time, but when I first started, for a week straight, I took time to execute 50 draws/reloads per day. Standing against my bed for a soft magazine drop, I used spring loaded practice rounds and would work front to back on my double mag holster. Draw, aim, drop spent mag, reload, aim, drop, reload, aim, drop, clear, and then holster. Reset, and do it again. Front site post and grip were the two constants during my practice. Always ensuring both were in the forefront of my mind. One other thing I practice with any weapon system, is keeping the gun in the fight, meaning I never pull my aim/muzzle off potential threats unless cover is available. You want to avoid “sagging” the muzzle when reloading/troubleshooting malfunctions. Turning the weapon inboard or outboard while maintaining your sight picture saves you the time of breaking eye contact with your target or re-orienting your sights to target. Staying as close to “high ready” as possible is key when maneuvering thru a course of fire while staying within “up and down range” guidelines of your range. Overall, comfort and consistency are mainstays in shooting. IDPA is a great way to spend your free time, as I’ve never met anyone not willing to help and pitch in, encourage, and welcome newcomers to the sport. Great people, and great training. Good luck to you. 
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That is great advice! Thank you!
I have found that my reloads take sooooooo long and I end up reloading down at my waist instead of in my "workspace." I need to become more comfortable with where my gear is on my belt and I like the description you gave on how you practice reloads. I think that will help with muscle memory a lot. The SO and I did some training with one of the local IDPA guys and it was great to get some feedback and my husband can help refine my skills further now that we know what to focus on. All in all, I have the IDPA bug more than ever.
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and my husband can help refine my skills further now that we know what to focus on I don't know your husband, and you may tell me to shut my pie hole, but I'd advise against that, seriously. My wife & I are both B Class USPSA shooters.... If I were helping her she'd still be in D. Ask any GOOD trainer and they'll agree. You need to find your style, not his. Find what works for you, not him. Refine it the way YOU make it work for YOU. Ladies tend to need to do things slightly differently. Generally, if hubby is the one trying to help, correct and advise (myself included) it often ends in frustration or worse arguing, but certainly not in effective practice or measurable improvement. To this day we practice separately 98% of the time, hell, we'd often shoot on different squads the whole first year she shot just so we could both focus. Shooting with your significant other is great, but if your trying to focus on YOU and improving, it's darn near impossible if he's right there during the learning stages. Many may disagree but I've seen it time and time again and lived the dream over the past 2 years. |
| I can totally understand your perspective - thank you! He actually is a really great teacher and I appreciate his support. I can see the benefits in training apart though if we ever get to that point where we are competing regularly and find each other distracting. Good advice! |
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To improve in IDPA, I would seriously consider taking a pistol course. Of course, be discriminate and find somewhere reputable. When I first started shooting IDPA I could never shoot a classifier and score above marksman. I took a course with a buddy of mine. From the course I learned all the basic manipulation drills. I was then able to take what I learned home and develop a dry fire training routine. Practicing my draw, developing muscle memory for that first shot, practicing tac reloads and emergency reloads, working on transitioning from target to target, etc. The next classifier I shot which was about a month later, I easily classifed as Expert in both SSP and CDP. Then when I shot the state match I took second in CDP expert.
I would say that taking a course will give you the fundamental in weapon manipulation in which you can take home and train on. It's like any other sport, you have to develop that muscle memory. And you have to develop good muscle memory by doing the proper techniques. I think that's where your husband can come in. For instance, he can watch you work your emergency reloads, and tell you if you're doing it properly. Then you make adjustments so that you develop the proper muscle memory. Then you do the same for him. Like others have said, we definitely need more women in the shooting sports. We also need youger guys as well. I have a 13 year old, and I think it's time to get him to learn the game. I also really enjoy shooting matches with my wife. Unfortunately, we don't get to shoot matches toghether as often as we'd like. It seems like she's always pregnant or we have little ones. One of these days though, we'll find the time to go out and shoot more consitently. On a side note, do all the old guys jump up and want to help you? Whenever my wife shoots a match with me, I just kind of sit back and watch all the old dudes crowd around her and try to help her. It always makes me laugh. |
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I used to be a member of the Collin County club in TX and when I showed up to shoot my first match there everyone was very friendly. We helped each other out at local matches when we saw opportunities for improvement in each other. We would shoot local matches for practice and trying things then all car pool to the big matches where we would actually try to beat each other!
I would get to know some of the better shooters at your club and ask for advise. If they are decent folks they shouldn't mind helping you out. I did take one class that a local cop put on. He was a master class shooter. It helped me improve my scores to the point I was winning my expert class CDP at every match. |
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I did take one class that a local cop put on. He was a master class shooter. It helped me improve my scores to the point I was winning my expert class CDP at every match. who was that? I wish I had a better memory. That was probably 10 years ago now. The range we used was south of Dallas and I don't believe looked like a public range. He offered 2 levels of classes. The first was technique with reloads, sight picture etc. The second focused more on the mental aspect of competing. Still a lot of shooting but he taught you how to plan your stage and effective practice methods. I was the first person he let skip the level 1 class since he had seen me compete and felt confident I had all that down. If you could get a hold of somebody at the Collin County club they might be able to help you. I moved to TN in 2005 and haven't talked to any of those people since. Sorry I'm not much help. 
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