Beginner looking for tips - IDPA

[Dahak]

I've recently started participating in local IDPA matches. Match 1 I learned to look at the sights, I didn't even see my sights until the 4th stage because I was rushing too much. So I started slowing down and getting a good sight picture on every shot. Okay, apply the common wisdom of you can't miss fast enough and I'm engaging the targets well. Now after match 5, I've realized that I've gained all the time I'm going to by slowing down, so I need to learn to speed up intelligently.

Great, sounds wonderful ... uhmmmm, how do I speed up intelligently? I figure double tap drills are in order, but I don't have a good sense of how to do those other than try faster. What's the mental process for good double tap drills?

Not sure that it matters to my question, but I shoot in stock service pistol with a 4 inch M&P 2.0 9mm with Truglow sights and am currently unclassified, but I guess I'll classify as marksman based on comparing results with the other shooters in my squads so far.

Thanks for all the forth coming help!

 

[Imissedagain]

Muscle development takes time.
Practice at a speed that never misses and gets to be comfortable.
Then a bit faster until that is perfect.

Same with swords/fencing and musical instruments.
My older sister's boy friend could take the foil out of my hand easily when I started fencing.

The kids in a nearby house practiced their major scales too fast, on trumpet, and in a few years they had perfected playing poorly but fast... a cauldron of brasswind sludge.

A sign at the Aikido club stated it takes 6 years to gain rank... even if you practice twice as much each week.
I pointed that out to new students while watching the kids take their lessons.

 

[Frailer]

Short answer: dry fire

Longer answer: Most of the time on any given stage is spent *not* shooting. The easiest way to get faster is to do all those non-shooting tasks (movement, reloads, transitions) faster.

Best answer: Folks make a full-time living answering this question. A few hundred dollars spent on a class with a good instructor is an excellent investment, as you’ll get more out of the class than you would from expending an equivalent amount in ammo, and you’ll do it faster. Absent that, there are tons of books, podcasts, YouTubers, and subscription services that will benefit you. A couple of examples: Steve Anderson (Anderson Shooting) and Ben Stoeger both have a variety of books that many have found helpful.

I will say I’m not personally a fan of the term “double tap,” as it implies one shot using sights and one shot without using sights. You’ll find that with practice what *looks* like a “double tap” when the experts do it…isn’t. They just “see faster” than you can…yet.

 

[Abflyboy]

I shoot USPSA and Steel Challenge. Other than just learning the action pistol game and navigating stages, my first big breakthrough was shooting a CLEAN sub 2-second Bill drill. I started at 7 yards and did not move the target back until I was consistently scoring all Alpha.

The next natural transition from Bill drill is the first part of El Presidente without the reload. Clean, same time as your Bill drill but gives you transition practice at speed with the idea that your split times aren't different on your transitions. You will see some distinct horizontal stringing if you are doing it right.

The idea with a Bill drill is to get used to running the trigger fast and being able to watch the sights the entire time. You should never lose your sight picture at any point from aligning sights to target, squeezing the trigger, recoil, and sights back on target.

It will take plenty of live fire practice to develop but it will come.

Dry fire with movement is good to practice keeping the gun up. Be ready to shoot as you approach your shooting position. And you absolutely can not cheat your sight picture while doing this.

I had and still have some difficulty with getting to my position, posting up, then get ready to shoot. Start shooting as you are stopping your movement, start moving to the next position as you are finishing the array. The key here is efficiency. Transition times are what can really bring your stage times down.

Next, stage planning. Which way to go, which sequence to shoot targets in each array, when to reload during the stage, standing reloads are bad for stage times but if you practice reloads, not all that bad.

Finally, and most importantly, HAVE FUN! Nobody makes money in this game. We do it for FUN.

 

[Sevens]

Clint Smith has come up with some memorable lines and I like them because they are simple and effective. A fine one here is:

"Slow is smooth and smooth is fast."

Forget about speed, just toss it and spend your effort on doing everything smoothly and speed will come naturally.

If you don't own a competition timer, there are apps for your phone that are not as good as a hand held beep timer but they are great for dry fire practice at home. Using a random delay start, you can gain a lot from drawing, presenting, acquiring sights and dry fire at home. All the practice will benefit you on the day that you are able to shoot either at the range for live fire practice or at the match.

 

[elpac3]

Get good at "down Zero" first. Speed will come. I found stage planning to be a time saver. On the qualifier, take a couple of extra seconds as not to drop the head shot - which will put you down 5.

Plan your round count so you reload on the move. You may need to put three hits on a target to get to your emergency reload point but plan to reload on the move. Putting one hit on a target then having to reload will cost you big time.

Also practice reloads. Plan on keeping the gun high during reloads to minimize the time bringing the gun back up onto target. Of course if you are going to shoot revolver - never mind on the last comment.

 

[Jim Watson]

Learn to call your shots, know from the sights and trigger stroke where you hit, do NOT peer at the target looking for bullet holes. If you think you pulled a shot, shoot again QUICKLY and move along.

 

[StrawHat]

When I first started in competitive shooting, the advice given was to shoot each stage without the clock ticking. Learn to only have the revolver go bang when the sights were where they should be. Anyone can shot A number of shots in Y seconds. The winners shoot all those shots as close to the X ring as they can. Practice perfect shots, speed will come.

Kevin

 

[Dahak]

I attended a general defensive training group today and was lucky that some significantly better competitive shooters were attending as well. Got some great observations about my trigger reset and inconsistency in my grip pressure.

I've got some fundamentals to practice before trying to race the shot timer.

 

[Mike in Reedley]

Gunsite’s 250 Basic Pistol class. Lots of U Tube/internet self appointed experts out there. Lots of people calling themselves instructors. Be very cautious.

 

[41 mag Dave]

Remember that matches are a test, you have to regularly train between matches.
To get the most benefit from you training, it must be deliberate. Most people that I see "training" only focus on the first couple of rounds out of the magazine.
Get a shot timer and spend a lot of time shooting falling plates. Shoot left to right, right to left, outside in, inside out, and alternate plates. Shoot on time with one or two rounds in each magazine, getting two or three reloads in each plate rack.
I have found that I can a lot of training done with the plates very easily. The key is that you get lots of muscle memory training on drawing, transitioning and mag changes.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Remember reading years ago that it take between 3000-4000 repetitions to develop muscle memory.

So practice practice practice..... for now shoot against yourself not the other competitors ...... shoot for A hits...... speeder will come in time..............

Remember; it's a game, a lot of stages are more like a John Wick movie scene ......... than real life!