IDPA

Shooting my first IDPA match ever this sunday. I have been wanting to get into competition handgun for awhile now and the time has come! any advice for the first match?
Thanks guys

Watch the old timers. They look slow but go so fast it will make your head spin.

Learn the form of shooting then go fast. It is much easier to learn when taking your time then rushing through. Develop your form early and you will get good faster.

Biggest thing that I learned is walk each stage before shooting it. Mentally get a game plan. It will make you more prepared.

X2 with the above advice.

Did my first one last spring. Very best advice I can give is actually try to tell yourself to go slow.

On my qualifying stage at orientation that’s all I kept telling myself. Keep calm and GO SLOOOWWWW. Timer went off, brain went to mush, and there I was trying to be a competitor. Can’t imagine how bad it would have been if I was actually trying to go fast.

Two weeks later I competed in my first match. Same thing, mentally preparing myself to just go slow and be safe, don’t try to win it or do everything in one second. Mixed results, had a moment of brain mush on my first stage. The other newcomers that tried to go fast didn’t do nearly as well as I.

A little more advice. Do you practice at home with a gun that’s cleared? If yes, do you just go through the motions or are you trying to do it correctly? Do you do it to be fast or to build proper form? No penalty at home for going slow, practicing right, and building the good foundation. Costs nothing practicing to draw smoothly and come up with a proper grip and stance.

Forgot to mention, just be safe and have fun!!!! Enjoy yourself, I certainly did.

I have played IDPA once, but I spent a few years playing USPSA locally, at state and in area matches. I did not care for the differing rules of IDPA. All advise above is correct in my book.

“air gunning” a walkthrough is prohibited in the rules, but I have seen people do it in IDPA. When doing a walkthrough, ensure what targets are visible from each cover position. Be sure to keep a mental picture of your round count, they have funny rules against dropping mags with rounds in them.

All-in-all, both IDPA and USPSA are very fun games. Everyone has their preference on which game is better. Try both to know for yourself!

Well I managed to finish the day without being disqualified and with many holes on paper also a big smile on my face. I tried to go as slow as I could to give me more time to relax and get a good sight picture for each shot. Thank you all for the responses they for sure helped me out! heres a little video of the last stage of the match.

Got out again for my second match and had a blast. I did have a little bit of trouble with one of the courses being marked down over 20s But I did have a couple good runs on other courses.

I hope you aren’t seeing too many MIKE’s at the party! I know these tips may seem minuscule, but the little things really add up. When moving from target to target, try to keep your gun out in front of you with your arms extended. Same with reloads on an empty mag, keep the gun out as far as possible. It may seem like you aren’t losing much time, but each turn and reload adds up every time you pull it in and push it back out.

Another thing I really like to do with Glocks for competition, flip the rear sight around so it’s all black. This is my personal preference but it really clears up your sight picture.

Now i’m a USPSA guy, so these tip may not be within the IDPA rule books, but they’ve really helped me speed up my times. Very good holster work, BTW.