So I did my first completion this week which was a mix of steel and paper. Not USPCA or IDPA but a bit of a combo. 5 different stages shooting steel and paper in outdoor bays. Incorporated movement on all as well as one handed shooting. No par times, just accuracy/timed runs for each stage.
It was a blast. I finished the in 30 out of 50 participants, but was very disappointed that I only had 1 clean run. (It was actually my first stage) otherwise I would have finished in the top 20. I think I got way overconfident running the first stage and thought I could blaze my way to victory, lol. I was really surprised how much the “stress” of competition affected by accuracy, I get in now. If I would have slowed down a bit and took my time I would have done much much better but I’m fighting my aggressiveness to go fast through the course.
Pretty amazed at how quickly my fundamentals started to fall apart at speed. Really had to focus on not slamming the trigger going fast. I run a lot of the drillst using a timer as advocated on this site but clearly different in a live competitive situation. My mind went “blank” a few times trying to go fast.
As a golfer, the analogy I would use is that I am an awesome ball striker on the driving range but it is very different on the course. It was exactly the same here. I am chomping at the bit to do it again. I ran the course using my 19x
My goal in the next one is to just shoot clean no matter how slow I go which will be hard to resist going fast.
Anyway, this has got me thinking about the often asked question of glock 17 or 34. Now that the gen 5’s have hit the market, any thoughts on this? My goal in the near term is to rent both to shoot side by side to get a good feel. Am I at any disadvantage with the 19x? I looked to be one of the few that just had a stock set up, there were a lot of cool race guns there. Part of my competitiveness wants to kick their butts with a stock 19x but I tend to live under the delusion that I’m better than I actually am. (The driving range syndrome). In the end as an avg. shooter I really don’t want to be at a disadvantage. What are your thoughts around this?
My thinking is run the 19x for a while and get used to competing and then maybe step up to the 17/34 if I end up getting series about it. Of course it doesn’t hurt to be talked into another gun.
Overall it was a great experience and look forward to more opportunities to compete.