If you're going to call the tune, you'd better be able to pay the band.
Depends. Some can be quite good. There are lots of nitpicky rules in USPSA and IDPA, but only a few are really necessary for new shooters to be safe and (hopefully) avoid a DQ. The best classes streamline that part, and then focus on how to approach various types of stages and shooting challenges.
Crappy intro courses bombard you with every rule in the book, and leave new shooters feeling like they are back in history class in high school.
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
Shabbat shalom, motherf***ers! --Mordechai Jefferson Carver
I'm a retired cop, CA POST Firearms Instructor and have taken classes in Basic SWAT, K9 handler, K9 evaluator, CQB Instructor, Urban Rifle Instructor, armorer on B92, Glocks, AR 15s, Sniper Rifle Gunsmith, OC/Chemical Agents Instructor, numerous less lethal impact instructor classes, and took multiple classes from ITTS, Yavapai Firearms Academy, LAV Tactical, EAG Tactical, Bennie Cooley, Magpul Dynamics, Presscheck Consulting, and even Tactical Response, (RIP Yeager).
BUT, and it's a big but, I'm not a competition guy. As an aside, I shot one non LE competition, it was an outlaw competition, my first and came in top ten. Everyone was congratulating me for my good performance. Problem was, I was a SWAT bubba at the time and I had a shoot-through that hit a non-shoot. In my mind, I was a complete failure. And, in the real world, I would have been. I've been interviewed by detectives after a shooting and watched as teammates waited to find out if their rounds struck innocents and were going to be possibly charged by the DA. Split times DON'T matter in the real world.
So, I will show up to my class, attempt to be a sponge and soak up as much info as possible and strive to be as humble a learner as I can and make new friends. I am sure I will have fun. I know I will not shoot as well as I would have when I was 25, or 35, but I was working and now I'm just trying to hone my skills and have some fun because I don't have to run towards the sh!t anymore.
So, even if the class sucks, it's better than spending a saturday on the couch and I have to do it to compete.
”When antisemitism moves from the shameful fringe into the public square, it is not about Jews… it is about the surrounding society or the culture or the country. It is an early warning system—a sign that the society itself is breaking down. That it is dying.” -Bari Weiss
This is exactly the point. I've been shooting idpa for 4-5 years. I am usually mid pack in the overall results. I am ecstatic if I get to the top 1/3. Our HD guns are either Beretta 92s or an AR so I shoot in SSP w/ a B92. A month ago I got a 92X Defensive so I could shoot in ESP and start cocked and locked. I am not going to though because our HD pistols are DA/SA. It is so much fun and I have learned so much it is wonderful.
Moderately Unfriendly Deeds Done Reasonably Priced
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
OMG. I ran last night’s fun shoot with a K-frame. #nogoingback
So long as I can keep stocking .38fmj, I’m doing this for life.
![]()
”When antisemitism moves from the shameful fringe into the public square, it is not about Jews… it is about the surrounding society or the culture or the country. It is an early warning system—a sign that the society itself is breaking down. That it is dying.” -Bari Weiss