You have to hit

I’ve been doing IDPA for more than six years now. I practice more than most, but much less than a few. That includes dry fire, live fire and reading a lot about the mental aspects of shooting on the move.

The more I learn, the more I realise that I’m probably never going to get this “right”. There are too many variables. Eyesight, fitness, speed, agility, course planning, gun-handling skills, hardware, ammunition … and probably quite a few more things.

And then you listen to the experts and masters to see and learn from what they do. And they don’t do the same things.

If you are confused, don’t feel like you are the only one. It is a struggle and a constant one. I get one thing right today, practice something tomorrow and struggle with the previous thing once again the next week. (Read weak-handed shooting here.)

There is one constant in everything that I’ve seen, heard and read, however. You have to be able to make all the shots. Have to. There is no way around it. Especially now that every penalty for not hitting the down zero is a full second. Adding two seconds to your score on every target will put you out of contention at every level of this sport. It is simply not an option. That means:

1. 1. 1. You have to be able to hit the zero down with your weak hand at 6.4 meters
      2. You have to be able to hit the zero down with your strong hand at 9.1 meters (five times in a row in the 5×5 classifier)
      3. You have to be able to hit the head of the target at 9.1 meters
      4. You have to be able to hit the zero down, on demand, at 32 meters

Remember, the rules are that three quarters of the match targets must be 15 meters or less from you, the shooter. It may be a good idea to focus your training on that bit.

Before you can make these shots on demand, there is simply no point in focusing on anything else in your training.