WHAT IS USPSA?
USPSA is a competitive shooting organization in the United States, dedicated to the promoting safe, fair and fun participation in practical shooting sports. Members engage in dynamic and challenging courses of fire, where speed, accuracy and power are equally tested.
In other words its a competition where shooting fast and accurate while navigating a course of fire as quickly as possible will determine your end standing.
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
USPSA has something for everyone.
I compete in the Limited Optics Division with my Walther PDP 5” Match with a Ultradot Prime XT red dot sight.
If you have a reliable working firearm in your gun safe USPSA probably has a Division for you. From the beloved 1911 to the fully tricked out Open race guns and even the ever growing popular Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC).
If you have a safe holster, a few magazines/pouches and a sturdy belt to hold it all you’re ready to go. Yes, most people have dedicated competition belt/holster setups but its more of a want and not a need. Show up to a match with what you have and upgrade after a few matches as you see fit.
COMPETITION WILL MAKE YOU BETTER
I can hear the grumbling from here!
Everyone on the Internet has an opinion on this and are very vocal about it.
Can we all agree that we all need reoccurring practice/training to stay proficient with our firearm? So with that being said how do you measure your progress? Do you even own a timer and regularly use it? Competition won’t teach you tactics, every situation is different and how do you practice for an unknown variable?
Competition will teach you how to run a gun and navigate a known variable with just a couple minutes preparation, see and make a plan.
When you go to the range to practice what do you actually practice on?
Doing a 5 yard Bill Drill will not help you shoot 25 yard B8 targets.
Are you like me and go practice what you like/are good at instead of practice the things you hate to do?
GETTING BACK INTO IT
I used to be a fairly active competitor and attended matches all over the United States. I took a few years off to because of life stuff and to be honest I may have been getting burned out a bit, showing up to matches but not really putting in the time or effort needed to make a decent showing. After about a 5 year hiatus I decided to get back into it.
Once the snow melted in my area I dug out all my old gear and showed up to a local match. What did I learn after my first match back, I was terrible.
You know that old saying “if you don’t use it you’ll lose it”, well that statement couldn’t be truer. My movements were slow, my shooting was slow and sloppy, my draw/mag changes/sight acquisition was all slower.
I used to be a pretty decent shooter and sometimes I was able to post up a stage result that would make the top shooters take notice.
Being so far off the pace will make you take notice and reevaluate your performance, leave your ego at home. Back to the drawing board, get back on the range and practice things that I hate to do.
IT TAKES PRACTICE
Since I performed so terrible I had a choice to make, get better or just accept my fate. What were my biggest obstacles, low hanging fruit to improve on so to speak.
My draw/mag changes/sight acquisition and all of that can be done in dry fire and then confirmed on the range.
I made a point to dry fire daily, it doesn’t have to take long.
My aging hands can’t take long sessions anyway.
As far as movement goes, that’s going to take a little more work. Now I’m not saying you have to become a full blown gym rat to get better.
All I’m saying is if you take daily walks it will actually make a difference, maybe take the stairs more often. Perhaps maybe skip a desert here and there also.
IS IT WORKING?
After implementing this regime I started seeing improvements at my local matches. My stage planning and execution were becoming more natural and I didn’t feel like I was forgetting something, my performance was more consistent.
I had some good stages and I had some that were not so good but I could pick out my mistakes and could work on those issues.
Taking what you’re doing in practice and implementing it on a measurable event is the only way you can tell if progress is being made.
Comparing your results against all the others in your Division & Class will let you know.
USPSA AREA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP
After practicing all year and shooting as many local matches that I could it was time to put it all together for one last test.
My local USPSA club (Prairie Thunder) was hosting the Area 3 Championship this year. Over 300 of competitors came from all over the United States for this match which consisted over 16 Stages being shot over the course of 2 days.
I shot the two day Staff match and then worked stages for the two day Main match. Once all the smoked cleared and all scores were tallied up I ended up placing 2nd in Limited Optics in my class and 3rd in my class overall.
Was I happy with the results, I can’t complain too much because I saw noticeable improvement from my first match of the year.
Are there things to work on, absolutely there were far too many little mistakes that I shouldn’t have made and will work on them.
SUM IT ALL UP
Competition season is over here in the Black Hills and snow has already showed up. I’ll take my notes and work on things during winter. Hopefully by the first match in spring I won’t be too far behind the pace.
If you’re serious and want to get better you have to test yourself and competition is the perfect place to do that.
A safe and controlled environment to make yourself go faster and see what’s working and what isn’t. Get a timer and a friend and make each other better. Everything looks great on paper now do it make it happen.
If you’re in the Black Hills reach out and we can shoot a match.
I may be old but I’m always a student and eager to learn.