My 2021 Competitive Shooting Year in Review

Since I started shooting competitively in 2016, the articles I have written outlining each match have been some of our least read articles.  I get it.  READING about a match is not as interesting as participating or even watching one.  So I thought this year I would just do a “wrap-up” article on my performance over the course of the year.  Confident that I have shot my last match of the year, this is as good a time as any to post this.

I participated in a total of six IDPA matches this year.  Four were at one venue, and two at another.  All were Level One, Club matches.  I shot each match in the Compact Carry Pistol (CCP) division.  Five were shot with my OD Gen 3 Glock 19, while my last match was shot with my virtually identical black Glock 19.  The reader will notice a number of matches had low round counts.  This was an effort by match directors to make accommodations for the ammunition crisis.

Match #1:  9^th of 29 overall, 2^nd of 5 in CCP.   The only thing notable at this match was that I was convinced, once the scores were posted, that someone screwed up my time on one of the stages.  Somehow a stage in which there were 9 targets, required little movement, and where I finished only 3 points down took me 45+ seconds?  Too bad I did not notice it at the time.  I shot 85 rounds in this match.

Match #2:  10^th of 22 overall, 2^nd of 3 in CCP.  My worst match of the year.  I recall that I just was not particularly focused in this match for some odd reason.  I shot 77 rounds in this match.

Match #3:  5^th of 20 overall, 1^st of only 2 in CCP.  By now it was late spring and there were fewer and fewer people at each match, probably due to the ammo crisis.  I shot 66 rounds in this match.

Match #4:  11^th of 35 overall, 1^st of 3 in CCP.  This was a tough match with a very “USPSA feel”.  This was one of the two matches I shot at the second venue, and the match designer there has definitely been heavily influenced by USPSA stuff.  A lot of that orange fencing stuff.  I recall one stage I screwed up royally.  I had to go first in my squad (we always rotate who goes first) on what would turn out to be the most complicated stage.  My plan sucked and I failed to execute even the crappy plan well, leaving one target unengaged.  I shot 111 rounds in this match.

Match #5:  13^th of 36 overall, 3^rd of 8 in CCP.  This match annoyed me in that everyone in my squad was slow.  Slow in shooting, slow in executing, screwed up the scoring tablet somehow, etc.  So we almost ran out of time to shoot (the range is located in a populated area and matches must end at a set time).  I had to rush through the last two stages because of this and screwed a few things up.  There was one neat stage where we had to start inside the back of an ambulance, come out, engage targets, drag a “body”, etc.  I shot 118 rounds in this match.

Match #6:  2^nd of 26 overall, 1^st of 5 in CCP.  Easily my best match of the year.  My squad had the top three overall in the match (the #3 overall was shooting a Glock 43 in BUG!).  This was the match in which I used my black Glock 19.  For reasons I am unclear on, I consistently shoot that one better than my OD one.  I screwed up one stage a bit but it did not cost me #1 overall (that guy was just TOO good), but overall I had good plans and shot very well.  Also of note was seeing one guy run and then plant to shoot, only to have his body keep moving after his foot was planted.  He remained safe but blew out his knee (orthopedically, not ballistically).  Also saw a guy in my squad, new to IDPA, get disqualified when, after completing a stage, he bent down to pick up a spent magazine only to have his pistol tumble out of his holster onto the deck.  Instant DQ.  I shot 106 rounds in this match, for a total of 563 rounds in the six matches combined.

Not a great year overall for me.  The lack of practice showed itself throughout.  Indeed, for me, this year, the matches WERE my practice.  Other than shooting with my training group and in the one live-fire class I took this year, this was all the shooting I did.  So, while not thrilled about my performance this year, I guess it is not too bad.

That’s about it.  As always, thanks for reading.  If you have any questions or comments, please post them below, as we always welcome civil discourse.