First Match Disqualification

It's not uncommon for people who have taken my "INTRODUCTION TO USPSA" class to break a safety rule in their first Practical Pistol match, but this week was a first; my "student" sent me an email describing the experience:

As you may know I DQ’d on the 5^th stage I competed in just before my last shot on the stage.  It was certainly a just DQ.  I was getting close to the 180 when the RO began informing me of the same.  I turned to look at him and when I did I turned my shoulders and with pistol pointed in the air broke the plane big time.  He apologized all over himself but I told him it was only me that was to blame and I believed that to be the whole truth, as I still do. I also was focusing on my trigger finger position because I was still having problems with that too.

The shooter (let's call him "Bill") did no worse than usual during the four-hour Course of instruction the previous weekend; in fact, he did a lot better than many people who thought they might take the IPSC-mobile out for a spin around the block.

But his experience is one that every person who tries to break into a complex and demanding game shares;  under the pressure of time, the good intentions to "JUST SHOOT SAFELY IN YOUR FIRST MATCH" sometime leaves them sitting at the side of the road wondering what just happened to them.   In Bill's case, too many conditions (especially the Range Officer's verbal warning) distracted him from his primary obligation ... obey the rules of safe shooting.

In other words, he forgot to obey the Cardinal Rule of Shooting Competitively:

THOU SHALT NOT SCARE THE RANGE OFFICER!

Fortunately Bill is a thinking man.  His Significant Other (let's call her "Debbie") took the same course of instruction the previous month, and she sat through the class again this month and also shot the Live Fire Exercise with him.   So Bill not only got his eyes opened, he learned something from it.

New competitors who are experience a Match Disqualification ("DQ") on their first match often never come back to another match.   A few have decided to take the course of instruction again, considering that they would benefit from direct personal training to reinforce good gun handling habits ... and that has always been beneficial.  Which suggests that these people have made a personal commitment to learning a new and complex skill set.

Occasionally, during the hottest or coldest  months of the year (eg: AUGUST IN OREGON with temperatures in the high 90's) people don't choose to spend their Saturday afternoon running arround in a gravel pit waving a gun in the air.  So this class had only the one student (Bill) until Debbie decided to keep him company.  I think it makes for a better class, as the students learn as much from watching their companions shoot as they learn from their own experience.

But when the clock is ticking it's hard to remember EVERYTHING ... as Bill discovered for himself.

Bill will be back.  He's one of those people who don't like to think there's something he can't do.

Besides, Debbie shouldn't have to go to matches alone; it's more fun to play with a partner.