2009 shooting season

Shot the November IDPA match at ACC last weekend.  Just a regular club level match in beautiful weather, in the mid 60s and sunny all day.  I realized that counting the State Championship match, I’ve shot my S&W 625 in just three IDPA matches, two of which have been in the rain.  Once in July in the rain, once at the State Match in the rain, and then this last Saturday in gorgeous weather.

I’m actually really happy with last week’s match, as it’s the last match I’m going to shoot before taking a month or so off from being gone every weekend shooting.  I feel like it’s important to close out “the season” on a positive note, and last week’s match was definitely the high note of my revolver shooting season.  That marks the first time I’ve gone out to a match and felt like I shot the gun well enough to actually deserve the classification score I shot with it.

Attitude is important in training – last year, I finished up the 2008 season on a rather dismal note, which I felt like haunted me into 2009.  I had a very “Peyton Manning-esque” year, in that I generally shot very well in club matches, but couldn’t necessarily bring the whole package together at major matches.  I did well enough in majors this year, but out of 5 majors that I shot, only at the IN State Steel Championship did I feel like I shot to the best of my ability.

That’s also why it’s important for me anyway to take a month or two off from the shooting sports each year.  It gives me that all important reflection time, to look back on what I did well and what I did poorly in 2009 so that I can better set the table for success in 2010.  My main focus in 2010 starting in February is going to be on Bianchi Cup and getting my skill set in order to improve on my 15th place finish in Production Division from last year.  I’m also going to stick to revolvers as my primary gun; the more I shoot revolvers the more I enjoy it.

However, the most important lesson that came out of the 2009 season for me is how radical the shooting sports community is.  In 2008, I shot IDPA seriously for the first time, took a class from Todd Jarrett thanks to the generosity of ParaUSA and Blackhawk, and competed in the Indiana State IDPA match.  2009 was really my first full season of action pistol shooting, and what has never ceased to amaze, impress, and humble me is how truly open and welcoming this sport is.  I constantly harp on how amazing it is that in this sport, an average joe like me can rub elbows with the Tiger Woods’ and Michael Jordan’s of our game, ladies and gentlemen like Dave Sevigny and Julie Golob – and be treated with respect and courtesy.  It is truly a unique function of this sport that it is populated in large part by class acts.

2009 was a great season, all things considered.  I have learned more about shooting in this year than I have in the past 15 years, and I have made some great friends through shooting.  If you came out to a club or state level match at Atlanta Conservation Club this year, I want to personally thank you for contributing your time and money to helping grow our sport in the State of Indiana.  More than anything, I am immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished at ACC in this past 2009, and am greatly looking forward to 2010 and what the future holds for Indiana shooting sports, for myself, and for the industry and games as a whole.

2 Comments

  1. As you fell asleep behind your rifle in the sport I shoot most, I also feel the way you do about being able to hob-knop with the top performers in High Power. I some times think of Mr.Heinlein dictum ” an armed society is a polite society” and wonder if it has any bearing.

  2. Hey Caleb! Thanks for posting my worst match ever! Just kidding. 🙂 You were smokin on Saturday. It’s been fun shooting with you this year. If it’s not to cold for you maybe we will see you in December.

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