May IDPA Match Idea Thread

[dukeofurl]

I'd love some feedback on a few of my match ideas.

As I'm perpetually continuing to push the envelope of IDPA to test the skills of viable self defense practices and other valuable training aids, I've developed a series of ideas I'd love feedfack from.

Idea 1: Reloading on the clock.

Not a mag change with retention, not a tactical reload, not an emergency reload from slide lock. Stage starts with a pile of brass, bullets, a Dillon 650 and...ok, kidding.

Stage starts with a pile of loose ammo and an empty magazine NO PLASTIC THUMBSAVERS OR NON- REVOLVER SPEEDLOADERS - at the buzzer, take cover and charge a magazine to 6 rounds - engage 3 targets. Wheelgun shooters rejoice - until I make up my mind about if I'm going to do 3 or 4 targets....

Idea 2: Heads or tails?

Entire match shot headshot only. To challenge shooters - targets are standard placement, upside down, left, right and overall kooky.

Idea 3: Ambidextrous fun!

Entire match shot weak handed. Distances IDPA compliant, but challenging no less.

I'll leave it at that, I've got more ideas but I'm not sure they'd be THR appropriate.

Can I get some input before Sunday?

 

[cadfael]

As far as gimmicky matches go. I think that an occasional stage having a great gimmick is a good thing. It makes the shooter think and prevents them from being able use their standard "draw at the buzzer and engage" response. I just don't think an entire match should have gimmicks.

That being said, the next club match around here is called "moving day", with every single shot taken while moving.....

Otherwise, I've had a stage where you start with the gun holstered, and an empty mag in hand, with ammo in pocket.

A few other ideas that worked (somewhat) well.

Targets with different colored T-shirts. Shooter pulls out one shirt out of a bag... that color is now no-shoots. Engage all the other targets.

Stand in front of a table with a die in hand. Roll the die and engage that numbered target.

Make numbers on pieces of cardboard. Paperclip the numbers to each target. Start the shooter behind the barricade and change which targets have what numbers on it. Shoot each target the exact number that is on it.

Adam

 

[ralphtt]

(IMHO) Gimmicky is ok so long as it's practical . . .

That said, I wouldn't have much patience with a stage that required loading individual rounds in a magazine. Starting with a mag less than full is sometimes interesting, (El Prez) but individual rounds is just taking it too far.

This is after all, IDPA & last time I looked D was for defensive . . .

 

[Correia]

I was given advice from a very wise match director when I started designing COFs. To paraphrase "The occasional gimmick is fun, but if the purpose of the match changes from shooting to gimmicks, it sucks."

Shooters come out to shoot. We will do other things as long as they pertain to the shooting.

Any time I've shot in a stage where it was designed around some gimmick rather than shooting, it has just pissed me off. I've shot where the targets are different colors and the SO yells out what color to shoot. I've also shot a stage in a sanctioned match once where you had to play some dumb memory game and shoot the targets in a certain order. Stages like that make are annoying, not fun.

Anytime you throw in a gimmick you have got to ask yourself, what skill are you testing?

Mag loading? Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad. That is a test of thumb strength, not shooting. I can guarentee that will tick off your shooters.

Kooky targets? Great, I've thrown them on their side, this is IDPA, the bad guys probably aren't going to be standing perfectly straight every time in real life either. I recall one match where they had taken a target, and used black (hard cover) to make it in the shape of a dog that was going to attack you.

All head shots? Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad. Head shots are good, and should be used. But if you make a match all head shots (or all any one type of shooting) it will be monotonous, and you will tick your shooters off.

Entire match left handed? Only if you want the shooters to yell at you. First off they all need to buy holsters for their weak sides, which I'm sure they will appreciate, and secondly, if I put in more than one or two strings of left handed fire in an 8 stage match I have angry mobs getting ready to string me up. The whole match? Oh heck no.

Gimmicks can be fun, but let common sense prevail. Just because you think of it doesn't make it a good idea. I designed a stage once where the shooter had to "rescue" a fireman's dummy. In actuality all I did was design a stage that penalized any smaller statured, older, or disabled shooters. Luckily wiser heads pointed this out to me and it was scraped. Now if I was running a "tactical" match full of young tough guys, then that would be great.

As a general rule, don't waste the shooter's time. (stolen from Dean Koontz's #1 rule for writers, don't waste the reader's time). I've heard of matches where the shooter had to actually throw a spear and give a war cry before shooting. I've heard of matches where the shooter had to provide their own theme music to shoot by.

Keep thinking of ideas, heck I stole your non-threat behind a steel target idea for my match on Saturday.

 

[dukeofurl]

I forgot to mention - If anything, I use ONE gimmick every month, not all three or four. Its a rotating challenge thing.

I got the magazine loading idea from the USPSA Nationals - they had people load mags on the clock. Seemed like an idea as sometimes in a self defense scenario, we may not have the luxury of fully loaded magazines at our disposal.

I did a few upside down and 45 degree targets. That was fun. I had shooters say "Wow, my down 3 would have been a down 1 if the target were head side up."

All heads would have been good for a day that I did drills. I'm trying to make it throughout the year with 4 cases of targets so I would have been able to use IPSC targets to do heads only.

If I did the entire match left handed it would also be on a drill day, everything at 10 feet or closer. Less than 10% of shots at a given match are done weak/strong handed only anymore so I wanted to jack the average up.

 

[John Forsyth]

I'm with Correia on this. I hate gimmicks. I do not like having to load mags on the clock or having to stow mags on the clock or anything else that is not about target identification and shooting.

I have done the numbers on the target. One was you had to shoot them in that order. Another was that you put that many rounds on them.

The colored targets with changing colors for non threats works great till you get a color blind shooter. That actually happened to me.

MD's need to remember that people shoot matches for two reasons, to shoot and to have fun. If they are not doing one or the other, they are not happy.

 

[macrophage]

Good gimmick

One good gimmick I had pulled on me in a stage goes like thus:

You are working in a shop where you cannot individually carry, but you know the security guard keeps his firearm under his desk in a strong box with the key in a drawer.

Your shop is under siege by a psycho ex-employee who has just shot the security guard.

You start the stage by diving under cover (the desk), have to open the strong box with a key.

Inside the box you find an unknown gun in unknown condition with a charged magazine.

You have to make the gun serviceable, then score your hits on the target.

Before the stage starts, the shooter must turn his back on everyone else, while someone else, at random, places their firearm in the strong box with an extra mag and locks the box. The firearm can be in any condition.

It was a fun and interesting stage to shoot. I wound up with someone else's 1911 TRP SA, and fell in love with the gun.

Mac

 

[Kamicosmos]

one usefull gimmick is to have everyone give a mag with ammo to the RO. He will then load a dummy round in the mag. If not dummy rounds, fired case will work too.

That way everyone will get a jam of varing difficulty to clear in that stage. It was real interesting to see some people jam and clear with no problems, and still get good times.

Some of the 'better shooters' (ie the cocky guys) just threw a fit when their guns jamed. Acted like a bunch of professional athletes or something...heh.

I also like the occasional shoot weak handed, or shoot in low light or something. One range had a cop car light bar. It has rather hard to shoot the stage with that thing flashing at ya! It provided the only light(s) on the range. Practical though, the cops that were there loved it, since they deal with that all the time.

I agree though, gimmicks or wierd stages should be used very sparingly, and maybe even only for fun if you're keeping track of scores for finals or something.

 

[Fly320s]

I like the unknown gun stage that macrophage described.

You can still have all the normal shooting and scooting, just with a different gun.

Seems to me that would take the "race gun" factor out of the contest.

 

[dukeofurl]

Unknown gun stages can irritate shooters and be a safety hazard.

If we use someone elses gun, it needs to be something no-nonsense. Some shooters dont want the slide on their 1911 racked unless the hammer is cocked first.

The other problem is giving them a problem, like an unloaded 1911 and a fresh mag and the shooter isnt strong enough to rack the slide or is not familiar with the type of firearm being presented to them. Working the action of a 1911 hammer down = overcoming a 16 pound recoil spring and 21 pound manispring.

 

[duckfoot]

Still the unknown gun sounds like a learning stage, make the shooters think instead of doing just draw and shoot drills. It may make some of what I call "Match Maids" mad, but those that come and don't care about the score will see the value of encountering a unknown firearm. Just ensure to ask the squad if there is anyone that has a disability that would not let them be able to shoot any pistol type, style, or model. Then adjust as needed.

 

[dukeofurl]

"Disability" is poor wording - if I get an older shooter with parkinsons and not too much arm strength, racking the gun may be a problem.

Likewise with new shooters, some newer female shooters, and younger shooters. A 12 year old shooting IPSC C class is one thing, but I'm not going to do something that rash.

Perhaps I may with my K frame or a friends Uzi. I'll have to figure out something friendly for everyone to use.

 

[macrophage]

On that 'unknown gun' stage

The SO at the start of the stage excluded all guns that were revolvers, and the unknown gun's owner had to volunteer the weapon. No one was forced to give their firearm up to someone else. I volunteered my smith and walther p99 twice.

It was a gimmick, but still realistic. Thats one thing I like about our club, most all the stages have been realistic.

I have wanted to shoot a stage that involved getting out of bed, like in a home intrusion situation. It might be a bit theatrical, but it would be an eye opener for sure.

Mac

 

[dukeofurl]

Idea: Insta-Stage.

Pile an assorted amount of targets, no shoots, and target stands in one pile. During the walkthrough, have all shooters count off 1-4.

Group as accordingly.

Group one: How many targets. Come to a concensus. Lets say they come up with - 3 shoot targets with a no shoot.
Group two: Pick out a bunch of people and make them set a distance/placement for all shoot and no shoot targets. Can place targets in any fashion, provided all shots impact the berm/backstop.
Group three: Determine shooting order and shot sequence, one one two one one, failure drills, or head only, et al.
Group four: Determine start and shooting position, start prone - shoot prone, surrender position, el presidente, draw from concealment or not, ect.

I belive that every once in a while the MD should step down from the ivory tower and make one stage a democracy.

 

[Archie]

Forcing a thought process prior to shooting is not a gimmick!

I like Cadfael's idea of different colored shirts to designate 'no-shoot' targets. Okay, for those who have a color blindness problem, we have to figure something, but the general idea of combing decision making with shooting is to be encouraged.

Rolling a die to determine either the first target, or the no-shoot target is valid. Another possibility is having movable props, designating shotguns or knives or pistols or submachineguns. The idea is the props are moved between competitors and the targets must be taken in order of danger.

Macrophage mentioned a "get out of bed" stage. We used to run the "bear in the camp" stage, where one must extricate one's self from a sleeping bag. (Always good for a laugh.) Also fun is the 'barbershop' set up, where the shooter is in an armed chair, covered with a sheet.

Weak hand stages should be a minor amount; and there must be motivation for a weak hand only shot. If your strong hand has been damaged, then it cannot be used at all. Likewise, one can run a strong hand only stage, or shot.

Someone mentioned stages that handicap older or physically handicapped shooters: I'd like to add there is no point in turning every match into a track and field meet, either.

My own bottom line: Shooting matches should test shooter's ability to shoot; not equipment or running or jumping or lifting ability.

 

[Ankeny]

Off the wall gimmicks have no place in IDPA and really tend to piss off the folks who came into the sport to get away from the nonsense. In my experience, goofy stuff is just a poor substitute for decent stage design. That goes for IPSC as well as IDPA.