[maineshootah]

My home club gets about 15-20 shooters to show up for a local USPSA matches. The only other USPSA club in the state (about 90 miles south) and makes up for about 5 of the 15-20 that show for our matches.

Recently a few of us at the club kicked around the idea of a "league night" on our indoor range.
(Note.. it gets dark at 4:30 PM here.. 0 - 15 degrees outside and knee deep snow in the bays)
Just a couple of hours on a week night, Cover basic stuff, draws, reloads, gear, box to box movement.. etc.

First week was the diehards, the 4 guys who always come early and stay late to the matches to help.

This week... 12 shooters showed up. Cool!

Next week I was told to expect almost 20... for a middle of the week night time event. I can't believe it, a Wednesday night in the middle of the winter over a dozen fellas come out to shoot USPSA on the indoor range..

A lot of these guys are new, having made only 1 match or so. They said they loved the league night as it allowed them to "practice" the right things without the pressure of a match, and get the chance to have others who have done it for a while watch and critique their skills, and learn about gear.

I can't wait until the "warm/dry shooting season" gets here.. I should have a ripe crop of newbies (and future USPSA / IDPA members) .. just itching to get outside and shoot.


Build it....... and they will come.

[VegasOPM]

I've been playing with that kind of idea for our club as well. We have two matches per month, but a regular practice/ safety orientation would probably get some involvement too. Of course, I have my hands full MDing 2 matches per month- so it might wait a while.

[maineshootah]

VegasOPM, on Feb 20 2009, 09:53 PM, said:

I've been playing with that kind of idea for our club as well. We have two matches per month, but a regular practice/ safety orientation would probably get some involvement too. Of course, I have my hands full MDing 2 matches per month- so it might wait a while.

I totally here you there, having full hands.
It is my intent to get 2 "die hards" out of this league night, which will allow me to move it off my plate and "spread the wealth around".
I just wish we came up with this last year!

[MemphisMechanic]

Our tuesday-night IDPA match has occurred for at least ten years at an indoor range. It is responsible for virtually all of our current diehards, even the USPSA ones, including myself.

This post has been edited by MemphisMechanic: 22 February 2009 - 09:39 PM

[Pittbug]

I'm interested in doing that locally. I inquired at one of the local ranges, but the bay and equipment rental was cost prohibitive for me, unless I can get a small group of guys together. If the group gets too big, then I won't get enough trigger time - I know that sounds selfish...

[maineshootah]

Pittbug, on Feb 23 2009, 05:30 PM, said:

I'm interested in doing that locally. I inquired at one of the local ranges, but the bay and equipment rental was cost prohibitive for me, unless I can get a small group of guys together. If the group gets too big, then I won't get enough trigger time - I know that sounds selfish...

For me, it was a matter of not shooting myself, and focusing on bringing "others" into the fold. If I can get 5 extra die hards to come to all the matches, help setup / tear down.. it is worth it to me in time and effort not shooting on league night.

Having to pay for equipment and bay rental.. that might change how I did things.
Being a member at the club already saved those costs.

[herky]

One of our local clubs runs a Thursday night, three stage "practice" match during January and February. Dedicated ROs, cheap fee ($5), with a mix of very experienced and new shooters. Unfortunately about 10% of the new shooters, 2 or 3, show up at the regular matches. Here in Michigan and Northern Indiana most of the clubs shoot on Sunday and I think that limits the participation from the less than die hard crowd. Might be that it is easier to get out on a weekday night than give up 50% of the weekend.

[Sam815]

herky, on Feb 23 2009, 03:58 PM, said:

One of our local clubs runs a Thursday night, three stage "practice" match during January and February. Dedicated ROs, cheap fee ($5), with a mix of very experienced and new shooters. Unfortunately about 10% of the new shooters, 2 or 3, show up at the regular matches. Here in Michigan and Northern Indiana most of the clubs shoot on Sunday and I think that limits the participation from the less than die hard crowd. Might be that it is easier to get out on a weekday night than give up 50% of the weekend.

One of the monthly matches that I shoot at has a Saturday set up which let's you shot afterwards instead of coming back and shooting match on Sunday which is when most of the shooters show up. I wouldn't mind helping set up and letting a new shooter run through and just come back on Sunday and shot with the rest of the group. I just shot my first match of the year earlier this month and was squadded with three other shooters which included a father and son team. While the father had shot previously, it was the son's first time, and needless to say he was somewhat intimidated. One of RO's took him to the safe area in between stages and gave the young man pointers on how to break down the stages as well as reloading on the move and how to engage the targets using proper grip technique. It definitely helped and he became more aware as the match progressed. I've seen a number of shooters who come down to the matches with their children or friends and their often left sitting on the sidelines. Perhaps setting up a mini clinic during the matches where a potential new shooter can be encouraged to shoot a stage would go a long way towards getting new shooters involved in our sport. Being a left handed shooter I usually carry an extra rig for a right handed shooter in case we have a new shooter who is interested in shooting but doesn't have the necessary gear to participate.

[raz-0]

We offer two less formal, not officially USPSA indoor matches at old bridge, and they cater to the newbies. We get a decent turnout for them, and a lot of new shooters get started that way.

However, there definitely seems to be some demand for skills development at the level somewhere between "I bought the gear" and "I'm heavily involved in supporting the matches."

[Sam815]

raz-0, on Feb 24 2009, 10:45 AM, said:

We offer two less formal, not officially USPSA indoor matches at old bridge, and they cater to the newbies. We get a decent turnout for them, and a lot of new shooters get started that way.

However, there definitely seems to be some demand for skills development at the level somewhere between "I bought the gear" and "I'm heavily involved in supporting the matches."

Hi raz-0,
While I've never been there I here you guys run a great match at Old Bridge. While I shoot the Freeport & Pine Barrens matches as much as possible, I definitely try and make the Dutchess County match every month. I'll have to try OB sometime.

[Luis Leon]

maineshootah,

The Dutchess County Pistol Association has a Tuesday Night P.A.L. (Pistol Action League). Its a great venue to practice shooting all year long and between matches. We usually shoot 3 stages of the same COF. Each stage a different way. Great way to spend Tuesday nights, and I have learned so much from all the shooters who attend. Great idea good luck with your venture.

best regards,

Luis Leon

[SA Friday]

My home-away-from-home club offers two matches a month. One is a USPSA sanctioned match, and the second is a "Fun-Shoot". The MD's for the two matches are different, but they both work together. The fun shoot is basically an accuracy match where people can shoot without a clock and become more confident in their shooting ability. Just about any gun will work for it. The fun shoot get's rid of the inhibitions new shooters might have shooting a USPSA match. Second, York runs a beginners class to introduce the aspects of USPSA shooting to newbies. We had so many new shooters we had to go to a split day format to fit everyone for the sanctioned match, getting into the 100's now. We just got the new Palm scoring stuff too to help alleviate the match scoring burden. The last match the stats people got the 1000-yard-stare going at about noon. It was scary just how baked they looked.

There are a lot of new gun owners out there. Using an intermediary type match or class that most people can make seems to be the ticket to get the newbies over their fears and into the game.

[SIE107]

Wish that they would to that here where I am at.

[h2osport]

Here we have a club sanctioned free form practice every Wednesday night at 6:00 March-Nov(dst). We set up a stage and shoot it until we get hungry. Then we go have chicken at a local restaurant. We encourage new shooters to come to the Wed night practice. We run it like a regular stage at a match, and keep track of time/pts/hf. It has worked out to get at least 2-3 new shooters into the monthly matches every year. It gives the new shooters a chance to shoot without the pressures of a match, while the RO's take extra time with them to get them comfortable. It also allows someone to shoot a course several times, and work on different things to see how they affect the Hit Factor.

Randy