I say "unfortunately" mainly because very very few of the scenarios that the clubs I have shot at have anything to do with reality. They generally start you in a very tactically unsound position and it usually doesn't get any better from there.
When I have said something about it the attitude of both those who run the matches and most of those who are shooting is "Bob it's only a game"....and that is what it is...just another shooting game that ingrains bad habits and has little to do with training let alone reality....
Bob
That's part of the mindset that I think "training matches" could help.
I'm sure that 100 years ago IPSC and IDPA were supposed to be practical, but today neither of them are. IDPA is completely impractical, it's just in denial about it's impracticality.
Today, they're just a sport. And trying to make them something else is frustrating for the tactical guys and the guy running the match according to the organization's rules, only to have the tactical guys constantly complaining and ridiculing him / the sport.
I think it's akin to showing up at a Thursday night softball game and complaining that it's not realistic training for hitting people with sticks. That's not it's purpose. Getting good at swinging a stick might be an incidental benefit, just like becoming a better / more accurate trigger puller is an incidental benefit of USPSA....but tactical training isn't the purpose of either organization.
So rather than trying to force one organization (USPSA / IDPA) to be something it's not, I wonder about the feasibility of something new to fill the void in the market. Thus, this thread.
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Of course, if you set up a regular local "training match" I suppose you'd eventually end up with the guys at the other end of the spectrum....USPSA wash-outs who'd be showing up at the training match and trying to time and score and rank everybody.
