This likely isn’t news to anyone with experience in USPSA, but I figured I’d share my notes coming out of my first match. Hope this helps somebody else headed into theirs.
I didn’t expect to win but I was also unprepared for how terrible I was. Overall it was a humbling experience. I had two goals going in: don’t get DQ’d and don’t leave any targets behind. I didn’t get DQ’d, so that worked out. Everything else was bad. Really struggled to find the dot when transitioning targets and I rushed too much. I needed to slow down and suck less.
Nobody cares about what ammo or pistol you’re shooting, or what belt you’re rocking. I know this gets repeated here all the time but truly no one gives a shit. The only things people care about are if you’re safe and if you’re helping reset stages and setting up/tearing down.
People are generally friendly and welcoming. Most folks in my squad were pretty chill and out to have a good time. Other squads were serious to the point of being inhospitable. I’m glad I squadded up with other class U folks and I likely will for the foreseeable future.
I needed a wheeled cart and a camp chair. Yeah yeah only the old guys use them but those geezers know some things. The amount of downtime surprised me and having a place to sit would’ve been nice. Stages get backed up and you can spend an hour between shoots.
Food. I brought a cooler with food and drinks but I didn’t have a cart to tote it around in when moving between stages, so I left it in the truck. That screwed with my hydration plan. Other than water and electrolytes, you don’t need much. I went with simple carbs at the start of the match, some protein around the middle, and more carbs around the 2/3 mark to stay alert. My go tos are Nerds gummy clusters and beef jerky.
Use sunscreen and reapply frequently. It’s a long day out there and you will get cooked. My plan was sunscreen/water/sugar every 90 minutes and it mostly worked out.
Stage planning. I didn’t take stage planning seriously enough and left a lot of targets safe and sound on multiple stages. I went way too fast and that cost me. Penalties basically negated two of my stages. So yeah, I feel like an idiot there.