Getting back to the original point of this thread, getting more shooters out. I'm a consultant and also travel a lot. I'm either returning from a trip or stuck in some ungodly place over the weekend many of the 2nd Saturdays so I've missed more matches than I've made. The April match was my first in a long time. I have slightly more flexibility now and hope to make more in the future. Now to the suggestions.

1) I personally hope to shoot at home more often and will always try to talk my shooting friends into coming along. If everybody did that the attendance should go up.

2) For newbies, I suggest that you point them to one of the excellent books on tactical shooting. The one by Gabe Suarez gives step by step instructions for practicing presenting from a draw, dry fire practice, etc. I followed the instructions and did a lot of dry fire practice before my 2nd and subsequent matches. It removed a lot of apprehension about gun handling and looking like a dufuss. The other thing is shooting your first match in a very friendly enviornment. I was lucky in shooting my first match in that kind of environment in Houston before I discovered FRIDPA. From what I've seen, our matches at CCCSC are also that kind of environment.

3) I think posting pictures is a wonderful idea. As a semi-professional photographer with a digital camera and a lot of lenses, I'd be glad to take pictures at our matches (the ones I'm able to attend) for the website.

4) Along the same lines, a short video showing an average shooter completing a simple stage would also help beginners get over the initial apprehension.

I'm thinking about shooting IPSC just to get more trigger time, but I'm having the same apprehension because I just don't know - how it differs from IDPA, what the rules are, who the shooters are, etc. It's easy to see how a beginner would be terrified unless they're dragged to a IDPA match by a fellow shooter.

Ray