Monthly IDPA matches are a great help. The qualifier is a twice a year match that allows you to learn the basics. The monthly matches are the ones that sharpen your combat skills with real life incidences.
One of the most important things I learned from IDPA is the use of hard cover as apposed to standing in the open and shooting. Someone wrote an article and he bragged his previous experiences had allowed him the skills to win the IDPA match. He claimed he had won the match by reloading as he ran to the next cover thereby eliminating reload time.
IDPA does not allow reloading on the move. All reloads have to be made from behind cover.
I’d like to get involved in IDPA...nothing like it where I live.
The course I took was a one-day course, but we shot 400-rds of ammo. We shot a lot, and did all the jam drills, reloading, multiple targets, shooting on the move and behind cover. Small class, so a lot of individual attention. I will go back if I can...70% of the people in the class were repeats. It made me want to do more and do some competive shooting.