Well, I certainly agree with that Joe. But serious competitors spend many times more hours at the range practicing than actually competing. Buying ammo for practice was bankrupting me after Obummer got elected. I switched to using a 22 conversion slide for a while, until 22 ammo disappeared. For a while I was practicing with an Airsoft 1911 because it was the only way I could afford to shoot and wore the gun slam out. Then I started casting my own bullets, which was economical, but slowed me down considerably. At that point I went into "Ammo Conservation Mode" and decided to take a break from competing. Now that 22 ammo is loosening up, I'm back to mostly practicing with a 22 conversion slide, and getting serious about it again.
The matches to me aren't really a competition with other shooters. They are a "final exam" if you will, of how well I have been practicing. My first few matches were focused on accuracy and mechanics instead of speed. It took over a year before I could run a clean match. I would
THINK I had it all down in practice, but under the pressure of the matches, flaws became evident. As I got to where I could run clean matches, then I started working on speed.
At the beginning I worked with an instructor. That only got me so far. The IDPA matches (and preparation for them) got me much farther down the road than just the training alone.
^^^ is the gun I compete with...and carry.