Richard Van der Wel

Name: Richard van der Wel

Country: The Netherlands

IPSC shooter

 

“Speed, accuracy, and reliability are the three pillars of a successful IPSC performance. The Sightmark Mini Shot M-spec covers all three areas.”

  

“Forget the mistake, remember the lesson.”

After being an active IPSC competitor for over 6 years, Richard has accumulated a significant amount of knowledge and experience in the Open Division. His success and impressive achievements throughout the years are the result of hard work, dedication, and a deep understanding of the challenges in front of him. Having a working strategy is vital. “Deciding in which moment or stage the points are more important than speed, and being flexible enough to adjust your strategy if necessary, is part of the challenge. Inevitably, you’ll make mistakes, but don’t be afraid. Instead, take your time to learn from them. One of the most difficult things for me at the beginning of IPSC was remembering my stage plan. I have several videos of myself where I’m running around on a stage, not having any clue where to go next.”

Having unclear and unrealistic expectations about your own performance can be quite counter-productive in the field of IPSC. “At the beginning, I was worrying about all the wrong things - I was trying to beat the “big guys”. What I quickly learned was that I absolutely had to focus on myself, on improving my own skills, on listening and learning from others. Now, I am at the level where I can compete with the same guys, I was looking up to just 4 years ago. Speed, accuracy, and reliability are the three pillars of a successful IPSC performance.

 

The Sightmark Mini Shot M-spec covers all three areas. I like that it has a steel shield over the aluminum housing so if you hit it somewhere on a stage, the glass won’t break. What helped me a lot was that it took me no time to get used to picking up the dot. It’s a very bright and round dot, which is clear enough on indoor ranges as well as on outdoor ranges. So, I ended up switching to the Mini shot on all my guns and I am very happy with the results.”