Lawdog, I am LEO, firearms trainer, worried about the same stuff when I started IPSC years ago, wondering if the stuff I did at the matches would, as they said in the gunrags, "get me killed".
That is pure unadulterated BS, IMHO. What will save your ass is having the confidence in your shooting skills and having the automatic response skills from shooting a lot at matches where there is some stress on courses of fire. Knowing that your stress presentation will bring your front sight right to where ever your eyes are looking is mighty comforting when you need it. It is one thing to shoot accurately, but to do it under time and do it fast/accurate translates into good training for the street.
I do however hope that when you strap on the duty belt and get your game face on that you are not worried about the start position affecting your performance on the street. Two different/separate things.
Next match go up to the RO, tell him you didnt really know how things worked and apologize. No hard feelings,etc.
However heat or no heat, you should have been able to get something worked out to where you knew what the ball game was. Been there, done that with newbies. I applaud you trying to get more trigger time, keep at it, It Will help you out at o'dark thirty. Be safe, DC
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front sight is good, front sight is good!