I started at 5 yards about 2 years ago. Some of you may laugh but it took at least 6 months for me to be satisfied. I bought at least 5 hand guns the first year for myself and 3 sons. There was plenty of swapping going on that 1st year and that led to a slow start on accuracy. Once we picked our favorites and stuck with them, the learning curve became more precise. All guns may shoot well at 5 yds, but shooters don't! When I was able to put 5 out of 5 in the bulls eye, I began at 7 yds. Now my eyes are old and my hands aren't as steady as they once were so I'm pretty limited but these are the distances you want to be good at for self defense. Unless you plan on "hunting" bad guys, you need to be very accurate in the 5-7 yd range. That is where your threat will be. So now I start at 10 yards.
That's not to say I don't try 25 yds from time to time but with my vision, I don't expect bulls eyes. It's just fun to do! Another point is that when you are learning, it's easier to trouble shoot your mistakes and make changes to your methods. When 1 out of 5 is a bad shot, it's easier to make changes. When 4 out of 5 are bad... where do you start? If my range partners are any indication, most shooters work on their ten yd. groupings at our club. Like any endeavor, the place to start, is at the beginning!