puttingon a good match, Timelyness

[bigbrowndog]

We only have so much time, for a match its hours in daylight and days in a weekend. When deciding on

how many stages to have in a match the MD needs to be able to accurately and realistically estimate

the time it takes for one squad to get through a stage. Max. stage times need to be accurate for that

stage and not just an arbitrary 180 seconds or such. Also consider whether or not your walk through

time is fair, in pistol matches , we are limited to 5 minutes max. however we are only dealing with one

gun and stage design and target numbers are strictly regulated by the governing body. Utilizing more

than one gun and type of ammunition, and then holding the walk through to the same amount of time is

unrealistic and unfair for the first few competitors that do not get the extra time that the last few

competitors have. You should consider the time needed for a shooter to see the stage and formulate

a plan with all the guns and ammunition needed for the stage. Then get that gear ready and placed on

them. That is your walk through time, now add the time needed to shoot the stage, recover and make

safe all the weapons and then start resetting the stage. This should be done with a limited experience

shooter in order to keep times as accurate as possible, and you should know if the RO’s for the stage will

feel comfortable allowing stage resetting to take place with potentially hot guns still on the range. That

should be a realistic competitor to competitor run time. Now multiply that by the number of

competitors in the squad and you should have a very realistic run time for the stage. If you have a

squad full of relatively new competitors it will take longer, if the stage is complicated , shooter to

shooter run time is longer, if the stage is spread out that time is increased as well, all these things go

into figuring out how many stages can be run and completed in the time you have available for the

match. If your squad run time for one stage is 1.5hrs. you are looking at a squad getting 6 stages

completed in one day and that’s with no reshoots, breakages, or delays of any kind. The time of 1.5hrs.

is realistic for a somewhat technical stage of about 20-30rds. with all three guns, and ten competitors in

a squad. If all of your stages are of this type then for a 2 day match you had better not have more

than 10 stages, and 8 or 9 would be better so as to allow time for delays. This is another reason why it is

helpful to include short and medium courses into a match. A squad can complete 2 short courses in the

time it takes to complete a single long course, or a technical medium one. This also allows a MD to

place 2 short courses in the same area that would only hold one long course and it allows the squad to

move rapidly to the next stage and complete it. Short courses are a pleasant break for the shooter from

the tedium of having to carry all your gear for every COF as well. Another benefit is that the shorter

courses of fire can usually be made weather neutral and as such can be shot when other longer courses

cannot be, thus saving a match from being cancelled midway through shooting. When trying to decide

on how many stages and what type to include into your match, remember that no one complains about

getting done early, but running late creates issues for everyone involved, from the competitor to the

MD. The term “dumbing down stage design” has recently been used to describe what I am referring to

as good stage design, and yet many of those same people want to increase the max. stage times so that

they can at least finish a stage or have extra penalties given to them for going over on time?????

Those statements are hypocritical, I’m sorry but increasing stage time is simply another way of dumbing

down a stage and it increases the run time for a stage and directly impacts the match run time.

Of course everyone wants to complete a stage, it is embarrassing to be told stop because you timed out,

but this is best accomplished by designing stages that can be completed in the time allotted, not allow

some to simply go over in time and increase the time needed to complete the stage.

The contingency plan, follows..........thanks

Edited June 2, 2010 by bigbrowndog