putting on a good match, Being a good participant

[bigbrowndog]

This last bit does not concern how to put on a good match, but how to be a good competitor,

with regard to being involved in the match, not your shooting performance. There are 2 ways to be

memorable, you can be extremely good, or extremely bad. The vast majority of us are in the middle

somewhere, some are easy going and carefree, some are intense and critical of ourselves and others.

To be a good participant you should obey the rules for the match and range. This means you should

read the rules before showing up, it’s amazing what you can learn by reading the rules, I try and print

them and take them with me. Obey the directions of the match staff, be polite and courteous, do not

curse or throw fits when you perform badly. Tape and reset your stage, try and show up earlier than

your appointed time. If you want to do something in conjunction with the match, a side match, or

raffle, or set up a table to sell stuff, clear it with the MD, BEFORE the match, preferably a week or two

before and then follow up a few days before the match. Assuming that you can do this without prior

notification is a good way to get your name on the bad memorable list. Also second guessing the

MD/RM on stage set up or preparation and making what you feel are good constructive suggestions,

only increases the possibility of your name getting underlined on that bad list. Those suggestions are

better saved for an email after the match, all a MD wants to hear on match week is that everything is

going great and on schedule. If you finish the match early and others are still shooting and you’re bored,

offer to help, more help is always appreciated and it might get that underline erased from your name.

Well that's it, hopefully everyone can garner some good info from this, obviously not everyone will think that our ideas are good ones, or that they are even accomplishable, however everything mentioned can and has been done at major matches, So before you say it can't be done, think first about whether you want to put on a good match, or not.

Trapr and Kurt