Careful what you say as RO

[Tman33_99]

I know many will chime saying ROs should only use the words listed in the rule book, and I agree...here is an example that happened to me.

The COF consisted of starting seated at table, and it was a field course with targets spread both sides of berm down range with a door at end and actived targets beyond that.

On the start, I got up, and started shooting the targets on the left and made a fast turn and run to the right to engage those targets, where I hooked my left foot on the right table leg. As I was falling I shot A/C on one target to the right strong hand. Shot the next target C/C strong hand while getting up. I was engaging the next array when I heard "WHOOAAAAAAAA" from the RO.

I turned and looked at with a puzzled look as to why I was stopped. He was looking back at me with a puzzled look as why I was stopping.

Me being from Oklahoma, I heard "WHOA" and immediate thought like Yosemite Sam that "WHOA" means "stop dagnambit, I said WHOA".

The RO meant "WHOA" as in "WHOA dude, that was some pretty knarly shooting as you're falling".

Anyway, I got to reshoot the stage, shot if faster, but don't really know if I shot it better since I picked up a mike or two on the reshoot.

But the same word can mean something totally different to two people at the same place at the same time.

[Garfield]

Hi,

As an RO, I always am silent during the whole COF unless I have to issue a command, and that's what I think all RO's should do.

But I have to admit that sometimes I really have to bit emy tongue to keep me from saying something .

[tightloop]

Not to slam you, but if he doesn't say STOP, continue with what you were doing. Then, after you are CLEAR, punch him in the face for screwing with you while shooting. Kidding of course, but he should know better, as should you.

[JohnL]

I never say a word while a shooter is on the course of fire unless it is to issue a command or to alert the shooter their muzzle is approaching the 180.

I have enough trouble shooting some of the courses without more distraction from the RO.

[TriggerT]

Yep, if the RO doesn't say stop, keep going. However, I can see where "Whoa" regestered as "stop." Anyone who is around horses at all would have the same reaction. As a matter a fact, I wonder if the SASS RO's would swap the two words out in their RO manual?

[Loves2Shoot]

I have been know to burst out laughing when ROing a buddy who totally screws up, sometimes you just can't help it

[Tman33_99]

I have been know to burst out laughing when ROing a buddy who totally screws up, sometimes you just can't help it

You sound like my buddy who offered me a biscuit for my JAM.

[Gun Geek]

I thought you were going to say you kept shooting and got DQ'd for not following commands. Then you wanted to protest the DQ.

If you didn't hear the word "STOP" then you should have kept shooting.

Call me Nazi if you want!

I think I learned this from sports as a kid. Play until you hear the whistle, not until until you think there is a rules problem. Big deal in footbal and basketball where there are often crowd reactions that would make you think the play is over.

Didn't we see a Big League Baseball player screw this up a couple of years ago in the World Series? Think his name is Chuck Knobloch. Chuck earned the moniker "Blockhead" for stopping to argue a call with a ref when he could have kept his yap shut and just stepped on a base and gotten the guy out.

Biscuit for the jam is pretty good. That might make it out of my mouth this weekend.

[Tman33_99]

If you didn't hear the word "STOP" then you should have kept shooting. 

You and a several others have this sentiment. And trust me, when I heard the words WHOA come out, It registered as STOP. I don't think I will make that mistake again, but I don't think that RO will make the mistake again either. He felt bad about accidentally stopping my run.

[Flexmoney]

I have heard more than one "National's level" CRO say WHOA in place of STOP. Saw a guy on my squad at Nationals get DQ''ed for breaking the 180...first word out of the CRO was WHOA (he eventually got to STOP).

[Tman33_99]

I had a shooter surprise me and break the 180. I was about 6 feet away trailing to his side. I saw his muzzle start my way....I will admit the first words out of my mouth weren't STOP, but SH*T.....STOP followed very quickly though.

[mactiger]

It wasn't until this iteration of the rule book that the word "STOP" was officially a range command. Many people learned either "WHOA", or "FREEZE", as well as "STOP", depending on who taught the class and where they were shooting most often at the time. I've heard them all used to stop a shooter. Most of the time, TMan, the first word isn't STOP, as you stated--it's usually something more, er, colorful.

Troy

[Vince Pinto]

Troy is perfectly correct that the word "Stop" is now an official IPSC command (Rule 8.3.5), and that's the only word which can be used by an RO to terminate a course of fire.

However Rule 8.6.1 allows other "safety warnings" to be issued to (hopefully) prevent unsafe actions by a competitor during a COF, which may endanger himself or others. In this rule, we don't specify "approved words", but the most commonly used words are "finger" and "muzzle". Despite varying opinions on whether or not an RO should or should not issue any such warnings, I think it's clear that these particular words constitute safety warnings, as in "(watch your) finger".

On the other hand, I don't think "whoa" can be considered to be a "safety warning" by any stretch of the imagination, and the competitor would probably be entitled to a claim a reshoot, if he protested that utterance of that word by the RO was tantamount to interference inconsistent with Rule 8.6.1.

As it turns out, TMan secured a reshoot, and I think this was a good solution, based on the incident as he presented it here.

[Carlos]

johnl wrote: "I never say a word while a shooter is on the course of fire unless it is to issue a command or to alert the shooter their muzzle is approaching the 180."

I agree. This came up on my stage at SummerBlast: Only One Please Pt. II. Timing on this stage was critical as it involved 3 very slow forward falling poppers/activators. A competitor, during COF, engaged a popper which did not fall. He either missed it or struck it too low, edged it, - whatever, I was primarily focused on the gun. With targets not yet engaged, the shooter briefly stopped and half-announced/ half asked: "range equipment failure, reshoot!". I said nothing. Figuring I would not take the bait, he kept shooting. After I called "range clear", I asked if he wanted a calibration (he did) & popper went down. Until I call "range clear", I generally will not say a word (other than warnings as above).