A question for all those that set up stages

[professor]

What's interesting about high ports/walls is that a "shorty" can request, AND GET, a step to stand on to reach a port or wall that is too high for them, but there's no accommodation that will even the playing field for the tall guy that has to access a low port.

Being "vertically challenged" myself, I got screwed by the swinging bridge stage at one of the Las Vegas Nationals [2011?]. There were a bunch of plates to take down that each had a wooden beam in front of them to "protect" the base of the plates. The taller you were, the more you could see of the targets, and the easier the stage became. I didn't realize how difficult those shots would be until actually sending bullets downrange. Too late to challenge the stage because of the unfair restriction to seeing the targets.

[JAFO]

What's interesting about high ports/walls is that a "shorty" can request, AND GET, a step to stand on to reach a port or wall that is too high for them, but there's no accommodation that will even the playing field for the tall guy that has to access a low port.

But a tall guy can bend, squat, kneel, etc to get lower. Not saying it's as easy as stepping up, but you can't do anything to get taller.

[MarkCO]

The tall guy also gets there with fewer steps. . Go find the video of Hunter ("nubs") attack a wall the competitors had to climb at BR3G... With no hands.

The playing field is not even. Some are bigger, faster, or smarter. The stage designer should not trip people up and the various types of games and rules set some boundaries that should be followed.

[Jim Norman]

We do use low ports as in get down on the ground to shoot through low ports at times, HOWEVER we almost exclusively put them at the last shooting position so that getting back up is not required on the clock! If all 'ports' become 'slots' that does change the challenges. This said, ports should be from about 3-6 to 5-0 above the ground, they can be as narrow as you want them, maybe only 3-6 inches, but if you make them 30" high, starting at a reasonable height, no one should ever complain. Shooting weak or wrong handed at the end of a wall is acceptable but every stage and array should not require it, If they do, you are likely going to piss off most of your clients. If you have three tight shots to the left that obviously favor the LH shooter, put in a maximum of three that are tight to the right, now everyone can be equally PO'd. Don't make all your RH shots tight and all but one LH shot loose. Your LH shooters will certainly not be appreciative. Now this said, if it wasn't for USPSA and 3-Gun, how many of us would ever have thought about shooting off the weakside?