match etiquette

[Vince Pinto]

I smoke, but you'll never catch me smoking when I have a competitor under my direct care and control.

When I need a fix, I only get one while targets are being taped and reset, and I stand away from everybody.

[Phil Dunlop]

'Assisting the competitor'

Vince, if you get sick of Hong Kong, we'll make room for you here!!

P.D.

[Ron Ankeny]

Vince:

You have a wonderful perspective on being an RO. The shooter is under your "care"...I like that.

[Vince Pinto]

Thanks Ron and Phil. I have two guiding principles when I work a match:

1) I apply the rules consistently and without fear or favour;

2) Although I don't treat competitors like customers (sorry Kath!), I always treat them as friends and I do my very best to help them enjoy my stage.

The other side of the coin is that when I shoot a match:

3) I shake the hands of every official and thank them for freely giving up their time for me;

4) I don't blame them if I screw up the stage.

The bottom line is mutual respect and common courtesy.

[mcoliver]

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Quote: from Patrick Sweeney on 11:54 am on Oct. 1, 2002

....

What we need at international matches is a multi-language card.  How do you say "On deck shooter coming through" in Tagalog or Italian?

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In tagalog, probably just "makiki-raan po"  or "oops, sorry...makiki-raan po."  The latter being said after you've stepped on his feet.

I agree.  I myself get annoyed in our club matches with everybody zig-zagging around you while you're internalizing your strategy.  Maybe I can talk to my squad the next time around to do the conga-line and force everybody to line up. Thanks.

[BDH]

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Quote: from Erik Warren on 11:31 am on June 24, 2002

Do not walk through a stage when another squad is present. Do not set foot on the stage, do not use their shade, do not use their bag space, do not use their seats, until they have taped up for their last shooter and she or he has signed the scoresheet.

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I would add one thing to this list.... even after the last shooter on the squad finishes, if you are on the next squad, do not walk the stage until you turn in YOUR scoresheet to the range officers that are running the stage.

I know this seems like a little thing, but we wasted a bunch of time in Bend chasing around shooters on the stage, because according to our squad list we had enough bodies on the stage, but we were still short a scoresheet or two. After running a few squads, we just told the squads coming up to the stage that they were only allowed on the stage, once they handed us their scoresheet. That made our lives a little easier, but more importantly, it made the stage run a little more efficient.

And especially at big matches.... efficiency is critical.

Brian - CRO Stage 13 2002 Race Gun Nationals

[Flexmoney]

sounds good.

I also like the way that the BE crew worked together at the Nats.

The way Bill Seevers tells it...they keep the same shooting order from stage to stage, just put the first shooter from one stage on the bootom of the list for the next stage.  

Also, moving as a group to the next stage...nobody leaves until everybody is ready...mags cleaned, loaded...whatever.

[BDH]

Flex,

Actually, I really 'prefer' that squads show up with a shooting order already set. However, if they don't, it's no big deal to shuffle them and pull the lucky 'first shooter' scorecard. Just one more thing to do is all.

As for staying together, I agree 110%. At the 2000 Limited Nationals in PA, one of the shooters on my squad showed up late for the walk-thru after lunch. It turned out that he had a family medical emergency at home and was stuck on the phone trying to sort it out.

Well, to make a long story short, he showed up near the end of our squad (in other words, he did not hold anything up), and the range staff went completely nuts on him. It ended up that we finished shooting, and they were trying to decide if they would let him shoot or not. Finally they decided to call the RM down to the stage, and what was interesting, was that they were trying to get all the rest of us to move on.

The bottom line... we said he was a member of our squad, and we were not moving to the next stage without him. The RM showed up, chewed on the shooter a little more, they finally let him shoot, we cheered him on, and we left together as a full squad.

I will always remember that!

Brian

[Vince Pinto]

Keeping squads together is definitely an asset for all concerned however, from an international perspective, this can be difficult.

A squad could be half from IPSC Tabasco and half from IPSC Guacamole, and language or other barriers often cause the two halves not to work together too effectively.

Hence it's important for RO's to take the lead and ensure they do not process any squad which is incomplete.

[BDH]

Vince, good point. And since I'm very close to enough points for my IROA card, I'll probably come out and see for myself!

[Vince Pinto]

Brian,

Nice to hear you're considering applying for IROA accreditation. I know most of the cadre personally and you couldn't find a nicer, more dedicated bunch of guys and gals anywhere.

The IROA crew which worked WSXIII were on deck from 0700 to 1700 hrs every day for nine days, and they still managed to smile for each squad and keep their cool right to the very end.

[BDH]

Vince,

I need one more L3 match, but then the app will be in the mail. Arnie Christiansen, and Denise Minor were trying to haul me to Hungary with them, but that seemed a little much Also, it seems like we have been so short on range staff at the major matches (especially in Bend), that it would be hard to justify going overseas, when we're needed here at home. Hmmmm, if I was only retired!

And South America in a couple of years.... that could be a different matter! Of course, I will have to work on my stamina, as I was pretty burnt out after two staff days, and four match days in Bend, so I can't imagine nine days!

[Phil Dunlop]

Vince,

I take your point about the internationals.

At WS we were squadded with Australians!

Man that was tough!!

;)P.D.

[Patrick Sweeney]

Shooting and writing about a match can be a juggling act.  Whenever i noted on the schedule that the big dogs would be at a stage with good camera angles (forget if it was fun to watch, I needed photos) I'd scurry off to the next stage I was in line for.  I'd simply walk up to the Stage CRO, introduce myself, and explain what I had to do.

I've never had a problem, and as WSXIII I showed up for Stage 8 as the last two shooters in my squad shot it.  the RO gave me a quick walkthorugh, let me walk the stage, and then I shot it.  (One of my best stage finishes, too.)

A little politness and planning never hurts.  I also told my squad what I was doing, so they could proceed without me.

[Vince Pinto]

Well done Patrick. Courtesy and politeness goes a long way.

[gm iprod]

Phil,

I bet the language barrier was a problem. With that hard to understand accent.

[Mike From Philly]

I may be bad, so here's my confession .....  I hate picking up brass .... my own and others.  So I don't.  So far nobody has pulled me aside to correct me.  

I think that the "loaders" are picking up my brass behind me and I'm certainly happy that they do so.  I don't expect others to pick up my brass nor do I ever ask for it back from others.  Its my donation to the Gun Gods.

I don't reload and have no intention to do so.  Frankly, I'm scared about lead/heavy metal exposure.  In addition, I hate having to worry about finding my brass.  The whole picking up brass process reminds me of looking for golf balls in the woods ... and this what I hate about golf.  

Well that is my confession .... am I a bad boy?  If it matters, I shoot at clubs around Atlanta.

[EricW]

If you don't want your brass back, just say so before you head to the line.  That way people don't go to the effort of policing it.  

[No offense intended here, but...]

Frankly, in this game, not policing brass because you don't feel like it (taping or setting steel *are* legit excuses) doesn't work for me.  The only way most folks in IPSC can afford to shoot the volume they do is by recycling brass.  I make the effort to police brass for every shooter on my squad and thank my squad members profusely when they make the same effort for me.  

It's just good manners.

E

[jhgtyre]

If you don't want your own brass by all means tell the staff, someone will probably want it.  You really should help pick it up unless you have a physical disability that makes it dangerous or difficult to do so.  I hate picking it up.  The range I use has fine, silty, dust all over and it gets my hands all grimey and I am just obsesive/compulsive enough that it bugs me, but I still pick it up when it is my turn to do so and often even when it isn't.  If the place you shoot at does things differently and it isn't sticking others with extra work to skip on brassing then ignore my post and have a nice day.

[Duane Thomas]

Just tell the squad, "I don't want my brass." Assuming you're firing a popular caliber - .45, 9mm, .40, etc. - a host of locusts will then descend on the ground after every stage you've shot. As much as people lust after brass, as much as it costs, as much as you inevitably lose while shooting matches....then you've got some guy who WANTS to give it away? Nooooooo problem!

[ErikW]

When you are walking through a stage with your squad and you get to the "end" of the stage, do not walk back up to the start position through the shooting area. Exit the shooting area and walk around it so as not to get in anybody's way.

Be aware that your squad is lining up, or forming a queue, and taking turns walking through. Get in line at the end of the queue. Wait your turn.

Don't spend a lot of time at one position in the walk-through, or go back to a previous position. Get back in line and work it out the next time through.

[magchange]

I'll add my favorite "If you aren't shooting with a squad but are asking questions or making comments ,quit after a few, do not continually pester and distract a competitor, if you even feel like you should ask if you are bothering him/her then you probably are!"

As for the Non-worker types if the usual handing the guy/gal a roll of pasters doesn't work, I prefer to do my part only i.e. I tape the exact number of holes that I will shoot, I reset the steel and activators once. If everyone does this it is equal ,I prefer not to be that way and usually do more than my share but recently I was squadded with several non-workers my approach seemed to relieve me of self induced stress or frustration. Finally the working types got together and would only tape for each other but we would inform the RO what was going on before hand, they were most accomadating!

[old shooter]

I try to be quiet when others shoot. But because I can't read without reading glasses, I don't like to score or RO. I do however put more pasters on targets than any member of my squad.

Mike

[BritinUSA]

Link to previous posts about etiquette and new shooter guidelines (.pdf format)

Link to another post

Edited September 27, 2005 by BritinUSA

[shred]

Applause from the crowd is perfectly appropriate for a good or otherwise spectacular run for the shooter in question.