My last match

[motosapiens]

1 hour ago, Dutchman195 said:

 

Expensive. Understatement of the year. 

Only if your previous hobbies were things like knitting. It's way cheaper than racing dirtbikes.... or even trailriding dirtbikes on a regular basis...

 

You can spend a buncha money on custom guns and air travel to major matches every month..... or you could buy a reliable workhorse gun and shoot local matches for a couple hundo a month. (i.e. less than I spend on beer).

[Sarge]

55 minutes ago, rowdyb said:

wow, i can't imagine a local match where each squad has 3 actual certified RO's on it. most my locals have 6 squads of 10-14 shooters. it truly is hard for me to imagine a local of 70 competitors where 20 of them are certified RO's..... i'm used to single digits on that one.

 

That must be very dependent on location. I literally can’t think of one of the regulars around here who isn’t at least an RO with many being CRO’s. Half of any given squad at our locals are probably certified.

[motosapiens]

1 minute ago, Sarge said:

That must be very dependent on location. I literally can’t think of one of the regulars around here who isn’t at least an RO with many being CRO’s. Half of any given squad at our locals are probably certified.

same here. and every year or two we  had another dozen or so local RO's.

[shred]

We have lots of certified ROs, but not that many that run shooters regularly.  Probably time to start encouraging more to step up.

 

Setting expectations is key. 

 

If your noob isn't searching out info or missed something in the shooter meeting, they may not even know they're supposed to tape, and even then sometimes they try to be helpful and end up taping too soon or moving downrange before Range Is Clear and getting yelled at and that's the end of that, or maybe they are afraid of that happening and just don't because everyone else seems to have it handled and they have plenty of other things to worry about.  

 

We experienced shooters know the ropes and just know when to go tape and set which is not easy to learn by osmosis, especially when literally everything at the match is new and all coming at you.  When you have 'all-buddy' squads, with a couple newbies chucked on it can make it even harder to learn anything.

 

[Darqusoull13]

25 minutes ago, shred said:

We have lots of certified ROs, but not that many that run shooters regularly.  Probably time to start encouraging more to step up.

 

Setting expectations is key. 

 

If your noob isn't searching out info or missed something in the shooter meeting, they may not even know they're supposed to tape, and even then sometimes they try to be helpful and end up taping too soon or moving downrange before Range Is Clear and getting yelled at and that's the end of that, or maybe they are afraid of that happening and just don't because everyone else seems to have it handled and they have plenty of other things to worry about.  

 

We experienced shooters know the ropes and just know when to go tape and set which is not easy to learn by osmosis, especially when literally everything at the match is new and all coming at you.  When you have 'all-buddy' squads, with a couple newbies chucked on it can make it even harder to learn anything.

 

Nailed it. We have much higher new shooter return rates when we assign an experienced shooter to walk the new guy through the entire match. The "pro" gets his "amateur" and walks him through safety, stage planning, helping reset and it's paid off. We get the positive feedback after the match and we see folks coming back. 

 

I bought a couple extra tape guns that I kept for my squad that sped stuff up enough to justify buying them for the club. We turn reset into a game and joke with the new shooters that they can skip pasting by hand and go straight to "Open Division Pasting."

If some of y'all other folks want to yell and act like you knew everything your first match to get reset done time I suppose that's up to you. It's not impressive and I wouldn't personally come back. 

[pskys2]

Yes it is miserable.  I've been in squads where I was the only one who would run the timer.  At local matches I always try to squad with at least 2 other known RO/worker types.  I don;t mind a couple of new shooters, but not a whole squad can become dangerous and it is not good match organization to do so.  Interestingly many new shooters actually work their butts off, and I will make it known how important and appreciatted it is.  The others that really steam me are the prima donna's who worry more about their performance at a club match than doing their part.  I can usually talk to the new guys and get through to them, but the PD's are hopeless and once I ID them I won't squad with them.

Another thought is in the case of the father/son slackers, put them 1st and last, always.  If they leave or don't come back, so be it life is too short to baby sit such.

[Mcfoto]

On the other hand, I recently had a match where one guy hogged the brick and only let someone he know run him and then at the last stage complain that he was tired. 

 

I've also caught attitude from skilled shooters when I grab the brick. I may be an old pokie D class wheelgunner but I'm certified and know how to score and use cards.

[StealthyBlagga]

On 6/11/2019 at 8:33 AM, Gary Stevens said:

 

As to penalizing a shooter for not working, it is not supported by the rulebook.

 

 

With respect, I vehemently disagree with your statement above. It is expected that all shooters reset in order for the match to run on schedule. To avoid doing so gives the shooter an UNFAIR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE by virtue of being less fatigued throughout the match. In fact, even if the shooter brings someone else along (friend, parent, servant, whatever) to help with reset, I expect the shooter themselves to help also. If I am the RO, RM or MD (and I wear all three hats frequently) and you refuse to help reset after repeated requests, I am DQing you under 10.6.1:

 

10.6.1 Competitors will be disqualified from a match for conduct which a Range Officer deems to be unsportsmanlike. Examples of unsportsmanlike conduct include, but are not limited to, cheating, dishonesty, failing to comply with the reasonable directions of a Match Official, or any behavior likely to bring the sport into disrepute. The Range Master must be notified as soon as possible.

 

See the bold text above. If I am a Range Officer and I deem their lack of resetting to be unsportsmanlike (for the reasons given above), or if the person ignores my directions to help reset, then both are grounds for a match DQ. If the shooter doesn't like it, that is what the arbitration process is for - they are welcome to make their case that my directions that they help with reset are not "reasonable". Of course, if someone is physically disabled that is different, but I'm not hearing that in this case.

 

We had a guy refuse to reset at a recent 3-Gun match here and he got short shrift... ZERO TOLERANCE for this horseshit in my neck of the woods.

Edited June 16, 2019 by StealthyBlagga

[Gary Stevens]

I am always willing to admit when I am wrong. Perhaps an e-mail to DNROI will enlighten all of us.

 

I can only go by my understanding of the rules and 40 years of experience.

 

I have wanted to 10.6 slackers myself. However, I was told in no uncertain terms that I could not.

 

Now I admit that things are changing almost everyday, so this might be one of the changes I missed.

[StealthyBlagga]

1 hour ago, Gary Stevens said:

I am always willing to admit when I am wrong. Perhaps an e-mail to DNROI will enlighten all of us.

 

I can only go by my understanding of the rules and 40 years of experience.

 

I have wanted to 10.6 slackers myself. However, I was told in no uncertain terms that I could not.

 

Now I admit that things are changing almost everyday, so this might be one of the changes I missed.

 

Unfortunately the "powers that be" at USPSA have proven themselves strangely reluctant to support a plain reading of the rules as written, apparently much preferring to divine mysterious and seemingly contrary meanings out of the ether, presumably in the interests of customer service and Facebook likes. An email to DNROI these days seems about as advisable as sending a request for clarification to the ATF... you never know what you are gonna get.

 

USPSA is not alone - I worked an IPSC match in Canada a few weeks ago where the provincial director had managed to imagine any number of bizarro provisions in the rules and had handed down imperious "interpretations" accordingly. The more I participate in USPSA and IPSC, the more I warm to the concept of outlaw matches 

Edited June 16, 2019 by StealthyBlagga