What Would You Do

[rubberneck]

I shot a classifier match this past weekend and now believe that one of the stages was set up improperly and gave right handed shooters an unfair advantage over left handed shooters.

The classifier was 06-07 steely speed IV. When you shot around the left side of the barricade only an inch of the right most popper was exposed. If you went to the right side of the barricade you could see almost the entire left most popper. As a lefty I had to go around the right side of the barricade if I had any realistic shot at hitting the popper on the right.

Looking at the course design today it appears that the stage was off a bit off center in the set up. The barricade, according to the diagram should have been centered between the two middle poppers. That way the targets should have had an equal level of difficulty going around either side of the barricade.

I don't really care about being at a disadvantage. As a lefty I have grown used to it. What I really want to know is what responsbility, as a shooter, do I have to speak up if I believe a classifier stage is set up incorrectly? What should I have done? While it didn't bother me I am sure it might have bothered other left handed shooters, if there were any. Should I have gone and found the MD and brought it to his attention? As it was I just shot the stage the way it was set up and let the chips fall where they may.

The stage in question:

http://www.uspsa.com/classifiers/06-07.pdf

[ima45dv8]

What I really want to know is what responsbility, as a shooter, do I have to speak up if I believe a classifier stage is set up incorrectly?

I think it's a responsibility we all share. The classification system isn't perfect and we can't make it so. But if we see an obvious error in setup that could skew the numbers for the folks shooting that match we need to alert the MD to the fact.

Should I have gone and found the MD and brought it to his attention?

I think so.

[Flexmoney]

You should bring it up to the match director.

If the stage was setup incorrectly, it can still be used in the match, but that particular stage should not be sent in as a classifier (they would need to adjust the stages in EZ Winscore to show that it was NOT a classifier, before sending it in).

[Mistral404]

We have had the classifier set up incorrectly a couple times over the past few years at our club.

Our club might be different in that everyone is expected to help setup and take down.

Most of the time we just bring it to the squad's attention then go about resetting the stage correctly.

I have shot at clubs where the stage is setup by other folks. Then I would notify the match director.

I have seen the gamut for MDs that will work to make it right and others who just blow you off. It kind of depends of the culture of the club and the attitude of the MD.

[BSeevers]

An incorrect setup classifier cheats every USPSA shooter. If its easier then an inflated score gets sent in(why not just take a second off your times its the same thing) and if its harder that's just as bad. Tell the MD and if its too late to reshoot everybody then I know you should not send it in