Lessons from Area 1 |
| Posted By: Veijo Jones | Posted: 07 / 03 / 2010 04:55 |
I helped RO a stage at Area 1 and then participated in a RO debrief immediately after the match with the Rangemasters Tom Chambers & Danielle Kohler. Tom and Danielle have extensive RM experience with Area and National matches and their critique of the rules part of the match was very instructive.
The short story is that there were 15 shooters DQ'd which is more than twice as many as would be expected at an area match. (I DQ'd a shooter for an AD during a reload procedure.) The RM's closely watched shooter and RO performance throughout the match and expressed the following concerns during the debrief & asked all the RO's to take them back to their local clubs.
Local clubs are likely not being strict enough in enforcing safety and performance rules during local matches. Most shooters participate with just one or two clubs on a regular basis and how these clubs enforce safety is "how it is done." If the club is not enforcing safety rules properly they are doing a huge disservice to the shooter who goes to a major match and is at risk of being DQ'd for behavior he 'gets away with' at his local matches.
It's a great benefit to the USPSA that there are standards for the entire organization and the closer they are adhered to the better for all. Appropriate safety rule enforcement, stage designs that follow USPSA guidelines and such will provide a better and more consistent experience for all competitors and better prepare them to attend a major match.
Veijo Jones |
|
| Posted By: Charley Horn | Posted: 07 / 05 / 2010 16:57 |
On Stage 9 the barricade WAS attached to the shooting box. The stage was thrown out for issues involving rules 10.2.8.3 and 10.2.1.
10.2.8 If a course of fire stipulates shooting strong or weak hand only ... the competitor will be issued one
procedural penalty per shot fired while:
10.2.8.3 Using the other hand on a barricade or another prop to increase stability while firing shots.
10.2.1 A competitor ... who gains support or stability through contact with an object which is wholly beyond and NOT ATTACHED to a Shooting Box ... will receive one procedural penalty for each occurrence.
I abbreviated the rules in this posting. Please review the unabbreviated rules for yourself at http://www.uspsa.org/rules/2008HandgunRulesindexed.pdf
|
|
| Posted By: p. pres | Posted: 07 / 05 / 2010 22:18 |
Veijo,
While it is true that local clubs do slack on the rules at times I think there is also the issue of shooter expirience with different props. Local clubs tend to do things one way, usually the one way that they like. Opening doors, pulling ropes, and picking up guns from carpeted cubby holes is not something most local clubs do on a regular basis and this is detrimental to the regular attendees skills.
I saw expirienced shooters do things like drop the gun or sweep themselves while having their mind occupied with some sort of activation or unorthodox start. While unloaded table starts, gun in box, or opening a door during the stage, is not always the fun way to shoot, it does develope skills (and safety skills) for the big match.
|
|
| Posted By: Veijo Jones | Posted: 07 / 07 / 2010 00:40 |
Peter - those are good points. Creative stages keep the sport challenging and fresh though I think there is a point where shooting becomes secondary to operating devices on the stage. Opening doors, one-handed shooting, retrieving a gun from a box, etc are legitimate stage designs that test real-world gun handling skills. The shooter has to adjust his performance level to stay safe regardless of the stage design and the stage designer should be mindful to not create traps.
I think a point that was implied from the A1 RO debrief is that local clubs are probably not DQ-ing shooters when they should be. A DQ is a pretty strong behavior modification tool and is one of the reasons IPSC has such a strong safety record. Nobody wants to get DQ-d or DQ someone else, but safety has to come first. The lesson is certainly less expensive to learn at a local club level. |
|
