Ah Winter…for some it’s a non-event; for others it’s an experiment in battling the elements to keep on enjoying our sport. It’s the season where movement can include dealing with consistently slippery conditions and the inevitable slips and falls by competitors and staff. While we are discussing this all within the context of “Winter” and all the joyous ice and snow that comes with it; the same realities apply everywhere and at any time of year.
[Read more…] about Stopping for SafetyLook it Up, Don’t Overthink it
Several times each month, usually on a Sunday or Monday, we get a question or two that starts along the lines of “This weekend at the match…” and, somewhat astonishingly, it is rarely mentioned that anyone pulled out a current copy of the rules and looked at what they had to say about the situation. Quite often someone who is considered to be “good with the rules” is mentioned as being consulted but, again, no one hauled out a book, electronic or otherwise.
[Read more…] about Look it Up, Don’t Overthink itJust Another Mag Beyond the Wall
The December Question of the Month deals with a magazine ending up beyond the plane of a wall and what, if anything needs to be done about a shooter that reaches through the wall for it.
[Read more…] about Just Another Mag Beyond the WallNew Shooter Coming Out
We all started there…we were the “New Shooter” at some point in the past. For me, I still remember my first match in vivid detail. I went in with expectations of having fun and not DQing and, thankfully, I achieved both of these goals. I also made a bunch of friends that day and learned a TON. But let’s look at the other side of the picture for a bit. The veteran Range Officers faced with handling a new shooter. What should you do differently for these folks?
[Read more…] about New Shooter Coming OutThe Local Match as a Training Ground
Virtually everyone that participates in our sport of USPSA competition will shoot a lot more local “level I” matches than they will majors (level II or higher). Thus, we should view the local match as a training ground for higher levels of competition. Let’s take a look at some things we need to consider with this in mind.
[Read more…] about The Local Match as a Training GroundStage Design: Movement
One of the more frustrating aspects of the Freestyle rule, particularly for new stage designers, is trying to control shooter movement without breaking the rules. I’d bet every stage designer has designed some form of zig-zag type stage using a lot of fault lines thinking they will compel the shooters to follow the lovely path they created and the setup crew spent a long time spiking it down; only to see the shooters just run from shooting position to shooting position basically ignoring said lovely path. Might just as well positioned shooting boxes at each station and saved all that fault line and effort for other stages. Watch match videos from the most recent matches and you can see examples of this frequently. So, let’s talk about shooter movement and stage design.
[Read more…] about Stage Design: MovementWe Need a Rule(ing)
Here at NROI, we frequently get queries from someone about what rule prevents a shooter, or can be used to prevent a shooter, from doing x, y or z. While many of these fall into the “help them find the relevant rule(s)” category, a fair number fall into “there isn’t any rule that does that”. Sometimes they insist that we need a rule, or a ruling, declaring said action illegal. And 99.9% of those simply are things that really aren’t rule worthy but should be taken care of with proper stage design, WSB authoring, and setup. Let’s look at a few examples. I’ve generalized the questions somewhat.
[Read more…] about We Need a Rule(ing)Steel Challenge Q&A:
Having been the RM for a recently completed SCSA Tier 3 match I got to answer a lot of questions, especially from folks who were not very familiar with SCSA rules. For competitors that are used to USPSA competition, there are some differences between the rules that can cause some confusion which can lead to a lot of questions. Let’s look at a few of the more common ones.
[Read more…] about Steel Challenge Q&A: