RO Best Practices

At our recent monthly club match, three of the six stages used Virginia Count scoring.  There was a bit of good-natured grumbling about it, but the stages turned out to be very interesting.  A 20-round medium course had a lot of comments and groans from the competitors.  

[Read more…] about Counting Shots: When and Why?

Range Officers are not supposed to give the “Are you ready?” range command until the competitor is in the proper start position. But what if the competitor isn’t in the start position? Does the RO say something? Stand there in silence? What is the proper course of action?

[Read more…] about Enforcing the start position

Ask anyone, especially those that have earned their RM card but also a lot of CRO level folks and they can tell you the story of their first time working as the RM at a match. And, if you stick in the sport long enough, stay abreast of the rules, and help run matches at your local club(s) then it is probably going to happen to you. Here are some tips and some advice to help you in that journey.

[Read more…] about So, YOU Get to be the RM today

When I was a younger person I remember a comedy routine by George Carlin. It was called “Words you cannot say on TV”. I think it was 10 words, but I don’t exactly remember. It came to me that I should write an article entitled “Words and Phrases Good Range Officers should remove from their vocabulary.” But it seemed to be a bit long for a title.

[Read more…] about Words Do Matter

In the Range Officer seminar we talk about the desired qualities of a range official: a positive attitude, knowledgeable, objective, and a leader and ambassador for USPSA and SCSA. Let’s review what a range official, at any certification level, can do to meet all of these.

[Read more…] about Good Range Officials

Pre-painted hardcover targets are definitely a time saver when it come to match prep, but they don’t always have consistent painting of the hardcover and require some sorting and possibly repair to prevent scoring issues.

[Read more…] about Pre-Painted Targets

Inspired by RMI George Jones, let’s test your scoring skills. Below is a picture of a target. It shows an A-zone with C-zone below, flanked by no-shoots on both sides. We give you a list of different scoring situations in the poll below. Can you score 100%?

[Read more…] about Can you score this?

If you’ve ever worked a major match you’ve probably heard the RM say this during the Staff Meeting:  “Read the Written Stage Briefing verbatim, no ad-libbing!”  

[Read more…] about Reading the WSB verbatim