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On deck etiquette

October 9, 2025 by Jodi Humann

There are some things that just are not in the rulebook. They are part of club culture and the etiquette of our sport. Recently, we have received multiple emails from members asking about others poaching the on deck shooter’s time to walk the stage. Let’s discuss this!

If you play golf, you know there are etiquette rules such as being quiet when someone is hitting, fixing your divots, and playing at a pace that doesn’t hold up the group following you. Our sport also has similar etiquette rules. The main ones are be ready when it’s your turn to shoot, help reset the stage, and exhibit good sportsmanship. But probably the one that gets abused the most, is while the stage is being reset, the on deck shooter has priority access to the shooting area.

At our matches the scorekeeper will call out the shooting order after scoring the stage, “John is the shooter. Jane is on deck. Mike is in the hole.” If you are the shooter, you should have been listening after the previous shooter and are already at the make ready location waiting for the RO to give you “Make Ready.” If you are the on deck competitor, this is the time when you put down your spray paint or pasters/tape and grab your mags and anything else you need to shoot the stage. As soon as the shooter ahead of you in the order finishes, and the RO says “Range is clear”, you have one last opportunity to finalize your stage plan by walking the stage until the ROs are done scoring the stage and the squad is done resetting. When you are the on deck shooter, you should not be out resetting the stage.

If you are not the on deck shooter, you should be out helping reset the stage and not walking the stage. You will have your turn when you are the on deck shooter. You also should not be walking the stage when another shooter is attempting the course of fire. You don’t want to be in the way or distracting the ROs or competitors by being on the stage. And sometimes competitors need to retreat to grab dropped mags or to engage a missed target. You don’t want to be in the way!

Also, when you poach the stage from the on deck shooter, that is unsportsmanlike behavior. How would you like it if you were trying to finalize your stage plan and a squad mate was in your way? We do a group walkthrough at the beginning so you should know how that is. Be a good sport, and if you are not the on deck shooter, stay off the stage!

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If you have questions about this post, please ask via the blog Contact Form or send an email to rules@uspsa.org.

Filed Under: Free Advice

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