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?
If a competitor who completes a stage but wasn’t in the proper start position then a reshoot is required (8.2.2). Yes, even if they just had their hands by their side instead of a surrender position, it still was the wrong start position and a reshoot needs to occur. However, ROs should know what the start position is and not start a competitor in the incorrect start position (8.3.1). We know it sometimes happens accidentally during a long day of shooting, but hope that it is a rare occurrence.
Let’s say the start position is toes touching X marks and the competitor has the right foot touching an X and the left is a few inches away from the other X and has stopped moving and is waiting for the “Are you ready?” command. What does the RO do? Well, the RO can just stand there until the competitor turns around confused as to why the next range command has not been uttered, or the RO can remind the competitor that the start position is toes on X marks. The competitor adjusts and settles into the proper start position and then the RO can proceed. Some of you might be saying, “A few inches doesn’t matter.” But the start position is not freestyle and what if another squad was allowed to have one foot 12 inches away from the mark? Is that fair? The start position needs to be enforced consistently between all shooters and the toes need to be touching both X marks or the wrists above shoulders or wrists below belt or hands on X marks – whatever the WSB says needs to be enforced. If you are unsure about how the start position should be enforced, call the RM and get clarification.
We heard a rumor that ROs are not allowed to say anything to competitors in the incorrect start positions because it’s coaching. That is not true at all. The RO cannot proceed with the range commands until the competitor is in the proper start position and it might take reminding the competitor what that start position is. And I will remind you that we have the start position, which is the position of the competitor, and we have the firearm ready condition. I think this rumor may just be a misunderstanding. If the firearm ready condition is loaded and a competitor chooses the freestyle option of only inserting a magazine and not chambering a round, the RO cannot say anything in that case (8.1). ROs only correct the firearm ready condition if a competitor accidentally loads on an unloaded start, or doesn’t at least insert a magazine on a loaded start.