There are a couple rules where ROs need to determine if the violation is a significant advantage or not and that decision affects how many penalties the competitor will earn. One of those is foot fault penalties. Let’s look at what the rules say!
The first rule is 10.2.1 which basically says if a competitor touches the ground or any object completely outside the shooting area, a per occurrence penalty will be earned. What is an occurrence? Per the definition in App. A3, it is: “For purposes of assessing penalties, e.g., foot faults, an occurrence is defined as shooting at an array of targets from a single location or view in a course of fire. If the competitor moves to another view or location and continues to fault, that constitutes a second occurrence.” This means if your foot is over the fault line at one shooting position, it is a single penalty.
10.2.1.1 states that if the competitor gains a significant advantage (less lean, more stable shooting position, etc.) then it is a per shot penalty for each shot at the subject target(s). It’s per shot up to the number of scoring hits on the subject target(s) (see 10.2.3). For example, if a competitor engages 3 targets where the best 2 hits score with 8 shots, only 6 per shot penalties can be earned.
There is no mention anywhere in the rules about foot fault penalties being applied per target. It is either a single penalty for the occurrence or multiple penalties for a per shot penalty. We often get questions about application of the foot fault rules, and usually see folks mixing per occurrence and per shot penalties by target for a single foot fault occurrence. If there are 3 targets and one of the targets is tucked more behind the wall, they give 2 per occurrence penalties for the first 2 targets and 2 per shot penalties for the last target. This is incorrect. It is either one penalty for the single foot fault occurrence, or 6 per shot penalties because the foot fault occurrence is a significant advantage.
What happens when you are the RO and are unsure if it’s significant advantage or not? Call the RM for the match! All matches should have someone serving as the head rules official. At major matches, dedicated stage crews will discuss it with the RM and make sure the rule is applied consistently for all competitors. At local matches, sometimes application inconsistency occurs between squads. Which is why there should be a RM who can answer questions and help ensure the penalty is applied consistently.