Rodeo Romeo posted a survey for input for the muster. The topics suggested lean toward the elite shooters. I write this post as a response for the average shooter. Our sport exists because of the average shooter.
People join CFDA because it is fun, the people are nice (although lately not all have been nice), and new shooters can have some immediate success. We all start out as draw, cock, aim and fire shooters. Some change as they get faster, some stay as draw and aim shooters. The .5 to 1.0 shooters are the backbone of our sport. Without them there will be no CFDA.
Entertainment, spectator enhancements, purses have little meaning for the average shooter. What the average shooter needs is for the competitions to continue to be fun, to be free from needless rules, to be free from petty criticism of techniques and quickness, and to allow the average shooter to have some success. Too often we think about what would be good for the elite shooter or the wannabe elite shooter and forget about what makes our sport strong, the average shooter.
This needless bickering about technique and slow shooters hurt the sport. There is a reason why 4 of the top 8 at Nationals were from Arizona. It has nothing to do with quickness. It has nothing to do with accuracy. It has everything to do with our average shooters. We have a lot of draw and aim shooters, a lot of slip cocking and recover youth, a few tenderfoots that do not miss, all of whom compete and compete with a high degree of success in our Arizona Bracket shoots. We welcome and appreciate all styles, techniques, times of all shooters. When we meet a "slow shooter" or a slip cock in a titled match we put three on the plate and sit down.
This nonsense about sportsmanship needs to been put to rest. There is an easy solution. The requirement should be that every competitor must fire his weapon in each contest except for malfunction and use his best effort to hit the target. There should be no room in an athletic activity for the question "Will you intentionally miss, if I miss?" The Irishman's data clearly shows that our accuracy has gone down in recent years. Part of that problem is that we have come to accept missing as acceptable in our chase of speed. Like the good old days, it should be "if you miss, you lose!"
This is Fast Draw! All matches should be determined by quickness. If it is acceptable to miss, acceptable to hit 30%, then all matches and our championship are determined by chance, not by quickness. Let's get back to the matches where if you miss you lose.
We're halfway back from Kentucky State, in a hotel in Memphis. A couple of thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThere were some very fast shooters there this weekend. Lots of mid 3s were hit. I, personally, "bled out" in the 7th round, the farthest I have ever gone in a sanctioned shoot. I brought home a trophy in the categories, which I'll use for bragging rights.
I'm a 7s shooter right now. Occasionally, I'll break into the 6s, and I'm working on it. I did give Xs to two 4s shooters by the simple expedient of hitting the target. All my losses were on speed. They got there before I did, and I have no regrets. That's the game.
My "Time Out" in the 7th round was 0.794, But, I was hitting about 75%. If a 4 shooter wants to come to the line hitting 30%, that's fine with me. We'll see who gets to three hits first.
I agree with Romeo that we need to promote the sport, but I believe that we need to promote our clubs locally, and help new clubs get up and running. Local clubs are the future of the game, and I'd love to see a half-dozen clubs in the area around me (Louisiana, Mississippi, etc).
Now, if promoting this sport for the elite means that we start seeing more general interest in the game, then I'm all for it. If it leads to clubs near every city of 50K or more, think how much more fun we'd have.
Great comment as always. You are who I am talking about. 7th round this year, mag 7 next if you keep shooting 75%. Loverboy has done a lot to bring new shooters to the sport and I commend him for it, but the wannabe elite are the most vocal and I fear rules on time, style, techniques that will infringe on our new shooters. I shoot CFDA because it is a gunfight where I am able to compete even though I am kind of slow. It is a contest of wills against an opponent, not just a speed contest. It is fun and I have a chance to be successful as do you or as do a new shooter. We have a new shooter in the top ten of the top gun contest this year (Whiplash). Where else can this happen?
ReplyDeleteThe two shooters in the final match of Kentucky shot a combined 32%. Winner shot 38%, 2nd place shot 25%. It is an illusion that the match was decided on speed or accuracy. It was decided on chance.
ReplyDeleteSecond place at Nationals in final match shot 25% even though he was 40 to 50 mls quicker than the winner. The National Champion did not win on accuracy, but on mental toughness.
Great blog Jim I hope that this sport does not become ELITIST, I say more rules mean less fun and fun is what I do this for. Looking forward to seeing you this week en
ReplyDeleted and having a GUNFIGHT!!Beaver Creek Kid
What I like most about this sport is the people. That's no secret. I'm a fan of the people who play this game.
ReplyDeleteAbout a month after I started this game, we were invited to a small invitational match in southeast Texas, so we drove over. My grandson had been shooting less than a month, and his times were on the high side of a second.
This was one of those old-style "shufle the cards" matches, and I was horrified to see that my 13-year-old grandson was matched against a very fast 3s shooter. So, I sat back to watch what happened. Grandson was hitting, and serious shooter was flailing, and when the smoke cleared, grandson had beaten the fast shooter with a 1.526. They shook hands and cleared the line.
A few minutes later, the fast shooter approached my grandson. "Young man, did your grandad tell you that you beat the fastest man in Texas?
Grandson replied, wide-eyed "No, sir."
"Well, you did," the fast shooter replied. "You keep practicing, because one of these days I'm going to want a rematch."
That's the Spirit of the Game. Taking the wins and losses with charity and humility. We left Harford KY early yesterday morning because we had bled out and it was time to get on the road. The hardest problem I had leaving was the men who wanted to shake my hand and the ladies who wanted to hug my neck.
That's why I love this game. The shooting is fun, but the people are what make it worth doing.
And some would say that 1.526 should be disallowed. What makes this sport great is the welcoming of all no matter speed or technique or ability. Sometimes at our club shoots the toughest fighter is the 7 year old tenderfoot and nobody cares that he slip cocks half the time.
ReplyDeleteAnd some would say that 1.526 should be disallowed. What makes this sport great is the welcoming of all no matter speed or technique or ability. Sometimes at our club shoots the toughest fighter is the 7 year old tenderfoot and nobody cares that he slip cocks half the time.
ReplyDeleteAnd some would say that 1.526 should be disallowed. What makes this sport great is the welcoming of all no matter speed or technique or ability. Sometimes at our club shoots the toughest fighter is the 7 year old tenderfoot and nobody cares that he slip cocks half the time.
ReplyDelete