I write this post not to be argumentative and not to criticize others but only to try to be helpful. Those who have strong feelings need to consider the flap at Nationals.
What I saw and what I heard: In the men's event we were down to the top 15 or so. It was a tough group, all quick, accurate and seasoned veterans. The round was shot without any unusual happenings. The Range Master was probably our best and most knowledgeable Range Master. After the round was over, an interloper of the opposite gender, confronts the Range Master in a verbally abusive tone and accuses him of failing to do his job by not calling "unsportsmanship violations" on a particular competitor. The Range Master in a calm but firm manner said he did not see any violations and the round was over. The interloper then storms off to take the matter up with an higher authority. Before the start of the next round Cal takes the mic and reprimands the competitors for making complaints about "sportsmanship" and to "stop it." The competitors are all bewildered, not knowing that anything had happened and none having made any complaints whatsoever.
That is what I saw and heard, now here is what was going on. There was a match between a high 3 shooter against a low 4 shooter. The low 4 shooter has a history of "slow shooting" apparently believing he is more accurate doing so. Apparently he was shooting in the 7s and 8s and he won. The low 3 shooter did not complain, he himself has a history of "slow shooting" in the mid 4s against 5 and above shooters. Both these gentlemen are seasoned veterans, credits to our sport, and great competitors. There was absolute no problem with the round and no complaints from anyone but the interloper which caused a public reprimand of the field. Is this really where we want to go?
To those thinking it would be good to just ban recovery shots, this same incident is informative. The Range Master is adamant that he never saw a slip cock or a recovery shot. A veteran spectator has said he heard a click and the "offender" did slip cock and recovered. So were these shots the hated "recovery shots"? Whose knows? Is not always easy to tell. I shot for the first time in three weeks last Saturday and did, on one shot, fumbled my draw, catching my trigger finger on the trigger guard. I did recover and hit the target. Would this have been a banned recovery shot? In the Mag 7 I took what appeared to be a recovery shot after an apparent "slip cock." After the event I find out that the ammunition was dimpled so it may have been host provided defective ammunition and a provisional shot.
Most of the anger on this issue really direct at the shooter who "slow shoots." Banning recovery shots will do nothing to alleviate this anger.
Some of the anger is directed towards the "aimed shot." If you are going to ban the aimed shot, remember that most of our new shooters start out as "aimed shot" shooters.
My suggestion is accept all shooters as they are. Be happy that you have an opponent. Welcome all shooters. If someone wants to shoot slower that should be fine with all in the sport, they are easier to defeat.
Thank you.
Showing posts with label National Championship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National Championship. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Monday, August 29, 2016
To each his own!
I commend The Irishman for his work with the data on recovery shots. He has done us a service by compiling this information. However, I would reach opposite conclusions from his data.
It is clear that recovery shots are a very small portion of shots fired, somewhere in the area of 1%. It is really not a problem. But the data does show a problem.
The accuracy rate has been going down. It is getting to be more and more acceptable to miss. We have been devaluing the miss. To me this stems from a basic misunderstanding of the sport. It is a gunfight. It is not a speed contest. WOW correctly points out that all of the top shooters take recovery shots. That is because they understand it is a gunfight and not a speed contest.
It is bothers to me to see all of the three shooters that can not hit the broadside of a barn even if they are inside. If you practice enough to be quick, you practice enough to be a 80% shooter. These shooters don't hit because they don't understand that it is a gunfight. They practice missing in their relentless pursuit of speed.
I would not brag too much about never taking a recovery shot. What you are saying is that you have intentionally thrown a match, have intentionally lost, have intentionally manipulated the standing, apparently out of a false sense of sportsmanship. If it is okay to intentionally lose then it okay to intentionally lose. Powder Keg and Marshall Cooper both had the opportunity to intentionally lose in round 13 of the Nationals and thereby eliminate three other mid 3 shooters. They did not do it but they had the opportunity to do so.
Intentionally not taking a shot when you are entitled to do so, devalues the miss. If you miss you ought to lose. It is not okay to miss. It is also disrespectful to your opponent. You don't find this among the top shooters because they respect their opponent. They know they better take the shot when they have the chance because their opponent is not going give them another chance. They respect their opponent.
Saying it is alright to intentionally not shoot or intentionally not hit is the problem. My shooting partner at nationals had 3 x s and so did his opponent. He did not take a recovery shot. On the very next shot his opponent did.
Time limits will only create more problems. Then there is the problem of what is a "slip cock", what is a recovery shot. I was given a sportsmanship warning for what appeared to be a slow recovery shot, (I am just slow) when in fact it was a provisional shot after host provided defective ammunition. Can of worms!
There is an easy solution! It is a gunfight folks, not a speed contest. Simple Rule: Every competitor must fire a shot in each match without regard to time or technique except for gun malfunctions. Every competitor must use his best efforts to hit the target. Every competitor must load sufficient to complete the match.
Let's put this nonsense to bed!
It is clear that recovery shots are a very small portion of shots fired, somewhere in the area of 1%. It is really not a problem. But the data does show a problem.
The accuracy rate has been going down. It is getting to be more and more acceptable to miss. We have been devaluing the miss. To me this stems from a basic misunderstanding of the sport. It is a gunfight. It is not a speed contest. WOW correctly points out that all of the top shooters take recovery shots. That is because they understand it is a gunfight and not a speed contest.
It is bothers to me to see all of the three shooters that can not hit the broadside of a barn even if they are inside. If you practice enough to be quick, you practice enough to be a 80% shooter. These shooters don't hit because they don't understand that it is a gunfight. They practice missing in their relentless pursuit of speed.
I would not brag too much about never taking a recovery shot. What you are saying is that you have intentionally thrown a match, have intentionally lost, have intentionally manipulated the standing, apparently out of a false sense of sportsmanship. If it is okay to intentionally lose then it okay to intentionally lose. Powder Keg and Marshall Cooper both had the opportunity to intentionally lose in round 13 of the Nationals and thereby eliminate three other mid 3 shooters. They did not do it but they had the opportunity to do so.
Intentionally not taking a shot when you are entitled to do so, devalues the miss. If you miss you ought to lose. It is not okay to miss. It is also disrespectful to your opponent. You don't find this among the top shooters because they respect their opponent. They know they better take the shot when they have the chance because their opponent is not going give them another chance. They respect their opponent.
Saying it is alright to intentionally not shoot or intentionally not hit is the problem. My shooting partner at nationals had 3 x s and so did his opponent. He did not take a recovery shot. On the very next shot his opponent did.
Time limits will only create more problems. Then there is the problem of what is a "slip cock", what is a recovery shot. I was given a sportsmanship warning for what appeared to be a slow recovery shot, (I am just slow) when in fact it was a provisional shot after host provided defective ammunition. Can of worms!
There is an easy solution! It is a gunfight folks, not a speed contest. Simple Rule: Every competitor must fire a shot in each match without regard to time or technique except for gun malfunctions. Every competitor must use his best efforts to hit the target. Every competitor must load sufficient to complete the match.
Let's put this nonsense to bed!
Thursday, August 11, 2016
The Good Old Days
I was having "lively times" in the comments with Rodeo, Hell on Wheels, and Powder Keg concerning whether this sport was a speed contest or a gunfight and I recalled a conversation I heard in the hole at Nationals between two Old Timers, both Champions, World and National, saying that in the good old days, times were slower but accuracy was better. "If you missed, you lost!"
In our relentless pursuit of speed, we have devalued the miss. Some seems to think if you hit in the mid threes it okay to hit only 30% and that seems to work for them because if every one else is hitting 30% to 40 %, they can be competitive. After all it is "fastdraw." We see 15 shot matches. We see the two fastest ladies in the State of Texas on that day miss 22 in a row in a State Championship.
These "sports", those with grailfever, when they get into a gunfight don't do very well, so they lobby for new rules to give themselves a better chance. Some will even in ask you before a match, "now you won't hold my miss against me, cause I try to go fast."
Last year at Nationals I was in almost a perfect match. It was against Luckey O'Riley and he was pumped having just beaten the only black badge from his state in the prior match. I was pumped because I drew him. He is quicker than me but we are a pretty evenly matched overall. After four shots, it was 2-2, both shooters hitting 100%. Fifth shot one of us missed. Almost perfect, but alas only a mere 90% on ten shots. It would had been better if decided on speed, but you rarely get perfection. Does not matter who won, we both shot to the best of our abilities. A match from the good old days, a gunfight, not a speed contest!
I have been watching the Olympics and I admire most, not the winners, but the competitors who when they fall off the bar, they get up again and finish their routine. Does not matter that they fell, they are going to do the best that they can do under the circumstances. I did not like the competitor who did not do his routine because of a false sense of sportsmanship thereby disqualifying his team and affecting the standing of other teams on something other than performance.
I know I am kicking a sleeping dog, but Cal has told me he is going fix the problem. I don't care if you give me a sportsmanship warning in every match, I am going to do my best in every match under all circumstances, even if I fall I am getting up and finishing the match, because "this ain't Dodge City, and you ain't Bill Hickok........I didn't say I didn't know how to use one." I will do my best on each and every shot whether that is a .399 or a 1.729, both of which were the final shot of 2-2 matches in the top 15 or so at Nationals and both just mere milliseconds slow. Even losing, great fun, loved both matches.
Getting back to the topic at hand, maybe a slight rule change may helpful with grailfever. How about three winning hits you win, three misses you lose. That might bring back the good old days when "if you missed you lost." I know it will never happen in titled matches, but it is something to think about for club practices. You know it may not just be coincidence that our new National Champion warmed for Nationals with a club event of Arizona Five the week before. Arizona Five is just a mental toughness drill. You got to hit, and you got to hit right now. Most of our quick shooters don't like it and don't do well with it, that does not mean it is not good for them.
New club event. We will call it, "The Tough 3 by 3", 6-8 seeding rounds no x, three winning shots you win, three misses you lose. Then brackets with a Magnificent 1 x shoot-off. Sounds like a good warm-up for World. Let see if the next World Champion comes from the Camp, Shady Mountain, or at least the Valley of the Sun.
Postscript: Thank you for all the prayers, heading to Camp I had a pulmonary embolism, made it into and now out of hospital okay. My life coaches have prevailed upon me not to shoot for another 7 days.
In our relentless pursuit of speed, we have devalued the miss. Some seems to think if you hit in the mid threes it okay to hit only 30% and that seems to work for them because if every one else is hitting 30% to 40 %, they can be competitive. After all it is "fastdraw." We see 15 shot matches. We see the two fastest ladies in the State of Texas on that day miss 22 in a row in a State Championship.
These "sports", those with grailfever, when they get into a gunfight don't do very well, so they lobby for new rules to give themselves a better chance. Some will even in ask you before a match, "now you won't hold my miss against me, cause I try to go fast."
Last year at Nationals I was in almost a perfect match. It was against Luckey O'Riley and he was pumped having just beaten the only black badge from his state in the prior match. I was pumped because I drew him. He is quicker than me but we are a pretty evenly matched overall. After four shots, it was 2-2, both shooters hitting 100%. Fifth shot one of us missed. Almost perfect, but alas only a mere 90% on ten shots. It would had been better if decided on speed, but you rarely get perfection. Does not matter who won, we both shot to the best of our abilities. A match from the good old days, a gunfight, not a speed contest!
I have been watching the Olympics and I admire most, not the winners, but the competitors who when they fall off the bar, they get up again and finish their routine. Does not matter that they fell, they are going to do the best that they can do under the circumstances. I did not like the competitor who did not do his routine because of a false sense of sportsmanship thereby disqualifying his team and affecting the standing of other teams on something other than performance.
I know I am kicking a sleeping dog, but Cal has told me he is going fix the problem. I don't care if you give me a sportsmanship warning in every match, I am going to do my best in every match under all circumstances, even if I fall I am getting up and finishing the match, because "this ain't Dodge City, and you ain't Bill Hickok........I didn't say I didn't know how to use one." I will do my best on each and every shot whether that is a .399 or a 1.729, both of which were the final shot of 2-2 matches in the top 15 or so at Nationals and both just mere milliseconds slow. Even losing, great fun, loved both matches.
Getting back to the topic at hand, maybe a slight rule change may helpful with grailfever. How about three winning hits you win, three misses you lose. That might bring back the good old days when "if you missed you lost." I know it will never happen in titled matches, but it is something to think about for club practices. You know it may not just be coincidence that our new National Champion warmed for Nationals with a club event of Arizona Five the week before. Arizona Five is just a mental toughness drill. You got to hit, and you got to hit right now. Most of our quick shooters don't like it and don't do well with it, that does not mean it is not good for them.
New club event. We will call it, "The Tough 3 by 3", 6-8 seeding rounds no x, three winning shots you win, three misses you lose. Then brackets with a Magnificent 1 x shoot-off. Sounds like a good warm-up for World. Let see if the next World Champion comes from the Camp, Shady Mountain, or at least the Valley of the Sun.
Postscript: Thank you for all the prayers, heading to Camp I had a pulmonary embolism, made it into and now out of hospital okay. My life coaches have prevailed upon me not to shoot for another 7 days.
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