Apparently, I am still suffering from flusters from the Comish's silliness this past summer. At the last jackpot shoot I finished last losing every match. If this keeps up I will be too embarrassed for either of my personas to show up at any titled match next year. One commentator recently opined that my "poor" shooting was the result of "buck fever" even though I harvested a bull at considerable distance, bulls apparently equating to bucks. The truth be known the unfortunate bull just happened to wander into the path of my stray bullet, it being fired by chance probably in a fit of flusters according to the commentator.
Western hunts allow much time for analytical thinking. I can recognize an Oswald shot when I make one. They are not particularly difficult because the lead required by the target moving away is offset by the lead required by the downward angle of the shot and if the shot is straight away then distance is irrelevant. I learned this some 60 years ago from Nebraska coyote hunters who took great care to set their shots up so that the target was running straight away with the lead required for the movement away being cancelled by the lead required by the downward angle, much like Oswald on JFK. Remember to turn the engine off so there is no motor vibration. Learn by watching. Any way maybe a good shot or maybe as the commentator thinks the poor animal ran into the path of the bullet.
Getting back to fast draw, maybe my poor shooting at the Camp was the remnants of "buck fever" or the result of the pain and suffering of the hunt, or as I want to think, the lingering fluster of the Comish's silliness. Cutting comments can cause one to bleed and if I have done so in the past to anyone I am truly sorry and apologize to all. Any cuts I may have received I hope I can look upon them as scars of banter and fodder for humor.
"....is a jackass, but he is our jackass!" Devil Anse Hatfield
Showing posts with label fast draw shooting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fast draw shooting. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
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.
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Nationals, Photos, and Rule 17
The National Championship was a great event put on by a great club and fine folks. I have nothing but good things to say about the event. I write this blog to be helpful to myself and my fellow competitors. Before you get your feathers all ruffled please read the general warnings to this blog.
Mary Eileen Russell has posted hundreds of photos which are very helpful for training. I thank her for her efforts and commend her for the great value she has provided to us.
Personal Conclusion: Looking through the photos, I would conclude that most 5 flat and slower shooters shoot the level and follow through draw. Most 4 flat and faster shooters shoot the locked elbow draw or the flail draw with the exception of two old timers who shoot the level and follow through down into the threes.
In the men's division the majority of the Mag 7 shooters were locked elbow shooters with the remainder being level and follow through or hybrids. There were no flail shooters in the Mag 7. The highest placing flail shooter went out in round 10 shooting 3 flat times.
The problem with the flail draw can clearly be seen in a three shot series of photos of a relative new shooter. His first shot would have been 2 or 3 feet high if it hit the backstop at all. His second shot was foot or so low. His third shot may have had a chance to hit the target. Watching him in three titled events this year his hit percentage generally is below 30%. He went out in the fourth round. If he recognizes himself and wants help I will direct him to some good blogs to find the target. By the way he is blazing fast, a low 3 shooter. That is the problem with the flail draw, almost impossible to master with sufficient accuracy to be competitive.
The dominant draw among the men is the locked elbow draw. It dominates because it is the most stable accurate draw. With the locked elbow draw, there is less total motion, the gun is fired from a locked fixed position with no motion. With it your most accurate draw will be your quickest. It is also the safest of the draws.
With the flail or the level and follow through the gun is fired while in motion. Timing is much more crucial in these draws. The flail draw can be especially troubling with wax being slung everywhere.
However, the locked elbow draw is not without its challenges. A perfect locked elbow draw would be shot with the muzzle directly above the holster pouch in a fixed stable position, hence a Rule 17 violation.
Rule 17: Rule 17 is biased against the locked elbow draw because it is the only draw where the shot is fired from a fixed position close to the holster. A line judge may think he can see where the gun is fired with the locked elbow draw because the gun is stable. There is absolutely no possibility that a line judge can determine where a flail shooters fires from when the draw takes less than 100 milliseconds. With the level and follow through draw, even if the gun is fired behind the front lip the forward follow through masks the violation. Some have suggested that I should "poke." Sorry, that is recipe to boothill, I will not give up the accuracy.
Locked elbow shooters have dealt with Rule 17 in a number of ways. Some have moved the anchor point higher up on the body. This moves the muzzle away from holster and it is much less likely that a line judge will think he see a violation. Others have moved the anchor point forward, therefore the muzzle is moved forward. A more erect stance with move the shoulder forward and hence the muzzle forward.
Mag 7 Violations: We shot five days without a problem and then in the Mag 7 two shooters were eliminated for Rule 17 violations. If anyone thinks this was good for the sport they need to think again.
I have no complaint with Cal's call on me. It was probably correct. I did not handle it well. I was not mentally tough. I thought now what am I going to do. I can stand more erect and I can move my anchor point forward. Of course, "thinking about an action is the sign of a novice, or a key to turning an expert into an amateur." Sports Illustrated. The results were that I anticipated by cocking the hammer before the light and almost shooting myself I was so flustered. I called the anticipation on myself, the hand judge did not see it. A veteran shooter watching the live feed has told me that he observed that the hand judges were so focus on Rule 17 that there was no way they could call anticipation because they were out of position to see the light.
I think it is helpful for folks to see my Rule 17 violation in comparison to Powder Kegs winning draw in the finals.
Clearly Powder Kegs' draw is not in violation and mine maybe is in violation. When you compare the two, you see that the stance is similar, the location of the gun in relationship to the body is almost the same, the draws very nearly the same (except I am missing high). What is different is the location of the holster. Powder Kegs' holster is several inches father back on his side. I will move my holster back!
This will not happen again. I will not be flustered by a warning. Starting today I will be practicing what I will call my "warning draw." It will probably be a two handed aimed draw to be used only in case of a warning. I will not be a danger to myself or others trying to change my draw in a competition. "I warned em!" Virgil Cole.
We had some silliness at Nationals with Range Masters either not knowing the rules or making up new rules to suit they own perceptions. I have discussed this with Cal and he said he is going "nip it in the bud", we will see.
Mental Toughness: I would be remiss if I did not mention that Powder Keg went through the entire event without an X. He had also done this at the Texas State Championship. Power Keg won not because he was the quickest but because he was the toughest gunfighter there. He did not win a single shot against Marshall Cooper on time in the final match. Powder Keg has a training regiment wherein he practices mental toughness. This sport is a gunfight, it is not a speed contest.
Mary Eileen Russell has posted hundreds of photos which are very helpful for training. I thank her for her efforts and commend her for the great value she has provided to us.
Personal Conclusion: Looking through the photos, I would conclude that most 5 flat and slower shooters shoot the level and follow through draw. Most 4 flat and faster shooters shoot the locked elbow draw or the flail draw with the exception of two old timers who shoot the level and follow through down into the threes.
In the men's division the majority of the Mag 7 shooters were locked elbow shooters with the remainder being level and follow through or hybrids. There were no flail shooters in the Mag 7. The highest placing flail shooter went out in round 10 shooting 3 flat times.
The problem with the flail draw can clearly be seen in a three shot series of photos of a relative new shooter. His first shot would have been 2 or 3 feet high if it hit the backstop at all. His second shot was foot or so low. His third shot may have had a chance to hit the target. Watching him in three titled events this year his hit percentage generally is below 30%. He went out in the fourth round. If he recognizes himself and wants help I will direct him to some good blogs to find the target. By the way he is blazing fast, a low 3 shooter. That is the problem with the flail draw, almost impossible to master with sufficient accuracy to be competitive.
The dominant draw among the men is the locked elbow draw. It dominates because it is the most stable accurate draw. With the locked elbow draw, there is less total motion, the gun is fired from a locked fixed position with no motion. With it your most accurate draw will be your quickest. It is also the safest of the draws.
With the flail or the level and follow through the gun is fired while in motion. Timing is much more crucial in these draws. The flail draw can be especially troubling with wax being slung everywhere.
However, the locked elbow draw is not without its challenges. A perfect locked elbow draw would be shot with the muzzle directly above the holster pouch in a fixed stable position, hence a Rule 17 violation.
Rule 17: Rule 17 is biased against the locked elbow draw because it is the only draw where the shot is fired from a fixed position close to the holster. A line judge may think he can see where the gun is fired with the locked elbow draw because the gun is stable. There is absolutely no possibility that a line judge can determine where a flail shooters fires from when the draw takes less than 100 milliseconds. With the level and follow through draw, even if the gun is fired behind the front lip the forward follow through masks the violation. Some have suggested that I should "poke." Sorry, that is recipe to boothill, I will not give up the accuracy.
Locked elbow shooters have dealt with Rule 17 in a number of ways. Some have moved the anchor point higher up on the body. This moves the muzzle away from holster and it is much less likely that a line judge will think he see a violation. Others have moved the anchor point forward, therefore the muzzle is moved forward. A more erect stance with move the shoulder forward and hence the muzzle forward.
Mag 7 Violations: We shot five days without a problem and then in the Mag 7 two shooters were eliminated for Rule 17 violations. If anyone thinks this was good for the sport they need to think again.
I have no complaint with Cal's call on me. It was probably correct. I did not handle it well. I was not mentally tough. I thought now what am I going to do. I can stand more erect and I can move my anchor point forward. Of course, "thinking about an action is the sign of a novice, or a key to turning an expert into an amateur." Sports Illustrated. The results were that I anticipated by cocking the hammer before the light and almost shooting myself I was so flustered. I called the anticipation on myself, the hand judge did not see it. A veteran shooter watching the live feed has told me that he observed that the hand judges were so focus on Rule 17 that there was no way they could call anticipation because they were out of position to see the light.
I think it is helpful for folks to see my Rule 17 violation in comparison to Powder Kegs winning draw in the finals.
Clearly Powder Kegs' draw is not in violation and mine maybe is in violation. When you compare the two, you see that the stance is similar, the location of the gun in relationship to the body is almost the same, the draws very nearly the same (except I am missing high). What is different is the location of the holster. Powder Kegs' holster is several inches father back on his side. I will move my holster back!
This will not happen again. I will not be flustered by a warning. Starting today I will be practicing what I will call my "warning draw." It will probably be a two handed aimed draw to be used only in case of a warning. I will not be a danger to myself or others trying to change my draw in a competition. "I warned em!" Virgil Cole.
We had some silliness at Nationals with Range Masters either not knowing the rules or making up new rules to suit they own perceptions. I have discussed this with Cal and he said he is going "nip it in the bud", we will see.
Mental Toughness: I would be remiss if I did not mention that Powder Keg went through the entire event without an X. He had also done this at the Texas State Championship. Power Keg won not because he was the quickest but because he was the toughest gunfighter there. He did not win a single shot against Marshall Cooper on time in the final match. Powder Keg has a training regiment wherein he practices mental toughness. This sport is a gunfight, it is not a speed contest.
Thursday, July 21, 2016
A Wrong Turn
I have just read Quick Cal's explanation of the change of target size and distance and believe that he has made a turn in the wrong direction. I write this post not to criticize or to be an obstructionist. I will support Cal's decision, it is his business and he has done great things for the sport in the past.
I love cowboy fast draw because it is one of the few pure sports remaining in our society. In an early era we had many sports, i.e. character building activities. Most of these have been highjacked for their entertainment value. I am sensitive to this because I was a youth coach for over 15 years. If you take 10 kids and give them a ball they will play a game, sort out the rules, and learn some life skills. If you add in 20 parents trying to get their entertainment fix, you no longer have a learning environment of good character traits, but a environment where poor sportsmanship, bad manners, poor life skills are learned.
Yes, Cowboy Fast Draw teaches good character traits, even to old guys like me. It is a sport. It is not an entertainment venue. Nor should it be. Do we really want our sport to become like all the rest of the entertainment industry where you find so many miscreants.
Our sport grows, not because it entertains, but because one can participate and be successful in a relative short time. Where else can a brand new competitor go up against a World Champion and have not only a change to win but a good likelihood of winning.
IT IS THE SAME, MAYBE YES, MAYBE NO:
Cal says he will make the change for showmanship. He says that since the proportions are the same the balance between speed and accuracy will remain the same. I can buy that but it will not be the same for accuracy unless you shoot from 39.5 inches muzzle height. For a muzzle height of 39.5 inches a target height should be 47 inches at 17 3/16 target at 15 feet. But for a muzzle height of 44 inches target height should be about 46 inches. An inch may not seem like much but how many thumb nail wins have you had. Generally, higher muzzle height shooters will shoot low, lower muzzle height shooters will shoot high. Guess we could all change to 39.5 inches, to keep the same accuracy between 15 feet and the championship distance of 21 feet.
As for showmanship missing at 15 feet seems to be more devastating.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES:
While we transition I would expect accuracy to get a little worst for the reason set forth above, but not significantly. However, going to the balloon targets will probably result in significantly worst accuracy for two reasons.
Cal says he is not going to grease the balloon targets. For me, being able to see my hits is critical. I walk my hits to the light. I think most top shooters use the location of their hits to stay on target whether they are aware of it or not. If we can no longer see the exact location of the hit, our accuracy will decrease. That is the reason we hate shooting without a backstop or in poor light conditions. To illustrate, just how important this is to me, at Texas, to start I could not see my misses and missed 27 of my first 30 shots. I finally found the target and hit better than 80% for the next four days.
If you are going to get a top shooter, you have to get him or her, early in the event or early in the match. Ever notice how many times the first round or two nobody seems to be able to hit. That is because shooters have not yet found the target and they have not gotten into their shooting rhythm.
All shooters get into a certain rhythm on the line. I like to have the same announcer and like to learn his cadence. I have a certain pre-shot routine, physically and mentally. Anything that disrupts that rhythm is harmful to quickness and accuracy. Now we are going to change that all up for the World Magnificent Seven. The cadence and the rhythm will be different from what you have shot all event. Because of the target tendering for balloons each shot it will be like the first round of the day or for first shot of a match.
If you are serious about shooting in a Mag Seven at World in 2017, you probably should add a delay in your routine for the time it will take the target tenders to re-balloon. I am thinking about stepping off the line for 45-60 second after each and every shot, during each and every match, during each and every event. Who knows, I might get there and if I do, I want to have shot my Mag 7 routine all year long.
My guess is accuracy will get worst with the balloon targets. If Cal is going do this he should set up a practice range at 2016 World with 2 lanes at Championship distance, 2 lanes at 15 feet with 17 3/16 targets and 2 lanes at balloon targets. Then he ought to hire a high school or college interns to run and score each shot and tabulate the accuracy rate on the targets. Any one who wants to try these new targets should shoot down the line on all three target setups against an opponent from 21 to 15 to Balloon. That would simulate what is going to happen at World 2017. Let us see what is likely.
TRIPPING ON MY SPURS:
Alleluia has taken a year off, but he will be back in 2017, a little quicker, a little more accurate, and with a new pre-shot routine because he is a competitor and an athlete not an entertainer who deals in illusions.
I love cowboy fast draw because it is one of the few pure sports remaining in our society. In an early era we had many sports, i.e. character building activities. Most of these have been highjacked for their entertainment value. I am sensitive to this because I was a youth coach for over 15 years. If you take 10 kids and give them a ball they will play a game, sort out the rules, and learn some life skills. If you add in 20 parents trying to get their entertainment fix, you no longer have a learning environment of good character traits, but a environment where poor sportsmanship, bad manners, poor life skills are learned.
Yes, Cowboy Fast Draw teaches good character traits, even to old guys like me. It is a sport. It is not an entertainment venue. Nor should it be. Do we really want our sport to become like all the rest of the entertainment industry where you find so many miscreants.
Our sport grows, not because it entertains, but because one can participate and be successful in a relative short time. Where else can a brand new competitor go up against a World Champion and have not only a change to win but a good likelihood of winning.
IT IS THE SAME, MAYBE YES, MAYBE NO:
Cal says he will make the change for showmanship. He says that since the proportions are the same the balance between speed and accuracy will remain the same. I can buy that but it will not be the same for accuracy unless you shoot from 39.5 inches muzzle height. For a muzzle height of 39.5 inches a target height should be 47 inches at 17 3/16 target at 15 feet. But for a muzzle height of 44 inches target height should be about 46 inches. An inch may not seem like much but how many thumb nail wins have you had. Generally, higher muzzle height shooters will shoot low, lower muzzle height shooters will shoot high. Guess we could all change to 39.5 inches, to keep the same accuracy between 15 feet and the championship distance of 21 feet.
As for showmanship missing at 15 feet seems to be more devastating.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES:
While we transition I would expect accuracy to get a little worst for the reason set forth above, but not significantly. However, going to the balloon targets will probably result in significantly worst accuracy for two reasons.
Cal says he is not going to grease the balloon targets. For me, being able to see my hits is critical. I walk my hits to the light. I think most top shooters use the location of their hits to stay on target whether they are aware of it or not. If we can no longer see the exact location of the hit, our accuracy will decrease. That is the reason we hate shooting without a backstop or in poor light conditions. To illustrate, just how important this is to me, at Texas, to start I could not see my misses and missed 27 of my first 30 shots. I finally found the target and hit better than 80% for the next four days.
If you are going to get a top shooter, you have to get him or her, early in the event or early in the match. Ever notice how many times the first round or two nobody seems to be able to hit. That is because shooters have not yet found the target and they have not gotten into their shooting rhythm.
All shooters get into a certain rhythm on the line. I like to have the same announcer and like to learn his cadence. I have a certain pre-shot routine, physically and mentally. Anything that disrupts that rhythm is harmful to quickness and accuracy. Now we are going to change that all up for the World Magnificent Seven. The cadence and the rhythm will be different from what you have shot all event. Because of the target tendering for balloons each shot it will be like the first round of the day or for first shot of a match.
If you are serious about shooting in a Mag Seven at World in 2017, you probably should add a delay in your routine for the time it will take the target tenders to re-balloon. I am thinking about stepping off the line for 45-60 second after each and every shot, during each and every match, during each and every event. Who knows, I might get there and if I do, I want to have shot my Mag 7 routine all year long.
My guess is accuracy will get worst with the balloon targets. If Cal is going do this he should set up a practice range at 2016 World with 2 lanes at Championship distance, 2 lanes at 15 feet with 17 3/16 targets and 2 lanes at balloon targets. Then he ought to hire a high school or college interns to run and score each shot and tabulate the accuracy rate on the targets. Any one who wants to try these new targets should shoot down the line on all three target setups against an opponent from 21 to 15 to Balloon. That would simulate what is going to happen at World 2017. Let us see what is likely.
TRIPPING ON MY SPURS:
Alleluia has taken a year off, but he will be back in 2017, a little quicker, a little more accurate, and with a new pre-shot routine because he is a competitor and an athlete not an entertainer who deals in illusions.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Texas Gunny and the League of Extraordinary Gunfighters and Dangerous Women!
Last fall a fella from out of state came to one of our club shoots. We strapped a club holster on him, loaned him a New Vaquero and put him in the match. It was his first attempt at cowboy fast draw. He was a former Marine from Texas and took the alias I believe of Texas Gunny. In his third match of the day he drew World Champion, Miss Kitty. Being a new point and shoot shooter with some Marine pride, he won the match on accuracy. He was thrilled. Ain't this sport great!
So far this year I have been able to make it to five titled events. In all five of the events I would opine that there has been a majority of average shooters in the top seven shooters of each event. These shooters are not the quickest but they are mentally tough and accurate shooters. On any given day any of us can win and some of us do win even if we may not be the quickest. Ain't this sport great!
This trend continued this past weekend. Wild Onion Willie shot his way into the magnificent seven at Nevada. He out shot three quicker shooters one of which was his black badge brother to get into the Magnificent Seven. Rooster Cogburn crows with justifiable pride that he made the Magnificent Seven. Enrico del Barrio joyfully expressed wonderment at his success finishing sixth. Ain't this sport great!
They are some in our sport that want to make this sport into a speed contest. It is not! It is a gunfight. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you want to spread grailfever, that is fine by me, I will move you onto my "quick but wilts in a gunfight" list. Ain't this sport great!
"Quick don't matter much, if you can't hit that which you are trying to be quick about." Virgil Cole.
"Your quickest draw is your most accurate draw. If it is not, change your draw!" Alleluia Ruah.
So far this year I have been able to make it to five titled events. In all five of the events I would opine that there has been a majority of average shooters in the top seven shooters of each event. These shooters are not the quickest but they are mentally tough and accurate shooters. On any given day any of us can win and some of us do win even if we may not be the quickest. Ain't this sport great!
This trend continued this past weekend. Wild Onion Willie shot his way into the magnificent seven at Nevada. He out shot three quicker shooters one of which was his black badge brother to get into the Magnificent Seven. Rooster Cogburn crows with justifiable pride that he made the Magnificent Seven. Enrico del Barrio joyfully expressed wonderment at his success finishing sixth. Ain't this sport great!
They are some in our sport that want to make this sport into a speed contest. It is not! It is a gunfight. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you want to spread grailfever, that is fine by me, I will move you onto my "quick but wilts in a gunfight" list. Ain't this sport great!
"Quick don't matter much, if you can't hit that which you are trying to be quick about." Virgil Cole.
"Your quickest draw is your most accurate draw. If it is not, change your draw!" Alleluia Ruah.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Being a Better Gunfighter!
Dirty Dan mentioned on facebook that I slip cocked during the Southern Territorial Magnificent 7 and others have mentioned a 1.47 shot. I have no memory of it but do not deny it cause I am a stickwithit type of guy. I was raised on a farm by a bunch of uncles, cousins and brothers, and when things went wrong you were expected to "stickwithit," you were not allowed to just give up. Not to take a recovery shot is considered by me to be a character defect. It either shows a lack of "stickwithitness" or a prideful sense of false sportsmanship. Recently I won an event where my opponent intentionally missed a recovery shot, and I took it as a sign of disrespect to me. To this day, I always shoot better against him.
You know in SASS you are applauded for your recoveries. When you start out, you are always told about the lady world champion whose gun broke during a stage and she whips out her Redwing knife, fixes the gun, finishes the stage clean, and goes on to win the event. Guess there are more real cowboys in SASS than in our sport.
Last year at the Nebraska State Championship there was a shooter who had decided to shoot a slow deliberate aiming style of draw. He would draw after his opponent shot. I drew him in my last match. I was not mentally tough and got flustered. I was happy for him to win even though the loss probably cost me a top ten finish in the top gun standings. He needed the win more than I. Hope he is still shooting. I needed that loss. I am a better gunfighter for it. Because of rule changes, I am 20 mls slower this year than last but I think I am mentally tougher.
Every shooter is entitled to choose his own style of draw and shooting philosophy on the line. We need to welcome, enjoy and applaud all shooters. I know that many laugh at my style but I don't care. I have been trying to join the Red Hat Society but they won't let me in saying I have too many parts. If I can just get Obama aware this injustice I think he would issue an executive order making them take me. Well, tea is overrated anyway.
You know in SASS you are applauded for your recoveries. When you start out, you are always told about the lady world champion whose gun broke during a stage and she whips out her Redwing knife, fixes the gun, finishes the stage clean, and goes on to win the event. Guess there are more real cowboys in SASS than in our sport.
Last year at the Nebraska State Championship there was a shooter who had decided to shoot a slow deliberate aiming style of draw. He would draw after his opponent shot. I drew him in my last match. I was not mentally tough and got flustered. I was happy for him to win even though the loss probably cost me a top ten finish in the top gun standings. He needed the win more than I. Hope he is still shooting. I needed that loss. I am a better gunfighter for it. Because of rule changes, I am 20 mls slower this year than last but I think I am mentally tougher.
Every shooter is entitled to choose his own style of draw and shooting philosophy on the line. We need to welcome, enjoy and applaud all shooters. I know that many laugh at my style but I don't care. I have been trying to join the Red Hat Society but they won't let me in saying I have too many parts. If I can just get Obama aware this injustice I think he would issue an executive order making them take me. Well, tea is overrated anyway.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Quickness, Accuracy, and Mental Toughness
I write this post in support of our current target size, target distance and lack of a time limit. I think our events are well balanced and give all shooters the opportunity to compete. The current format does an excellent job sorting out who the best gunslinger is on a given day.
By far the most dominant characteristic of a competitive gunfighter is mental toughness. The second most dominant characteristic is accuracy. Quickness comes in a distance third in importance. That is why in most titled events about half the Magnificent field will be mentally tough accurate shooters regardless of quickness.
We have a good balance now, why make more silly rules or change target size or distance. I think WOW is right when he tells the whiners and poor sports to shut up and go practice. Those complaining have spent time practicing speed when they should have been honing their mental toughness and accuracy. If you can't win on the line, no rule is going help when you face that mentally tough accurate gunslinger. You might as well stop complaining and practice more.
The Oklahoma State Championship was a great example of how well the current format works. For the men the seeding rounds did an excellent job of sorting out the top 7 gunslingers. You can tell that by the fact that the final standings were identical to the seeding standings. That is not always the case and was not for the women. In the men not all were the quickest but all were mentally tough accurate shooters. Shane reach the Magnificent 7 via a CFDA resurrection shoot off. I did not shoot against any of the bottom 3 but I know by observation they were tough gunfighters.
Of top four gunfighters, two had 2 x s, and two had 3 x s. All of the top four had received most of their main match x s from the other top 4 shooters. It was clearly definitive that the order on quickness was Whiplash, Delta Whiskey, Quickstrike, and Everett. Almost as definitive the order on accuracy was Everett, Whiplash, Delta Whiskey and Quickstrike. Needless to say it was a brawl. Quickstrike losing to Everett and Delta Whiskey for fourth; Delta Whiskey losing to Quickstrike and Everett for third; Everett losing to Whiplash twice for second; and Whiplash losing only once to Everett for the Championship.
On competitive balance, it is interesting to note that the Magnificent 7 included based only on quickness the 1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th,16th, 24th and 26th quickest guns out of 42 shooters. Our current format is working!
For the women the sorting process did not work nearly as well. Corkey won the event from the seventh seed. This seems to be characteristic of the ladies. Slow Poke won the Four Corners Territorial after being eliminated in the seventh place. I think this results from the top gunslingers (toughness, accuracy, quickness) among the ladies not being as well defined. The entire field of shooters among the ladies is more uniform as to the three dominate gunfighter characteristics. Also among the ladies, quickness is much much much less important. This should be important to match directors and hosts. There may be a thought to reduce the magnificent shoot off to five for the ladies because of the smaller numbers of competitors when in fact it should be expanded for the ladies because of the uniqueness of the field. Had the shoot off been a Magnificent 8, the results may have been different, the current top gun lady sitting in the eight slot.
For the men at Oklahoma expanding the magnificent field would not have made any difference. However, I may be tripping on my spurs here, at the Four Corners, had the field been seven, the results would have been different. At the Southern had the field been five, the 2nd place shooter would not have made the shoot off.
Generally, the larger the magnificent field the more likely that the top gunfighter will win. We do shoot larger magnificent shoot offs than 7. Oklahoma was in effect for the men a Magnificent 8.
In summary, the current format is working, let's not screw it up.
"Quickness does not matter much in a gunfight." Little Bill, Unforgiven
By far the most dominant characteristic of a competitive gunfighter is mental toughness. The second most dominant characteristic is accuracy. Quickness comes in a distance third in importance. That is why in most titled events about half the Magnificent field will be mentally tough accurate shooters regardless of quickness.
We have a good balance now, why make more silly rules or change target size or distance. I think WOW is right when he tells the whiners and poor sports to shut up and go practice. Those complaining have spent time practicing speed when they should have been honing their mental toughness and accuracy. If you can't win on the line, no rule is going help when you face that mentally tough accurate gunslinger. You might as well stop complaining and practice more.
The Oklahoma State Championship was a great example of how well the current format works. For the men the seeding rounds did an excellent job of sorting out the top 7 gunslingers. You can tell that by the fact that the final standings were identical to the seeding standings. That is not always the case and was not for the women. In the men not all were the quickest but all were mentally tough accurate shooters. Shane reach the Magnificent 7 via a CFDA resurrection shoot off. I did not shoot against any of the bottom 3 but I know by observation they were tough gunfighters.
Of top four gunfighters, two had 2 x s, and two had 3 x s. All of the top four had received most of their main match x s from the other top 4 shooters. It was clearly definitive that the order on quickness was Whiplash, Delta Whiskey, Quickstrike, and Everett. Almost as definitive the order on accuracy was Everett, Whiplash, Delta Whiskey and Quickstrike. Needless to say it was a brawl. Quickstrike losing to Everett and Delta Whiskey for fourth; Delta Whiskey losing to Quickstrike and Everett for third; Everett losing to Whiplash twice for second; and Whiplash losing only once to Everett for the Championship.
On competitive balance, it is interesting to note that the Magnificent 7 included based only on quickness the 1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th,16th, 24th and 26th quickest guns out of 42 shooters. Our current format is working!
For the women the sorting process did not work nearly as well. Corkey won the event from the seventh seed. This seems to be characteristic of the ladies. Slow Poke won the Four Corners Territorial after being eliminated in the seventh place. I think this results from the top gunslingers (toughness, accuracy, quickness) among the ladies not being as well defined. The entire field of shooters among the ladies is more uniform as to the three dominate gunfighter characteristics. Also among the ladies, quickness is much much much less important. This should be important to match directors and hosts. There may be a thought to reduce the magnificent shoot off to five for the ladies because of the smaller numbers of competitors when in fact it should be expanded for the ladies because of the uniqueness of the field. Had the shoot off been a Magnificent 8, the results may have been different, the current top gun lady sitting in the eight slot.
For the men at Oklahoma expanding the magnificent field would not have made any difference. However, I may be tripping on my spurs here, at the Four Corners, had the field been seven, the results would have been different. At the Southern had the field been five, the 2nd place shooter would not have made the shoot off.
Generally, the larger the magnificent field the more likely that the top gunfighter will win. We do shoot larger magnificent shoot offs than 7. Oklahoma was in effect for the men a Magnificent 8.
In summary, the current format is working, let's not screw it up.
"Quickness does not matter much in a gunfight." Little Bill, Unforgiven
Monday, May 16, 2016
What a blast!
Having just finished my second Magnificent Seven of the year all I can say is "what a blast." Great competitors, great outcome, more fun than one person should be allowed to have! Looking forward to meeting Quickstrike, Delta Whiskey, Whiplash on the line again.who knows maybe with a black badge in the balance, them boys need to practice missing more, not fast enough yet.
Had a chance to lobby some for my pet project, a championship with a true resurrection, to the uniform outcry of "you can't do that." By the way, by CFDA rule, 7th place was resurrected in the men's match. I think it is the "word" so I decided to quit using it.
Positives:
What would be wrong with a three day championship where:
- Every shooter would get 6 x s in main match;
- Every shooter would be alive through day two;
- Half of the field would get to shoot in a Magnificent shoot-off:
- Half of the field would be alive until their last shot on day three;
- Preliminary sorting after day one, half of the field would be shooting for their lives in a 2 x match; half the field would continue in main match and be shooting in 2 x category championships;
- There would be 18 champions on Championship Sunday:
- Eighteen Championship Buckles; balance in gold coin, no frills or goodie bags;
- All matches on Sunday would be set by Saturday night;
- No computer needed on third day;
- If less 120 shooters, shot on two 6 lane ranges;
- All matches on Sunday set at a specific time, you would know the schedule and opponents Saturday night;
- All included in one entry fee;
What do you think? And if you say "you can't do that" think about it some more.
Last man standing favors me, would have won in that format, those speedy guys would have knock each out, but a Magnificent shoot-off is a blast.
Oklahoma was a great event, great venue, great folks. Looking forward to the Southern Territorial there next year. Next year, loverboy will come so you better be practicing missing to get faster. Bring me the next shooter cause I ain't missing!
Had a chance to lobby some for my pet project, a championship with a true resurrection, to the uniform outcry of "you can't do that." By the way, by CFDA rule, 7th place was resurrected in the men's match. I think it is the "word" so I decided to quit using it.
Positives:
What would be wrong with a three day championship where:
- Every shooter would get 6 x s in main match;
- Every shooter would be alive through day two;
- Half of the field would get to shoot in a Magnificent shoot-off:
- Half of the field would be alive until their last shot on day three;
- Preliminary sorting after day one, half of the field would be shooting for their lives in a 2 x match; half the field would continue in main match and be shooting in 2 x category championships;
- There would be 18 champions on Championship Sunday:
- Eighteen Championship Buckles; balance in gold coin, no frills or goodie bags;
- All matches on Sunday would be set by Saturday night;
- No computer needed on third day;
- If less 120 shooters, shot on two 6 lane ranges;
- All matches on Sunday set at a specific time, you would know the schedule and opponents Saturday night;
- All included in one entry fee;
What do you think? And if you say "you can't do that" think about it some more.
Last man standing favors me, would have won in that format, those speedy guys would have knock each out, but a Magnificent shoot-off is a blast.
Oklahoma was a great event, great venue, great folks. Looking forward to the Southern Territorial there next year. Next year, loverboy will come so you better be practicing missing to get faster. Bring me the next shooter cause I ain't missing!
Monday, April 11, 2016
Put the fear of Alleluia in 'em!
I had a pretty good day shooting at Rio Salado Vaqueros practice shoot. It was a 3 x last man standing affair. The field was not overwhelming but it did have a World Champion, several World Champion Category shooters, multiple Territorial Champions and of course a Two-time National Champion. 38 shooters in all. I only had one poor match shooting 57% at mid four speed. In the other ten matches I shot 89% at mid four speed. To quote William Munny, "I was lucky in the order, but then I'm always lucky in the order when......" Most of the speed ended up shooting in the 2nd chance match.
I mention this only as a prelude to my main point. The Alleluia training regiment trains gunfighters, not necessarily the quickest but maybe the most deadly. Saturday shoot, for me was what it always should be, except that one match in which I got flustered and lost the target.
I am looking for two disciples to train in the Alleluia system for 8 weeks. I would prefer new shooters because they come without all that baggage, but would consider seasoned shooters who have the right attitude. Would like one lady and one man. Plan to start May 1 and finish the week before the Pioneer shoot in June. Prefer folks in the Valley of the Sun so I can meet with them weekly, but would consider others dedicated to the system.
Commitment:
1. Must be willing to shoot a minimum of 150 rounds off of the clock a week. Would plan to meet with you at least once a week in the desert for a practice session. Normally student would shoot 50 rounds three times a week. Wax is reusable so 500 wax should be sufficient.
2. Must be willing to forego the clock except for competition. You can't learn to be a gunfighter if you have grailfever.
3. Must be willing to dry fire in front of a mirror on days not shooting live rounds.
4. Must forgo outside influences. Only one mentor allowed. Quickest way to booth hill is to work on your draw during competition.
5. Must acquire practice stand. (about $25)
6. Must agree I can use your alias and story in any future publications.
Goals:
1. Goal for the man would be to be a 4 shooter shooting better than 80%.
2. Goal for the lady would be to be a World Champion. This is not a higher goal, it just that the next Lady World Champion will be a 4 or 5 shooter shooting better than 60%.
3. My goal is to see if I am in left field or not. You will be the test of the training regiment.
The Draw:
Most new shooters start out with the level and follow through draw. They spend months or sometimes years learning to be fast with this technique. Some become top shooters but most level out in the mid 5s. Some spend years trying to unlearn the follow through to get truly fast. We will try to learn the Lock-elbow/Thumb-roll draw. If you can't do the lock elbow draw you still can be a 4 flat shooter shooting the level and follow through. The flail draw is a defect and not an acceptable draw although some shoot world record times with it. It is a symptom of grailfever.
I plan to video students before, during and after the 8 weeks and give each their reaction/draw splits.
Observation: I have to end this post with an observation of my idol, Miss Kitty, World Champion. She is getting ready to hand judge me late in the event and she has her box of 100 cartridges open looking at them. To me there is no reasonable order to the shot shells and unshot shells so I ask her about it. She tells me there is a definite order and she can ascertain the hits and misses of each round from the order in the box. See why she is a world champion. I got to get her to train me more! She never has, I just pick up tips here and there by watching her.
I mention this only as a prelude to my main point. The Alleluia training regiment trains gunfighters, not necessarily the quickest but maybe the most deadly. Saturday shoot, for me was what it always should be, except that one match in which I got flustered and lost the target.
I am looking for two disciples to train in the Alleluia system for 8 weeks. I would prefer new shooters because they come without all that baggage, but would consider seasoned shooters who have the right attitude. Would like one lady and one man. Plan to start May 1 and finish the week before the Pioneer shoot in June. Prefer folks in the Valley of the Sun so I can meet with them weekly, but would consider others dedicated to the system.
Commitment:
1. Must be willing to shoot a minimum of 150 rounds off of the clock a week. Would plan to meet with you at least once a week in the desert for a practice session. Normally student would shoot 50 rounds three times a week. Wax is reusable so 500 wax should be sufficient.
2. Must be willing to forego the clock except for competition. You can't learn to be a gunfighter if you have grailfever.
3. Must be willing to dry fire in front of a mirror on days not shooting live rounds.
4. Must forgo outside influences. Only one mentor allowed. Quickest way to booth hill is to work on your draw during competition.
5. Must acquire practice stand. (about $25)
6. Must agree I can use your alias and story in any future publications.
Goals:
1. Goal for the man would be to be a 4 shooter shooting better than 80%.
2. Goal for the lady would be to be a World Champion. This is not a higher goal, it just that the next Lady World Champion will be a 4 or 5 shooter shooting better than 60%.
3. My goal is to see if I am in left field or not. You will be the test of the training regiment.
The Draw:
Most new shooters start out with the level and follow through draw. They spend months or sometimes years learning to be fast with this technique. Some become top shooters but most level out in the mid 5s. Some spend years trying to unlearn the follow through to get truly fast. We will try to learn the Lock-elbow/Thumb-roll draw. If you can't do the lock elbow draw you still can be a 4 flat shooter shooting the level and follow through. The flail draw is a defect and not an acceptable draw although some shoot world record times with it. It is a symptom of grailfever.
I plan to video students before, during and after the 8 weeks and give each their reaction/draw splits.
Observation: I have to end this post with an observation of my idol, Miss Kitty, World Champion. She is getting ready to hand judge me late in the event and she has her box of 100 cartridges open looking at them. To me there is no reasonable order to the shot shells and unshot shells so I ask her about it. She tells me there is a definite order and she can ascertain the hits and misses of each round from the order in the box. See why she is a world champion. I got to get her to train me more! She never has, I just pick up tips here and there by watching her.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Four Corners, Rule 17, and Resurrected Shooter!
The 2016 Four Corners shoot is in the book. Although Ruah did not show up Everett did and took copious mental notes.
The shoot ran well with few problems. Although Arizona Gunslingers were the primary host the Rio Salado Vaqueros pitched in with one range. Many thanks to them and especially Muletrain and Southwest KC. The San Juan Shootists provided equipment, guidance and did the scoring with help from Miss Betty. Wench can run one of these in her sleep, many thanks! Our club was a little short on tear down labor, but those bandits from down south (Old Pueblo Gunfighters) helped get the club in a box back in the box in just a little over an hour. It is amazing how help just seems to appear from out of the crowd, I am thinking of all the range officers, for example that cowboy from Idaho who is not only dangerous on the line but behind the mic
One of the great strengths of CFDA is how the folks all pitch in and get the job done but that is also one of the weaknesses. It was humorous how the board had spend a lot of time discussing and making decisions on minor details and then when the workers went to work all that planning went out the window. You can't make water run uphill, all you can do is shrug your shoulders and go with the flow.
Ground Breaking Event: Don't know how many noticed but we had the first ever Territorial Tenderfoot Championship with Lil' James taking Coyote Kid to three matches in a Magnificent Two. Also first time at a titled event that three Magnificent shoot-offs were held simultaneously on one range. We were prepared for 15 shooters, would have had 8 except Dismal could not handle the heat after a week of flu. We had separate championships and awards for Billy the Kid, Anne Oakley and Tenderfoot. We got a prep talk from the newest Annie Oakley before the first round was fired on how it was okay to lose as long as you were having fun.
The Resurrection: We did have a Second Chance Shoot, which is many times misnamed as a resurrection match. Top five there received "Almost Made It" bottles filled with wax so they could practice more. Following CFDA rules the true resurrection occurred in the ladies' main match . After 11 rounds 6 were left with 5 having 3 Xs and 1 having 2 X s. Round Twelve ended with Southwest KC getting her 3rd X and Slow Poke and Holli Day being eliminated. That left only four for a Magnificent Five, so following the rules, Holli Day and Slow Poke squared off in a resurrection shoot off to get back into the match. Slow Poke being the more accurate shot her way back into the fifth seed.
Slow Poke then proceeded to show that though she had been eliminated she was the best gunfighter there by gunning down the next four seeds in a row. The world record holder, Honey Badger, fought back from the loser bracket and defeated Slow Poke in their second match of the Magnificent Five. (Slow Poke had been lamenting that she had been 2-2 with Honey Badger in the main match only to have Honey Badger win the match setting a new world record, which Honey Badger did twice over the weekend.) The third match went to 2-2 before that ice in the veins gunslinger from Washington DC, Slow Poke, won with a accurate shot on the plate to Honey Badger blazing miss.
From facebook comments I learn that some of the credit should go to WOW who helped her get a stuck cleaning brush out of the barrel and the hand judge, Cowboy Up, for reminding Slow Poke to breathe. Slow Poke won best dressed ladies award and 50/50 raffle. But all good fortune has to be paid for and I understand as I write this that Slow Poke is still stuck in the airport gridlock trying to get home. I am sure glad she can't be holstered and heeled or someone would have to be repainting TSA staff.
Men"s Magnificent Five: When I made it to the top seven, I thought I had a chance to make the Magnificent Five or at least a resurrection shoot-off to get in. The men's event was unusual in that the top five had really conserved their X s with Master Gunfighter being in jeopardy being eliminated. Only one, I, was eliminated in round 13 and only one, Pork Rind, was eliminated in round 14, so there was no resurrection shoot-off. Lawless Speed was first out followed by the Draw. Rodeo Romero was on (better than 60%) hitting in the low 3s but not quite quick enough. The Championship was determined in three matches between Marshall Cooper and Master Gunfighter with the final match going to 2-2 with Master Gunfighter hitting and Marshall missing. Master Gunfighter had also won Fridays jackpot shoot.
School is in Session: A CFDA event is a great place to learn life skills. It is especially good for our kids. They learn discipline, responsibility, courtesy and respect. Before you play you got to work. We sold souvenir cups and magnets for shoot for the stars and I tasked AZ Gunslingers and Rio youth to solicit donations. I look around and see Buckeroo Ben with the cutest gal he can find at the time in tow working the crowd. Every time he came to me to report his results he had to tell me how proud of how his little brother, Coyote Kid, was doing with donations. Together they had over half of the total of about $700 in sales. Many thanks to all who bought magnets and cup. Each are individually designed so it will take me a while to work through the orders.
Rule 17: Before the event started the Comish, Quick Cal, announced there would be a change in how Rule 17 would be enforced from what had been published. In essence, the enforcement of the rule was being changed from guilty until proven innocence to innocence until proven guilty. I don't know if this is going to be published or just announced at titled events. The rule was not a problem and there were no loss of shot penalties but two warnings issued. I will tell you that it is a little stressful to have Quick Cal take the range when you are the only one on the line that may have a problem. But what the heck, the gunfighter facing you is a more important worry.
Summation: It was a fun event. Sure glad we have a full time Trail Boss running the show. Now if I just could find another 20 milliseconds, maybe I could get back to hearing some clank in my tin. I'm afeared Shady been looking for a more worthy opponent. Been trying to get Doc into marbles but she won't take the bait.
The shoot ran well with few problems. Although Arizona Gunslingers were the primary host the Rio Salado Vaqueros pitched in with one range. Many thanks to them and especially Muletrain and Southwest KC. The San Juan Shootists provided equipment, guidance and did the scoring with help from Miss Betty. Wench can run one of these in her sleep, many thanks! Our club was a little short on tear down labor, but those bandits from down south (Old Pueblo Gunfighters) helped get the club in a box back in the box in just a little over an hour. It is amazing how help just seems to appear from out of the crowd, I am thinking of all the range officers, for example that cowboy from Idaho who is not only dangerous on the line but behind the mic
One of the great strengths of CFDA is how the folks all pitch in and get the job done but that is also one of the weaknesses. It was humorous how the board had spend a lot of time discussing and making decisions on minor details and then when the workers went to work all that planning went out the window. You can't make water run uphill, all you can do is shrug your shoulders and go with the flow.
Ground Breaking Event: Don't know how many noticed but we had the first ever Territorial Tenderfoot Championship with Lil' James taking Coyote Kid to three matches in a Magnificent Two. Also first time at a titled event that three Magnificent shoot-offs were held simultaneously on one range. We were prepared for 15 shooters, would have had 8 except Dismal could not handle the heat after a week of flu. We had separate championships and awards for Billy the Kid, Anne Oakley and Tenderfoot. We got a prep talk from the newest Annie Oakley before the first round was fired on how it was okay to lose as long as you were having fun.
The Resurrection: We did have a Second Chance Shoot, which is many times misnamed as a resurrection match. Top five there received "Almost Made It" bottles filled with wax so they could practice more. Following CFDA rules the true resurrection occurred in the ladies' main match . After 11 rounds 6 were left with 5 having 3 Xs and 1 having 2 X s. Round Twelve ended with Southwest KC getting her 3rd X and Slow Poke and Holli Day being eliminated. That left only four for a Magnificent Five, so following the rules, Holli Day and Slow Poke squared off in a resurrection shoot off to get back into the match. Slow Poke being the more accurate shot her way back into the fifth seed.
Slow Poke then proceeded to show that though she had been eliminated she was the best gunfighter there by gunning down the next four seeds in a row. The world record holder, Honey Badger, fought back from the loser bracket and defeated Slow Poke in their second match of the Magnificent Five. (Slow Poke had been lamenting that she had been 2-2 with Honey Badger in the main match only to have Honey Badger win the match setting a new world record, which Honey Badger did twice over the weekend.) The third match went to 2-2 before that ice in the veins gunslinger from Washington DC, Slow Poke, won with a accurate shot on the plate to Honey Badger blazing miss.
From facebook comments I learn that some of the credit should go to WOW who helped her get a stuck cleaning brush out of the barrel and the hand judge, Cowboy Up, for reminding Slow Poke to breathe. Slow Poke won best dressed ladies award and 50/50 raffle. But all good fortune has to be paid for and I understand as I write this that Slow Poke is still stuck in the airport gridlock trying to get home. I am sure glad she can't be holstered and heeled or someone would have to be repainting TSA staff.
Men"s Magnificent Five: When I made it to the top seven, I thought I had a chance to make the Magnificent Five or at least a resurrection shoot-off to get in. The men's event was unusual in that the top five had really conserved their X s with Master Gunfighter being in jeopardy being eliminated. Only one, I, was eliminated in round 13 and only one, Pork Rind, was eliminated in round 14, so there was no resurrection shoot-off. Lawless Speed was first out followed by the Draw. Rodeo Romero was on (better than 60%) hitting in the low 3s but not quite quick enough. The Championship was determined in three matches between Marshall Cooper and Master Gunfighter with the final match going to 2-2 with Master Gunfighter hitting and Marshall missing. Master Gunfighter had also won Fridays jackpot shoot.
School is in Session: A CFDA event is a great place to learn life skills. It is especially good for our kids. They learn discipline, responsibility, courtesy and respect. Before you play you got to work. We sold souvenir cups and magnets for shoot for the stars and I tasked AZ Gunslingers and Rio youth to solicit donations. I look around and see Buckeroo Ben with the cutest gal he can find at the time in tow working the crowd. Every time he came to me to report his results he had to tell me how proud of how his little brother, Coyote Kid, was doing with donations. Together they had over half of the total of about $700 in sales. Many thanks to all who bought magnets and cup. Each are individually designed so it will take me a while to work through the orders.
Rule 17: Before the event started the Comish, Quick Cal, announced there would be a change in how Rule 17 would be enforced from what had been published. In essence, the enforcement of the rule was being changed from guilty until proven innocence to innocence until proven guilty. I don't know if this is going to be published or just announced at titled events. The rule was not a problem and there were no loss of shot penalties but two warnings issued. I will tell you that it is a little stressful to have Quick Cal take the range when you are the only one on the line that may have a problem. But what the heck, the gunfighter facing you is a more important worry.
Summation: It was a fun event. Sure glad we have a full time Trail Boss running the show. Now if I just could find another 20 milliseconds, maybe I could get back to hearing some clank in my tin. I'm afeared Shady been looking for a more worthy opponent. Been trying to get Doc into marbles but she won't take the bait.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Arizona Five
On Shady Mtn we did a test run of Arizona Five and found that it is works well using the CFDA scoring program. It has two big advantages, one, there is no down time between rounds and two, you get to shoot against twice as many shooters.
I am going to lobby hard to use it this summer at our practice shoots. Our problem is having a large number of shooters in 115* heat. Arizona Five will help getting more rounds in.
The format: Arizona Five is a five shot option. You shoot five shots with the shooter hitting the most shots getting the win. If the shooters are tied 2-2, both shooters get a win because both shooters are shooting good enough to win, hitting between 40-80% and winning at least 2 shots each. If it is tied 0-0 or 1-1, after five shots both shooters get a X because both shooters are shooting less than 20% and deserve an X. Ties in time are re-shot. After five shots round one is complete for those six shooters.
The Shuffle: Upon the completion round one for those 6 shooters, the shooter on lane one moves to lane 6 and all other shooters move one lane to the left. Must move to the left to make score sheet work. Hand judges stay where they are, since they are the next round one shooters. You then shoot round two for those 6 shooters. Each shooter has a new opponent.
Scorekeeping: When setting up the match you tell the CFDA program to print only six shooters per sheet. (Or the number of lanes you have.) The first five boxes are used to score round one, boxes 6 & 7 record W/Xs and fastest time for round one, box 8 is lane assignments for round two, that leaves 6 boxes for scores of round two. Shooter on lane one is first shooter on the sheet and then you move him to the bottom row for scoring round two. It can be confusing and it helps to draw dark lines between the round two matches so it is clear who is shooting who. On the line there is no problem because targets are scored against your opponent.
While round two is being shot, scores of round one can be entered. ONLY round one! When the last round one match is complete those last six shooters are entered. The computer then draws what it thinks is round two. You can use that draw for round 3 and 4. You must enter a round completely then have the computer draw the next round before entering the next round scores.
Downtime On our test run, we used two draws to shoot four rounds, but the computer drew four rounds. We did not use two of the draws. WARNING: The x count listed on the draws may not accurate if you are using an earlier draw to shoot a round but you can run standings report after completion of entering a round that will have the correct x count. If you want an accurate x count on the draws you would have to wait until the scores of the second round shot on a scoresheet are entered, but then you would have downtime while those scores are entered.
In our test run, we did wait and used draw three for rounds three and four so we did have some downtime. But we could have used draw 2 for rounds 3 & 4 and there would not have been any downtime. Draw 2 having been made before the completion of rounds 1 & 2.
Scorekeeping can confusing but it is not hard once you get used to the format and you "follow the form, See score sheet for rounds 1&2 from test.
This test was actually much more confusing because we shot it on two lanes using a 6 lane score sheet. Shooter one had to wait several matches to shoot his/her second round.
Application to Events: I would only recommend Arizona Five for events where you are shooting a No X event for seeding. Shooters are not going to accept elimination based on ties. But you have to consider that most main matches are really nothing more that seeding matches. It is how we get to the top gunslingers on a particular day, whether it is Last Man Standing, Magnificent or Bracket shoots.
At Winter Range, Shady Mike reached a #2 seed, shooting against only 5% of the 79 shooter field. If he had shot against more shooters it probably would not made any difference the way he was shooting. I shot against him all week and I was hitting 80% at 4 flat and finished 1-6 against him in marble matches. He was just on and no one there could compete against him. But that is not the normal event. Normally the more opponents you shoot against, the more accurate the seedings will be. If we had shot Arizona Five, each shooter would have had 8 opponents or 10% of the field.
At our club shoots with say 40 shooters, should be able to get in 10 rounds of Arizona Five in summertime, and each shooter will have shot against 10 opponents or 25% of the field. So with a 1x magnificent shoot-off each shooter would get 11 matches. With our current format we are lucky to get 4 or 5 matches with a 40 shooter turnout in the summertime.
The only challenge is training the scorekeepers and computer operators. After we are done with Four Corners, I am suggesting we shoot this for 12 shooters every Sunday. If you want to come shoot on Shady Mtn, you got to learn how to score Arizona Five. Vic pick it up great Saturday That way we will have at least 12 trained scorekeepers for the summertime.
I am still trying to find people who want to learn how to announce and score a Magnificent 2 x shoot on two lanes instead of on 6 lanes. Seems to me to be terrible waste of lanes to use only one half of your facilities, guess it it more fun to shoot in the dark than to get done by sundown (insider neddle).
I am going to lobby hard to use it this summer at our practice shoots. Our problem is having a large number of shooters in 115* heat. Arizona Five will help getting more rounds in.
The format: Arizona Five is a five shot option. You shoot five shots with the shooter hitting the most shots getting the win. If the shooters are tied 2-2, both shooters get a win because both shooters are shooting good enough to win, hitting between 40-80% and winning at least 2 shots each. If it is tied 0-0 or 1-1, after five shots both shooters get a X because both shooters are shooting less than 20% and deserve an X. Ties in time are re-shot. After five shots round one is complete for those six shooters.
The Shuffle: Upon the completion round one for those 6 shooters, the shooter on lane one moves to lane 6 and all other shooters move one lane to the left. Must move to the left to make score sheet work. Hand judges stay where they are, since they are the next round one shooters. You then shoot round two for those 6 shooters. Each shooter has a new opponent.
Scorekeeping: When setting up the match you tell the CFDA program to print only six shooters per sheet. (Or the number of lanes you have.) The first five boxes are used to score round one, boxes 6 & 7 record W/Xs and fastest time for round one, box 8 is lane assignments for round two, that leaves 6 boxes for scores of round two. Shooter on lane one is first shooter on the sheet and then you move him to the bottom row for scoring round two. It can be confusing and it helps to draw dark lines between the round two matches so it is clear who is shooting who. On the line there is no problem because targets are scored against your opponent.
While round two is being shot, scores of round one can be entered. ONLY round one! When the last round one match is complete those last six shooters are entered. The computer then draws what it thinks is round two. You can use that draw for round 3 and 4. You must enter a round completely then have the computer draw the next round before entering the next round scores.
Downtime On our test run, we used two draws to shoot four rounds, but the computer drew four rounds. We did not use two of the draws. WARNING: The x count listed on the draws may not accurate if you are using an earlier draw to shoot a round but you can run standings report after completion of entering a round that will have the correct x count. If you want an accurate x count on the draws you would have to wait until the scores of the second round shot on a scoresheet are entered, but then you would have downtime while those scores are entered.
In our test run, we did wait and used draw three for rounds three and four so we did have some downtime. But we could have used draw 2 for rounds 3 & 4 and there would not have been any downtime. Draw 2 having been made before the completion of rounds 1 & 2.
Scorekeeping can confusing but it is not hard once you get used to the format and you "follow the form, See score sheet for rounds 1&2 from test.
Application to Events: I would only recommend Arizona Five for events where you are shooting a No X event for seeding. Shooters are not going to accept elimination based on ties. But you have to consider that most main matches are really nothing more that seeding matches. It is how we get to the top gunslingers on a particular day, whether it is Last Man Standing, Magnificent or Bracket shoots.
At Winter Range, Shady Mike reached a #2 seed, shooting against only 5% of the 79 shooter field. If he had shot against more shooters it probably would not made any difference the way he was shooting. I shot against him all week and I was hitting 80% at 4 flat and finished 1-6 against him in marble matches. He was just on and no one there could compete against him. But that is not the normal event. Normally the more opponents you shoot against, the more accurate the seedings will be. If we had shot Arizona Five, each shooter would have had 8 opponents or 10% of the field.
At our club shoots with say 40 shooters, should be able to get in 10 rounds of Arizona Five in summertime, and each shooter will have shot against 10 opponents or 25% of the field. So with a 1x magnificent shoot-off each shooter would get 11 matches. With our current format we are lucky to get 4 or 5 matches with a 40 shooter turnout in the summertime.
The only challenge is training the scorekeepers and computer operators. After we are done with Four Corners, I am suggesting we shoot this for 12 shooters every Sunday. If you want to come shoot on Shady Mtn, you got to learn how to score Arizona Five. Vic pick it up great Saturday That way we will have at least 12 trained scorekeepers for the summertime.
I am still trying to find people who want to learn how to announce and score a Magnificent 2 x shoot on two lanes instead of on 6 lanes. Seems to me to be terrible waste of lanes to use only one half of your facilities, guess it it more fun to shoot in the dark than to get done by sundown (insider neddle).
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Philosophy from the Salty River
We have had lively discussion about format with Levi and Mitch. Levi says there can only be one winner. The acorn does not fall far from the tree. Mitch says that when he is 4th in Bracket C he is 32nd and deserves nothing. Both look at this from an individual perspective, Levi from his five year plan to win a World Championship and Mitch under the influence of his father. When you're talking about formats one needs to leave the realm of the individual and think in terms of the whole, the CFDA, the club, and the average shooter. That is why Quick Cal says "CFDA strongly supports the instituting Bracket Matches at all classes of events."
Last Saturday the Rio Salado Vaqueros held a 3x Magnificent Seven Match. As always it was an excellent event with 44 shooters attending. It is informative to consider the results in the discussion of format. The best gunfighter of the day clearly was The Draw (World 3rd) and the 2nd best gunfighter probably was Coyote Kid (Tenderfoot, age 7). Hi Strung was lamenting all day to me that he was shooting poorly (slow) but he was hitting and ended the main match clean with no x s. As such, Hi Strung was seeded 1st in the Magnificent Seven. Although probably in the top 20%, it was clear he was not the top gunfighter at the event.
Resurrection Feature: Although there was no official resurrection feature in the contest, it being a standard CFDA format, a resurrection did occur. In the last round of the main event, Coyote Kid eliminated the Draw reducing the field to 6. Following standard protocol, The Draw, clawed his way back through two other shooters to re-enter the field as the 7th seed.
This is not uncommon. In 2015, Marshall Cooper was resurrected at Winter Range to go onto win in a Magnificent Five format. At Colorado, Bonnie Ringo out shot Marshall Cooper to secure the 5th seed. It happens at most shoots with the magnificent format.
This resurrection feature was instituted for its entertainment value, to have a full field, but many times it serves a better function, that is to determine who the best gunfighter is on a given day. On Saturday, The Draw even though he had been eliminated won a bye round, then 8 matches in a row to win the event. He was truly the best gunfighter on February 13 on the Salty River.
The Magnificent Seven format does a pretty good job sorting out who the best gunfighter is on a given day. Getting ready for the Magnificent Seven, I see Hi Strung in the dry fire area, trying to find some more speed and I lectured him to dance with the girl (draw) that got him the number #1 seed. He and I both could not take my advice, and two losses resulted for both of us.
Lest you think it is easy to shoot in the Valley of the Sun here is the results of Saturday's shoot. 1st The Draw (Two-time National Champion), 2nd Whiskey, 3rd Hi Strung (2nd Tombstone),4th Muletrain (2015 Senior World Champion), 5th Coyote Kid (Tenderfoot age 7), 6th Alleluia Ruah (2014 Super Senior National Champion) 7th Miss Kitty (2015 World Champion and Multi-Territorial Champion).
Getting back to the discussion, I think it is good for the sport to have multiple champions. I love the way the Powderhorn Ranch Regulators shoot the National Championship. On Sunday, championship day, they crown 15 or so category champions and then the overall youth, women and men's overall champions. I hope, but doubt, this year's national shoot will have that format.
The inadvertent resurrection feature has worked so well in determining the best gunfighter, I see no reason that we do not institute it for all shooters and have a true resurrection shoot. Now we have 2nd chance shoots just to occupy eliminated shooters. There is no good reason or rule that prevents us from putting meaning into these shoots by allowing the winner back in as the number 7th seed. (paragraph 4, page 21 would have to be tweaked a bit.) Shouldn't our goal be to determine the best gunfighter on any given day.
It is too late to do much about the 2016 schedule, but 2017 is less then a year away. Got my work cut out for me. I have stated before, the best championship format would be to shoot down to five, (or 6 if not having categories) then let the resurrection winner in as 7th seed and the fastest category champion in as the 6th seed. Don't we want to find out who the best gunfighter is at any given event. One of the weaknesses of the elimination format is that the luck of the draw many times determines how you do, not how you are shooting. To come back from the resurrection match to win is nearly impossible except for the best gunfighter there, and that is what we are trying to determine.
Last Saturday the Rio Salado Vaqueros held a 3x Magnificent Seven Match. As always it was an excellent event with 44 shooters attending. It is informative to consider the results in the discussion of format. The best gunfighter of the day clearly was The Draw (World 3rd) and the 2nd best gunfighter probably was Coyote Kid (Tenderfoot, age 7). Hi Strung was lamenting all day to me that he was shooting poorly (slow) but he was hitting and ended the main match clean with no x s. As such, Hi Strung was seeded 1st in the Magnificent Seven. Although probably in the top 20%, it was clear he was not the top gunfighter at the event.
Resurrection Feature: Although there was no official resurrection feature in the contest, it being a standard CFDA format, a resurrection did occur. In the last round of the main event, Coyote Kid eliminated the Draw reducing the field to 6. Following standard protocol, The Draw, clawed his way back through two other shooters to re-enter the field as the 7th seed.
This is not uncommon. In 2015, Marshall Cooper was resurrected at Winter Range to go onto win in a Magnificent Five format. At Colorado, Bonnie Ringo out shot Marshall Cooper to secure the 5th seed. It happens at most shoots with the magnificent format.
This resurrection feature was instituted for its entertainment value, to have a full field, but many times it serves a better function, that is to determine who the best gunfighter is on a given day. On Saturday, The Draw even though he had been eliminated won a bye round, then 8 matches in a row to win the event. He was truly the best gunfighter on February 13 on the Salty River.
The Magnificent Seven format does a pretty good job sorting out who the best gunfighter is on a given day. Getting ready for the Magnificent Seven, I see Hi Strung in the dry fire area, trying to find some more speed and I lectured him to dance with the girl (draw) that got him the number #1 seed. He and I both could not take my advice, and two losses resulted for both of us.
Lest you think it is easy to shoot in the Valley of the Sun here is the results of Saturday's shoot. 1st The Draw (Two-time National Champion), 2nd Whiskey, 3rd Hi Strung (2nd Tombstone),4th Muletrain (2015 Senior World Champion), 5th Coyote Kid (Tenderfoot age 7), 6th Alleluia Ruah (2014 Super Senior National Champion) 7th Miss Kitty (2015 World Champion and Multi-Territorial Champion).
Getting back to the discussion, I think it is good for the sport to have multiple champions. I love the way the Powderhorn Ranch Regulators shoot the National Championship. On Sunday, championship day, they crown 15 or so category champions and then the overall youth, women and men's overall champions. I hope, but doubt, this year's national shoot will have that format.
The inadvertent resurrection feature has worked so well in determining the best gunfighter, I see no reason that we do not institute it for all shooters and have a true resurrection shoot. Now we have 2nd chance shoots just to occupy eliminated shooters. There is no good reason or rule that prevents us from putting meaning into these shoots by allowing the winner back in as the number 7th seed. (paragraph 4, page 21 would have to be tweaked a bit.) Shouldn't our goal be to determine the best gunfighter on any given day.
It is too late to do much about the 2016 schedule, but 2017 is less then a year away. Got my work cut out for me. I have stated before, the best championship format would be to shoot down to five, (or 6 if not having categories) then let the resurrection winner in as 7th seed and the fastest category champion in as the 6th seed. Don't we want to find out who the best gunfighter is at any given event. One of the weaknesses of the elimination format is that the luck of the draw many times determines how you do, not how you are shooting. To come back from the resurrection match to win is nearly impossible except for the best gunfighter there, and that is what we are trying to determine.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Ole to the Bucket
After months of struggle I finally did better in competition going clean for six rounds at the Camp, no small feat since there were a lots of World, Territorial and State Champions there. No easy draw in the bunch. I attribute my good showing to the fact that two days prior I went to the river and did bucket work.
Bucket work consists of shooting at 6 feet onto cardboard. You are working only on finalizing your draw. Only elevation and a consistent draw matters. You can see each hit and your body will automatically adjust to bring the shot to the desired elevation. You are just trying to get the draw to be automatic, no thought, no change, just like breathing. You are not worried about speed, but your speed will get faster as your draw becomes more finalized.
I enjoy shooting so much with my partners that I have neglected my bucket work. Practicing missing is not helpful, may be fun, but is not helpful.
When you come to a competition, you shoot the draw you brought. No changing or no tinkering and definitely no thinking. That is just the route to boot hill. When you get to the line the only things that you are concerned about are your alignment and your balance. You adjust those before the set command. When the set command is given you are ready, the draw on the light is nothing more than another breath.
"Remember boys, quick only matters if you can hit that which you are trying to be quick about." Virgil Cole.
Bucket work consists of shooting at 6 feet onto cardboard. You are working only on finalizing your draw. Only elevation and a consistent draw matters. You can see each hit and your body will automatically adjust to bring the shot to the desired elevation. You are just trying to get the draw to be automatic, no thought, no change, just like breathing. You are not worried about speed, but your speed will get faster as your draw becomes more finalized.
I enjoy shooting so much with my partners that I have neglected my bucket work. Practicing missing is not helpful, may be fun, but is not helpful.
When you come to a competition, you shoot the draw you brought. No changing or no tinkering and definitely no thinking. That is just the route to boot hill. When you get to the line the only things that you are concerned about are your alignment and your balance. You adjust those before the set command. When the set command is given you are ready, the draw on the light is nothing more than another breath.
"Remember boys, quick only matters if you can hit that which you are trying to be quick about." Virgil Cole.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Place Obsession
This is a rant about human nature and our obsession with the past. Our ability to try new things or novel things is many times limited by our obsession with what we have done in the past. The biggest hurdle to trying something new is the "can't" factor as in "You can't do that."
I was trying to come up with new and novel format for a jackpot bracket shoot. I thought, well, what if we paid 5 places in three brackets or a total of 15 shooters. We could divide the pot into 20 equal parts. Each of the top five would get 5% of the pot for being one of the top five shooters in the bracket. Then, since we love winners, we give the winner in each bracket an additional 5% for winning the bracket. And again, since we love winners, we shoot the bracket winners off to get an overall winner and he or she gets an additional 5%. The ultimate split works out to be 20%, 10%, 10% and then 12 5% winners. Makes sense to me, since a shooter's ultimate overall place has more to do with the luck of the draw than with how he is shooting, except maybe for that one shooter that goes all the way without a lose in the shoot-offs.
I pitched this to some of the board and club members and was hit with the "can't" factor. The pointed question I could not answer at the time was "Who is in fourth place?" Now, I can answer. There is no overall fourth place. There is just 15 shooters that shot well, three shooters that shot a little bit better, and one shooter that shot the best getting through the shoot-offs without a loss. He or she is the Overall Champion. I proposed Top Fifteen Medallions and little money to each of the top fifteen shooters, and then a little bit more money to the bracket winners and a little more money to the Overall Champion.
I don't suppose this will ever fly because of place obsession. We got to be able to pull our suspenders and say "I was fourth" to the other lower placing shooters even though one's draws may have been the easiest of the lot.
More rant.
We shoot in the summer heat, sometimes 115, and may have between 40 to 70 shooters on 6 lanes. It is not fun to wait an hour between rounds. I propose the Arizona Five to move the shoot along. We would only use it in no X contests like our bracket shoots before the shoot offs.
Arizona Five: Shooters shoot five rounds with the shooter with the most winning shots winning the match. If there is a tie 2-2, then both shooters get a win because both are hitting between 40% and 80%. If there is a tie 0-0 or 1-1, then both shooters get a X because both shooters are shooting 40% or less.
This has also been met with the "can't" factor. "You got to have a winner." No, you don't, you can have a winner, or two winners, or two losers in a match. This would be used only when there is no elimination factor involved, we are only shooting seeding rounds, trying to sort out who is shooting the best this particular day. If two shooters can't hit the target more the once in five shots they ought to sit down, and let's get on with the sorting.
If you can't tell, I am a little frustrated by the "can't" faction. To get this little shoot off of the ground I need a little boost from positive comments, I get plenty negativism from the "can't" faction, that is human nature.
The old Vaquero was giving some advice to the young Vaquero saying, "Remember, you are a Mexican, not a Mexican't." A native American shop owner was lamenting the state of today's youth saying, "Unfortunately, our young people are all pull start, not push button start, like those from India."
I was trying to come up with new and novel format for a jackpot bracket shoot. I thought, well, what if we paid 5 places in three brackets or a total of 15 shooters. We could divide the pot into 20 equal parts. Each of the top five would get 5% of the pot for being one of the top five shooters in the bracket. Then, since we love winners, we give the winner in each bracket an additional 5% for winning the bracket. And again, since we love winners, we shoot the bracket winners off to get an overall winner and he or she gets an additional 5%. The ultimate split works out to be 20%, 10%, 10% and then 12 5% winners. Makes sense to me, since a shooter's ultimate overall place has more to do with the luck of the draw than with how he is shooting, except maybe for that one shooter that goes all the way without a lose in the shoot-offs.
I pitched this to some of the board and club members and was hit with the "can't" factor. The pointed question I could not answer at the time was "Who is in fourth place?" Now, I can answer. There is no overall fourth place. There is just 15 shooters that shot well, three shooters that shot a little bit better, and one shooter that shot the best getting through the shoot-offs without a loss. He or she is the Overall Champion. I proposed Top Fifteen Medallions and little money to each of the top fifteen shooters, and then a little bit more money to the bracket winners and a little more money to the Overall Champion.
I don't suppose this will ever fly because of place obsession. We got to be able to pull our suspenders and say "I was fourth" to the other lower placing shooters even though one's draws may have been the easiest of the lot.
More rant.
We shoot in the summer heat, sometimes 115, and may have between 40 to 70 shooters on 6 lanes. It is not fun to wait an hour between rounds. I propose the Arizona Five to move the shoot along. We would only use it in no X contests like our bracket shoots before the shoot offs.
Arizona Five: Shooters shoot five rounds with the shooter with the most winning shots winning the match. If there is a tie 2-2, then both shooters get a win because both are hitting between 40% and 80%. If there is a tie 0-0 or 1-1, then both shooters get a X because both shooters are shooting 40% or less.
This has also been met with the "can't" factor. "You got to have a winner." No, you don't, you can have a winner, or two winners, or two losers in a match. This would be used only when there is no elimination factor involved, we are only shooting seeding rounds, trying to sort out who is shooting the best this particular day. If two shooters can't hit the target more the once in five shots they ought to sit down, and let's get on with the sorting.
If you can't tell, I am a little frustrated by the "can't" faction. To get this little shoot off of the ground I need a little boost from positive comments, I get plenty negativism from the "can't" faction, that is human nature.
The old Vaquero was giving some advice to the young Vaquero saying, "Remember, you are a Mexican, not a Mexican't." A native American shop owner was lamenting the state of today's youth saying, "Unfortunately, our young people are all pull start, not push button start, like those from India."
Friday, January 29, 2016
Resurrection Revisited
We got some really good observations from Rodeo, Powder Keg, Boss 45 and WOW. It is helpful to get feed back. Just because there is some grumbling does not mean that the basic concept is flawed.
One needs to remember what we are trying to accomplish with a practice shoot. Our goals should be:
1. To give all of the members an equal opportunity to practice, not a just a select few;
2. To fit the shoot within the time we have, summer time that is 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.;
3. To have fun.
Rodeo suggests we should mimic the CFDA shoots and I agreed. But for a practice shoot this present some problems. With the last man standing format with a 3x, a large portion of our members only get a few rounds. The format we are using insures all the members get about the same amount of shooting. Also, with the last man standing format many leave when they are done and tearing down is left to just a few.
Boss 45 highlighted the potential for sandbagging. I have never believed that has been a problem, but understand that is a concern.
WOW expressed we need to get more rounds in. That is not a format problem, but a space problem. Until we get more lanes, we will have to address this with either Montana Five or 2 out of 3, neither of which is popular.
Try this on for size. A magnificent five on two lanes take 45 minutes. A three person shoot off takes less that 15 minutes.
We shoot a No X shoot from 8 to 11 for seeding purposes. If we have more than 40 shooters, we do Montana Five or 2 out of 3, so that we get more rounds in. Then we divide into brackets by x s and time out and shoot 1x magnificent format down to 5 shooters in each bracket. Then we shoot a magnificent five 2x in each bracket (should take 45 minutes). We finish the day by shooting off the three winners with a bye shoot-off, then one championship round.
If I were doing a jackpot shoot with this format I would suggest that that 75% of the prize money be divided by 15 with each of the top shooters getting 5% and then the Champion getting an additional 10% and each winners getting additional 5%. So split would be Champion 20%, two 2nds get 10% each and 12 others getting 5% each.
What do you think. Your input is appreciated and helpful. Think in terms of the club and not just how it may affect you.
"Quick don't matter much in a gunfight!" Little Bill, Unforgiven.
One needs to remember what we are trying to accomplish with a practice shoot. Our goals should be:
1. To give all of the members an equal opportunity to practice, not a just a select few;
2. To fit the shoot within the time we have, summer time that is 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.;
3. To have fun.
Rodeo suggests we should mimic the CFDA shoots and I agreed. But for a practice shoot this present some problems. With the last man standing format with a 3x, a large portion of our members only get a few rounds. The format we are using insures all the members get about the same amount of shooting. Also, with the last man standing format many leave when they are done and tearing down is left to just a few.
Boss 45 highlighted the potential for sandbagging. I have never believed that has been a problem, but understand that is a concern.
WOW expressed we need to get more rounds in. That is not a format problem, but a space problem. Until we get more lanes, we will have to address this with either Montana Five or 2 out of 3, neither of which is popular.
Try this on for size. A magnificent five on two lanes take 45 minutes. A three person shoot off takes less that 15 minutes.
We shoot a No X shoot from 8 to 11 for seeding purposes. If we have more than 40 shooters, we do Montana Five or 2 out of 3, so that we get more rounds in. Then we divide into brackets by x s and time out and shoot 1x magnificent format down to 5 shooters in each bracket. Then we shoot a magnificent five 2x in each bracket (should take 45 minutes). We finish the day by shooting off the three winners with a bye shoot-off, then one championship round.
If I were doing a jackpot shoot with this format I would suggest that that 75% of the prize money be divided by 15 with each of the top shooters getting 5% and then the Champion getting an additional 10% and each winners getting additional 5%. So split would be Champion 20%, two 2nds get 10% each and 12 others getting 5% each.
What do you think. Your input is appreciated and helpful. Think in terms of the club and not just how it may affect you.
"Quick don't matter much in a gunfight!" Little Bill, Unforgiven.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Tombstone Revisited & Arizona Gunslinger Bracket with Resurrection
The 2016 Tombstone shoot is in the books and as usual the Old Publeo Gunfighters put on a great event. I think the value of the door prizes exceeded the entry fee. This year's event used the Arizona Gunslinger Bracket shoot as a format. For those not familiar with it, that format has a no x seeding shoot for as many rounds as time will permit. Then the shooters are seeded by x s and time out of last round and divided into three brackets, then there is a magnificent one x shoot off with the top three shooters in each bracket winning prize money. The prize money is divided equally between Bracket A, B, and C.
This has been been very popular format for jackpot shoots because of the perception that it allows the average shooter a better chance of winning prize money. The perception is that the A bracket is the fastest and the C bracket the slowest, but in fact that is normally not the case. At tombstone, the fastest bracket was the B bracket. Hanker Hank has given me the results and analyzing it, I find that the average time out of A bracket was .6285, B bracket .6039 and C bracket .6403. Taking just the five fastest shooters in each bracket, the averages were A .4464, B .4088, and C .4924. At tombstone, Powder Keg was dialed in and came from the 5th seed to win A Bracket.
Powder Keg won and everyone says he won tombstone, but I am not sure he was the best shooter on that day. Two/thirds of the field did not have a chance to compete against him. Fastest shooter there was Witlock with a timeout of .332, but he was in Bracket B.
It has always annoyed me that the winner of Bracket A claims to have won the shoot (think loverboy) when 2/3rds of the field does not have the opportunity to make it to 1st place.
The Arizona Bracket shoot works best with small to medium shoots. At Tombstone there were 55 shooters and we only got four seeding rounds. That means that the luck of the draw has more to do with where you are seeded and where you place than how you are shooting. If you draw the best three shooter you go down to the bottom in the bracket shoot or out in a last man standing, even if you are shooting well and are the 4th best shooter there. With small numbers you get more seeding rounds and so there is a chance to overcome a tough series of shooters.
WE CAN IMPROVE ON THIS FORMAT. By adding a resurrection feature, we can give each shooter a chance to make it to first. What you do is to shoot the Arizona Gunslinger Bracket as normal, and then take the top three shooters in each bracket and shoot them off. You put all of the 1s on lanes 1 & 2 and they are shooting for 1st, 2nd and 3rd with A 1 getting a bye, you put all of the 2s on lane 3&4 shooting for 4th 5th and 6th with A 2 getting a bye, and you put all of the 3s on lane 5 & 6 and they are shooting for 7th 8th and 9th.
Every shooter has a chance to make it to 1st no matter where they are seeded. No one is out until the fat lady sings.
We tried the Arizona Gunslinger Bracket Shoot with Resurrection last Saturday and it worked. Adding the additional rounds only added two more rounds and about 10 minutes to the shoot. We had 42 shooters participate in the shoot off. EB was seeded 39th, being in bracket C, and he was unstoppable, winning 8 matches in Bracket C and two matches against the other number 1s to win the event. HawgLeg Willie was seeded 17th and moved up to place 7th. Powder Keg was on fire again being seeded 8th and moved up until he met the number one seed Lawless Speed. Lawless Speed finished 2nd and Powder Keg finished 4th. We had one tenderfoot shooter, Coyote Kid, seeded 29th who finished 9th. Our Billy the Kid shooter, Buckeroo Ben, was seeded 28th and finished 6th.
Looking at the breakdown of the top nine, we had 2 three shooters, two four shooters, two five/six shooters, two long guns, two 7/8 shooters, and two youth.
The format rewards the best gunfighter, not necessarily the quickest nor the slowest, but the ones who in the shoot offs are shooting the best. It is interesting to note that we had seven World, National, Territorial, State champions shooting Saturday, none of whom made the top nine. The Champions were pretty much evenly distributed among the three brackets. The fastest shooter there got mowed downed by EB in Bracket C.
Some might says the the lack of the Champions in the final nine means format is not good, but I don't think so. The Champions just were not hitting and it you don't hit you don't win. To do well in this format, what is needed is consistency. You must shoot well in each and every match and for a lot of matches.
SPEED BIAS: There is a speed bias built in since seeding is done by xs and time out. Also the A shooters get a bye. One would expect the speed to be in Bracket A, which among the nine, both of the 3 shooters came from Bracket A. The two fastest shooters were in Bracket B and C. You can't miss fast enough to win.
Saturday's shoot was just for practice and was not for prize money.
However, if and when it is used of a jackpot shoot, prize money can be distributed 1 through 9, thereby alleviate one of the complaints we hear about the bracket shoot.
MAJOR TITLED EVENTS: The Arizona Gunslingers Bracket Shoot with Resurrection would make a great warm-up event at a titled shoot. Warm-up event should be just that, a chance to get dialed in and prepared for the main event. With the last man standing format, say 3x, 25% of the field only gets three matches.
With two ranges, you can shoot everyone together for the seeding rounds and get probably get 6 or 7 rounds in if you have 60 shooters or 5 or 6 with 80 shooters. Then seed by xs and time out into 6 brackets. Shoot three brackets one range and three brackets on the other. Shoot offs on each range would remain separate and you would have 9 places set on one range and 9 places on the other. So you could pay out prize money to a total of 18 shooters. Sounds like fun
One big advantage, after the seeding rounds, you do not need the computer. Everything is set up on paper.
Well, what do you think?
"Remember boys quick don't matter, if you don't hit that which you are trying to be quick about."
This has been been very popular format for jackpot shoots because of the perception that it allows the average shooter a better chance of winning prize money. The perception is that the A bracket is the fastest and the C bracket the slowest, but in fact that is normally not the case. At tombstone, the fastest bracket was the B bracket. Hanker Hank has given me the results and analyzing it, I find that the average time out of A bracket was .6285, B bracket .6039 and C bracket .6403. Taking just the five fastest shooters in each bracket, the averages were A .4464, B .4088, and C .4924. At tombstone, Powder Keg was dialed in and came from the 5th seed to win A Bracket.
Powder Keg won and everyone says he won tombstone, but I am not sure he was the best shooter on that day. Two/thirds of the field did not have a chance to compete against him. Fastest shooter there was Witlock with a timeout of .332, but he was in Bracket B.
It has always annoyed me that the winner of Bracket A claims to have won the shoot (think loverboy) when 2/3rds of the field does not have the opportunity to make it to 1st place.
The Arizona Bracket shoot works best with small to medium shoots. At Tombstone there were 55 shooters and we only got four seeding rounds. That means that the luck of the draw has more to do with where you are seeded and where you place than how you are shooting. If you draw the best three shooter you go down to the bottom in the bracket shoot or out in a last man standing, even if you are shooting well and are the 4th best shooter there. With small numbers you get more seeding rounds and so there is a chance to overcome a tough series of shooters.
WE CAN IMPROVE ON THIS FORMAT. By adding a resurrection feature, we can give each shooter a chance to make it to first. What you do is to shoot the Arizona Gunslinger Bracket as normal, and then take the top three shooters in each bracket and shoot them off. You put all of the 1s on lanes 1 & 2 and they are shooting for 1st, 2nd and 3rd with A 1 getting a bye, you put all of the 2s on lane 3&4 shooting for 4th 5th and 6th with A 2 getting a bye, and you put all of the 3s on lane 5 & 6 and they are shooting for 7th 8th and 9th.
Every shooter has a chance to make it to 1st no matter where they are seeded. No one is out until the fat lady sings.
We tried the Arizona Gunslinger Bracket Shoot with Resurrection last Saturday and it worked. Adding the additional rounds only added two more rounds and about 10 minutes to the shoot. We had 42 shooters participate in the shoot off. EB was seeded 39th, being in bracket C, and he was unstoppable, winning 8 matches in Bracket C and two matches against the other number 1s to win the event. HawgLeg Willie was seeded 17th and moved up to place 7th. Powder Keg was on fire again being seeded 8th and moved up until he met the number one seed Lawless Speed. Lawless Speed finished 2nd and Powder Keg finished 4th. We had one tenderfoot shooter, Coyote Kid, seeded 29th who finished 9th. Our Billy the Kid shooter, Buckeroo Ben, was seeded 28th and finished 6th.
Looking at the breakdown of the top nine, we had 2 three shooters, two four shooters, two five/six shooters, two long guns, two 7/8 shooters, and two youth.
The format rewards the best gunfighter, not necessarily the quickest nor the slowest, but the ones who in the shoot offs are shooting the best. It is interesting to note that we had seven World, National, Territorial, State champions shooting Saturday, none of whom made the top nine. The Champions were pretty much evenly distributed among the three brackets. The fastest shooter there got mowed downed by EB in Bracket C.
Some might says the the lack of the Champions in the final nine means format is not good, but I don't think so. The Champions just were not hitting and it you don't hit you don't win. To do well in this format, what is needed is consistency. You must shoot well in each and every match and for a lot of matches.
SPEED BIAS: There is a speed bias built in since seeding is done by xs and time out. Also the A shooters get a bye. One would expect the speed to be in Bracket A, which among the nine, both of the 3 shooters came from Bracket A. The two fastest shooters were in Bracket B and C. You can't miss fast enough to win.
Saturday's shoot was just for practice and was not for prize money.
However, if and when it is used of a jackpot shoot, prize money can be distributed 1 through 9, thereby alleviate one of the complaints we hear about the bracket shoot.
MAJOR TITLED EVENTS: The Arizona Gunslingers Bracket Shoot with Resurrection would make a great warm-up event at a titled shoot. Warm-up event should be just that, a chance to get dialed in and prepared for the main event. With the last man standing format, say 3x, 25% of the field only gets three matches.
With two ranges, you can shoot everyone together for the seeding rounds and get probably get 6 or 7 rounds in if you have 60 shooters or 5 or 6 with 80 shooters. Then seed by xs and time out into 6 brackets. Shoot three brackets one range and three brackets on the other. Shoot offs on each range would remain separate and you would have 9 places set on one range and 9 places on the other. So you could pay out prize money to a total of 18 shooters. Sounds like fun
One big advantage, after the seeding rounds, you do not need the computer. Everything is set up on paper.
Well, what do you think?
"Remember boys quick don't matter, if you don't hit that which you are trying to be quick about."
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
The Dilemma, Rule 17, A Positive View
"Life has a way of making the foreseeable never happen, and the unforeseeable that which your life becomes" Everett Hitch.
This fall I was going to become a new man. I had gotten a couple of long guns, was going change my draw, in part to stand more upright for my aching back, and change my alias to shed some ill gotten reputation. I figured three thousand rounds of wax would do the trick. About five hundred rounds into the new venture, I decided to abandon the effort, being dishearten with my lack of speed and mostly accuracy. So I abandoned the change and rededicated myself to the short gun. Two days later the Gazette arrives with Rule #17.
The Dilemma, now what to do?
Option #1: I could go to the long gun. Add 3 inches and I will be clearly out front of the holster pouch cut. I have a Colt which I can get out of the Shaniko holster in the high 4s and be "clearly obvious" with about 40% accuracy. I struggle to get the shot up and find myself again leaning back which is painful for me. My backup gun is a New Vaquero which I have yet to get out of the holster. That wax just rattles down the holster with the New Vaquero.
Option #2: The Colt long gun came with a 5 inch barrel. I can put the five inch barrel on and I would in fact be compliant with Rule #17. Although I am sure the additional inch would put me out in front, I am not sure it would be "clearly obvious." I would also need another backup gun with a 5 inch barrel.
Option #3: I can change my draw. I use the locked elbow draw as most quick shooters do. I have controlled my elevation by my balance and my stance has a pronounced backward lean. See the following:
Note that the gun is fired about 1 inch behind the front cut, a guess but probably correct. Adding one inch or three inches to the barrel would probably solve the issue except one inch would not be "clearly obvious." (This was a winning shot of .415)
I am a old fella and shooting this way is painful. I think I can comply with the Rule #17 simply by standing more upright. If I stand more upright my shoulder will move forward more than a foot and I believe the front of the barrel with move forward to be "clearly obvious" outside the front holster pouch. I think I will give this a try. For bucket work, I need to recalculate my target height. My new shooting height is 45 inches which makes my target height 46 inches at 5 feet. My problem will be getting the shot up, but I think that it is doable, just need lots of wax.
Rule #17 may be a blessing in the end for me because it may cause me to shoot in a more comfortable stance and add years to my shooting life.
This fall I was going to become a new man. I had gotten a couple of long guns, was going change my draw, in part to stand more upright for my aching back, and change my alias to shed some ill gotten reputation. I figured three thousand rounds of wax would do the trick. About five hundred rounds into the new venture, I decided to abandon the effort, being dishearten with my lack of speed and mostly accuracy. So I abandoned the change and rededicated myself to the short gun. Two days later the Gazette arrives with Rule #17.
The Dilemma, now what to do?
Option #1: I could go to the long gun. Add 3 inches and I will be clearly out front of the holster pouch cut. I have a Colt which I can get out of the Shaniko holster in the high 4s and be "clearly obvious" with about 40% accuracy. I struggle to get the shot up and find myself again leaning back which is painful for me. My backup gun is a New Vaquero which I have yet to get out of the holster. That wax just rattles down the holster with the New Vaquero.
Option #2: The Colt long gun came with a 5 inch barrel. I can put the five inch barrel on and I would in fact be compliant with Rule #17. Although I am sure the additional inch would put me out in front, I am not sure it would be "clearly obvious." I would also need another backup gun with a 5 inch barrel.
Option #3: I can change my draw. I use the locked elbow draw as most quick shooters do. I have controlled my elevation by my balance and my stance has a pronounced backward lean. See the following:
I am a old fella and shooting this way is painful. I think I can comply with the Rule #17 simply by standing more upright. If I stand more upright my shoulder will move forward more than a foot and I believe the front of the barrel with move forward to be "clearly obvious" outside the front holster pouch. I think I will give this a try. For bucket work, I need to recalculate my target height. My new shooting height is 45 inches which makes my target height 46 inches at 5 feet. My problem will be getting the shot up, but I think that it is doable, just need lots of wax.
Rule #17 may be a blessing in the end for me because it may cause me to shoot in a more comfortable stance and add years to my shooting life.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Silliness Is!
I am not going to rant about how I think world record keeping is harmful to the sport but will point out how silly some of our rules are.
You have to feel for KK Kid. At the Springs she shoots a world record time pole shot that was just 1 inch low. Then at Worlds she is in a match up 2 to 1 and puts a .356 on the target, a new world record, winning the match. The other competitors finished the round, then she was given 3 shots to "back it up". She hits a .388, .002 short of a backup time. Her world record is an anticipation by rule not by fact. The match therefore continues. She then hits a .360 to win the match. So we now have a shooter hitting a world record and in the same match against the same opponent following it up with a shot to within .004 of the new record and the world record is ruled an "anticipation." Silliness is!
Just how silly it is, you will realize if you test the rounds used in titled match. You will realize the difference probably results from the variance in the loads of the cartridges as much as how quick a shooter is on the light.
Last week at Mesa, Shady Mike and Thirsty, were tied 2-2, next blinking light. The light comes on, Shady misses and Thirsty hits with a .280. The shooters were beginning to unload the match being over when the peanut gallery pipes up, world record, back it up. Thirsty, being a good sport, takes his three shots to attempt to back it up and fails. Anticipation. Shady wins the match with a miss. Silliness is!
In both of these instances, the shooter has clearly the ability to shoot a world record time, as they have done so repeatedly in practice and in all likelihood drew on the light.
We have these silly rules to protect the record. If we really want to be effective in protecting the record we need to look to track and field for guidance. We could up the penalty for anticipation to a loss of match instead of loss of shot. Now there is little to cure grailfever because anticipation is almost like a miss.
I still have not recovered from my bout of grailfever this summer, but promise to myself to take the cure.
You have to feel for KK Kid. At the Springs she shoots a world record time pole shot that was just 1 inch low. Then at Worlds she is in a match up 2 to 1 and puts a .356 on the target, a new world record, winning the match. The other competitors finished the round, then she was given 3 shots to "back it up". She hits a .388, .002 short of a backup time. Her world record is an anticipation by rule not by fact. The match therefore continues. She then hits a .360 to win the match. So we now have a shooter hitting a world record and in the same match against the same opponent following it up with a shot to within .004 of the new record and the world record is ruled an "anticipation." Silliness is!
Just how silly it is, you will realize if you test the rounds used in titled match. You will realize the difference probably results from the variance in the loads of the cartridges as much as how quick a shooter is on the light.
Last week at Mesa, Shady Mike and Thirsty, were tied 2-2, next blinking light. The light comes on, Shady misses and Thirsty hits with a .280. The shooters were beginning to unload the match being over when the peanut gallery pipes up, world record, back it up. Thirsty, being a good sport, takes his three shots to attempt to back it up and fails. Anticipation. Shady wins the match with a miss. Silliness is!
In both of these instances, the shooter has clearly the ability to shoot a world record time, as they have done so repeatedly in practice and in all likelihood drew on the light.
We have these silly rules to protect the record. If we really want to be effective in protecting the record we need to look to track and field for guidance. We could up the penalty for anticipation to a loss of match instead of loss of shot. Now there is little to cure grailfever because anticipation is almost like a miss.
I still have not recovered from my bout of grailfever this summer, but promise to myself to take the cure.
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Whiner's Reaction or Reaction to Whiners
I hear there is going to be discussion about a time limit and/or moving the target closer or making the target a different size at the Marshall's muster. Most of this comes from a relative small group of shooters. The vast majority of shooters are happy with the current rules as am I.
If we get too many of these silly rules and/or continue our unhealthy obsession with records, I am going to start a new organization dedicated to the turn of the century gunfight.
It will have a silhouette target from the knees to shoulder. In front of the silhouette will be a 9 inch circle representing a heart/lung hit that will have the light and will be timed.
Matches will be either 3 shot or 5 shot affairs. In a 5 shot match, shooters will load 5 and shoot until the gun is empty. Fanning is not allowed. Hits on the silhouette will count 2 points, hits on heart/lung will count 10 points. If a shooter makes a heart/lung hit that is 50 milliseconds faster than his opponent's heart/lung hit, it will be a killing shot and result in a win declared by scorekeeper. (It is a killing shot because if it is 50 mls faster, it would have disabled the opponent before he could shoot.) If there is no killing shot, then the hand judges will compute the score of the wounding shots, including heart/lung hits, to determine the winner. In the event of a tie both survive and win.
Events will be same as we current do, 3x, 4x, last man standing, magnificent, etc., except most events will evolve into 10x or so since the matches will be much more quickly resolved. Most of the rules will be the same.
I think the vast majority of our shooters come to be in a gunfight, not a speed contest.
We need to have our organization consider all of the shooters, not just the elite or those think they are the elite. We are not nor should we be an entertainment venue. We are a sport, let's keep it that way.
If we get too many of these silly rules and/or continue our unhealthy obsession with records, I am going to start a new organization dedicated to the turn of the century gunfight.
It will have a silhouette target from the knees to shoulder. In front of the silhouette will be a 9 inch circle representing a heart/lung hit that will have the light and will be timed.
Matches will be either 3 shot or 5 shot affairs. In a 5 shot match, shooters will load 5 and shoot until the gun is empty. Fanning is not allowed. Hits on the silhouette will count 2 points, hits on heart/lung will count 10 points. If a shooter makes a heart/lung hit that is 50 milliseconds faster than his opponent's heart/lung hit, it will be a killing shot and result in a win declared by scorekeeper. (It is a killing shot because if it is 50 mls faster, it would have disabled the opponent before he could shoot.) If there is no killing shot, then the hand judges will compute the score of the wounding shots, including heart/lung hits, to determine the winner. In the event of a tie both survive and win.
Events will be same as we current do, 3x, 4x, last man standing, magnificent, etc., except most events will evolve into 10x or so since the matches will be much more quickly resolved. Most of the rules will be the same.
I think the vast majority of our shooters come to be in a gunfight, not a speed contest.
We need to have our organization consider all of the shooters, not just the elite or those think they are the elite. We are not nor should we be an entertainment venue. We are a sport, let's keep it that way.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Team Competition
Team Competition
MAIN MATCH: 3X,
3 shot (Arizona summertime best of 5), last man standing format. Standard
format, team members will shoot against team members if so drawn.
TEAM COMPETITION:
Entry fee $5 per shooter for first
team entry. A shooter may join as many teams as he would like but subsequent
team entries are $10 for the second entry, $15 for third and so on. Youth
shooters are free.
All entry fees from team competition go
to Shoot for the Stars.
Teams are 4 to 7 shooters with the
four top placing shooters considered for team scoring. Team scoring is the sum of the top four
placing shooters, low score wins. The 5th through 7th
team members are important because you never know who the top four will be and
a team’s 7th shooter may be ahead of an opponent’s 4th
shooter thereby moving that opposing shooter down in the placings.
Placings of shooters going out in
the same round are determined by fastest time out. Ties will be shot off before next round. Ties in team standings will be determined in
favor with the team with the highest placing shooter.
No
requirements as to guns, division, residency or club membership.
ARIZONA SUGGESTED TEAMS: The
Champs, The Young Guns, The Shady Mtn
Gang, Rio Salado Vaqueros, and Old Publeo Gunfighters.
Shooters may
sign up on any team first come first signed on or make up their own teams, for
example, family teams would be fun.
EXAMPLES:
Thirsty
might want to sign up on The Champs, a team of Territorial, State, and Club
Champions, and on a family team of
Thirsty, Lawless Speed, Half Cock Willie, Calaboose Bill, Buckeroo Ben, and
Coyote Kid (Grandpas, Kid and Grandkids.)
His entry fee for team competition would be $5 plus $10 for second entry
for total of $15.
A young guns
team of Lawless Speed, Col Hip Shot, Holli Day, Prickly Pear, Dirty Dan, Hot
Flash and High Strung would be a tough team.
AWARDS:
Magnet Awards for team members memorializing their victory are available
from azgunslingerstore.com at reasonable costs.
Sample
Sign-up Form
Team
Name:________________________________
Team
Members: Place Top four
1
_________________________ _____ _______
2
_________________________ _____ _______
3
_________________________ _____ _______
4 _________________________ _____ _______
5
_________________________ _____ _______
6
_________________________ _____ _______
7
_________________________ _____ _______
Team
Total Score _______
Comments:
1. Team scoring is only the top 4
shooters are scored. If all team members
are scored, then a shooter or two who are having a bad day might drag down an
otherwise good team. Also, since the
bottom shooters of the match have the highest placings numbers scoring 100% of
the team members unfairly considers the bottom team members over the top team
members. On the other hand, only scoring
the top one or two shooters really makes it into an individual event. There needs to be a balance. Best balance would be shooting seven and
scoring 5, like cross country. However,
I suggest shooting 7 and scoring 4 to be more accommodating to clubs to enter
teams. For example, if Rio Salado brings
seven shooters they could enter seven on one team. If they bring 8 shooters, then it makes sense
for them to enter two 4 shooter teams.
Other shooters could join their
teams and since it is always better to have 7 shooters than just 4 because you
never know who is going to be shoot well on any given day, it is to their
advantage to have other shooters sign onto their teams until full.
2. Many shooters have multiple
connections to other shooters. For
example, I practice on Shady Mountain and would like to join a team with those
shooters. I also have family members
shooting so it would make sense for me to enter a family team. This format allows multiple entries. However, the fee goes up to discourage
someone from joining every team. All
teams are open to everyone as long as there is a slot open. Once seven shooters have joined, then no more
entries on that team are allowed.
3. Added workload: There really is very little extra work needed
to have this event if you are have a last man standing shoot since it utilizes
the CFDA scoring system. You need
someone to collect the money and supervise the sign-up sheets. You need someone to add up the score sheets
near and at the end of the event. Since
90% of the shooters will be placed by the last several rounds of the event,
most team scores will be known by the last round. The ideal match would be to have four teams
within a point or two of each other at the end with team members still
shooting. That would be exciting. The more likely situation is to have the team
competition determined before the last several rounds since the best team top
to bottom should win.
Good Luck and Have Fun!
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