So You’re a Match Director & Need Some Guidance?
You’re now the fun one…
Being a match director can be a fun and rewarding experience! With a little work and preplanning, you can create a great course of fire!
At Precision shooting SA, our club matches consist of 6 stages; as a match director you will be required to create these, set them up on the morning of the competition, manage the iPad scoring (PractiScore), take entries, group competitors into squads, brief squad mums, answer queries throughout the day and present the results at the end of the day.
It may sound there’s a lot to do, however with some organisation, you’ll see the day run well and you’ll have no problems competing too!
Planning a Match
All matches operate under the SSAA Precision Rifle Rule Book, with various modifications to suit local Ranges. Making yourself aware of the rules and the range template and restrictions is the first step.
When it comes a Precision Rifle match, it is important to remember we are testing the precision of competitors and their equipment.
Competitor Numbers & Squads
One of the first steps is to consider the number of entries for the day; typically we see 15 competitors for a Centrefire match, with 25 competitors for a Rimfire Match, however this can swell to over 30. The number of anticipated competitors dictates the number of shooting squads and their size and the number of stage areas needed.
Squads should not be smaller than 7-8 people and not be larger than 12-14 people. Outside of these numbers, there is either too little time for competitors to swap roles (i.e. shooter, scorer, spotter, stage officer) or too many people to get through the course of fire in a timely manner on the day.
Plan for running 2 squads of 10, adjustments from this can then be made on the day as necessary.
If you wish you can use this calculator to work out how much time your match will take to complete:
Stage Areas
Matches will be running at the same time as general shooting, general shooters will typically only use areas of the range that have direct bench rest access, for this reason, plan to run your stages away from these areas. based on this the following areas on the ranges are suggested:
Far end of range 1
Between range 1 & 2/3
Centre of range 2/3
Between range 2/3 & 4
Always have one more stage area than you plan to have squads, i.e. plan for 2 squads, however set up 3 stage areas. This provides a buffer for any timing differences between squads and gives you contingency space you receive more entries on the day and need to run 3 squads.
Range Maps:
Stages
As previously mentioned, a club day is made up of 6 stages, we suggest setting these up in pairs across three different areas of the range.
Stages should be planned with a maximum suggested time of 120 seconds, however consider your time balance. I.e. don’t load up one area with two 120sec stages and another area with two 90sec stages, this will create a time imbalance over the day. You can create a stage with whatever timing you see fit, just consider the overall flow for the day and the range closing time.
Stages should be planned with a round count of 8-16rnds for Rimfire and 8-12rnds for Centrefire.
When designing stages, MD’s should ensure that the major stressors of a stage don’t work to compound the difficulty of a stage beyond what’s fair and reasonable.
The major stressors are:
TIME
DISTANCE
TARGET SIZE
POSITION
COMPLEXITY/MEMORY
TIME: Being on the clock alone prompts the shooter to move with some measure of urgency. When time is the major stressor, we are trying to make the shooter move with the upmost level of urgency as efficiently as they can to complete the stage. This usually means the stage presents a generous sized target and a stable position that can be easily built.
DISTANCE: Due to the uncertainty that placing a target at distance incurs, we typically want to ensure the shooter has ample time to assess the conditions they are about to shoot in. Its also preferable that a “read target” be introduced into that stage at a shorter distance if the far target is not a very generous one. This would help the shooter gauge the conditions at distance much easier and allow them to fine tune their wind hold at the extended distance. So that we are certain that we are making good shots and corrections its extremely important that the shooter is either provided a stable position to shoot from or is afforded the opportunity to build a stable position with the allowed equipment and time.
TARGET SIZE: Target size is a great tool to add separation in stages. If a stage has 5 targets, you might consider making 3 of them reasonably achievable whilst making the last 2 increasingly more challenging.
A lot of match directors tend to make what they call “separator stages” or sometimes create them unknowingly. Its bad practice to try and create separation with select stages, rather than individual shots. One reason for this is that NOT everyone will shoot the stages in the same conditions. Typically wind conditions are milder during the early morning hours and increase throughout the day. Likewise, in the warmer month’s mirage is at its mildest as the sun is rising and at its most brutal during the peak heat. So its better to sprinkle challenging targets throughout all stages evenly, than it is to confine them to one or two stages that would give a significant advantage to some for the above mentioned reasons.
The consensus is that most targets are set at 2 MOA, this might be a good target average across the whole match however it shouldn’t become the default size for each target. A good window of target sizes is 1 MOA to 3 MOA.
POSITION: When designing a fair match, it’s important to include a variety of positions so you’re NOT biasing the COF towards competitors that might have a significant strength in one area. As well as position, movement should be considered. A good balance of prone and positional stages is also desirable.
Positions, although different, should be stable or be designed in a way that the shooter can construct a stable position even if it requires extra equipment. Its important to understand that props that provide little to no stability should NOT be considered as a shooting prop, especially if they actually induce movement (e.g. springs, ropes, flexible props, milk crates). Shooters should NOT be made to “time a shot” or rely on luck to achieve a desirable result. Its also important to note, that if you are introducing a tough position into a stage that you provide the necessary time and equipment to complete the stage in the manner that’s intended. The bottom line is, we are testing a shooters ability to make precision shots and solve problems with equipment specific to this type of shooting.
MEMORY/COMPLEXITY Some MDs like to test a competitor’s memory by making stages complex. The purpose of this is to test the shooters’ ability to keep a clear mind whilst under pressure. You can do this by creating an order of operations. For example: Position 1 engages Target 3, Position 2 engages Target 1, Position 3 engages Target 2. Perhaps the simplest method of introducing complexity is by making a shooter perform a mandatory mag change somewhere during a stage. It does not have to be necessary in terms of your ammunition running out, its only there to test a shooters composure under time stress. Making a stage hit to move can often bring shooters undone as well. Consideration should be made for the order of difficulty, it might be best to start stages like this with a read-target (A target that’s slightly more forgiving, that a shooter can gauge a wind call off, simply because starting with a highly challenging target will skew the outcomes significantly in different conditions.
As a start we suggest you consider creating stages that cover some of these areas as examples:
Precision shooting (i.e. stable positions at longer ranges either prone or off barricades).
Skill stages or variations of these.
Troop lines (multiple target acquisition using hold overs).
Know Your Limits (KYL).
Fundamentalist's stages, i.e. fast and efficient position building and shot execution.
Tripod stages.
Anything else you can think of that is safe and enjoyable.
Remember to balance the stage stressors appropriately as discussed above. Consider what your stage is trying to achieve, if you have a lot of movement have less targets and maybe make them a little bigger. If you instruct someone to shoot from a stable position with little movement, make the targets smaller and have them at multiple longer distances. Make some targets achievable to allow competitors to read conditions, while also having challenging targets to test the higher ability shooters. We suggest that for a club Rimfire match the majority of targets are placed in the 50-150m zones. For Centrefire matches at our range, suggested target distances are 270-500m, however targets as close as 200m can be used.
If you’re looking for inspiration there are plenty of resources available. Explore YouTube for precision rifle stages being run in other countries, it is a great idea to adapt these to our ranges as it ensures we remain in tune with the international scene. Another great place to get some ideas are the NRL22 Courses of Fire, again these can be adapted and changed as necessary to fit your style of match.
When planning and writing stages, we suggest using this check list as a guide:
Select a stable prop.
Identify the positions you want to utilise on the prop.
Select the targets and distance relative to the difficulty ratio of your choosing, including how they might be best hung.
Introduce a shot sequence, which targets and which distances from which positions.
Vet the stage (have it reviewed by someone else) and tweak to suit the selected timing.
If you’re looking for some past matchbooks written by others, head to our Past Matchbooks page.
On the Day
On the day of your match you’ll need to do the following things:
Arrive with enough time in the morning to set up the targets and barricades you wish to use. Work in with the Range Officers on the day with cease fire’s to set up as needed. Make sure there are some targets up for general shooters to use, if you don’t want them engaging match targets.
Set up the match in Practiscore. easiest way to do this is to enter a new match, add the number of new stages, targets and times. Don’t worry about entering the match details, just have a few printouts available to hand amongst the squad mums.
Take competitor names from about 11:30am and determine squads.
Hold a match brief to cover safety (muzzle direction, bolt manipulation and hangfire rules), squadding, squad mums and squad starting positions.
Be available to clarify anything in relation to the course of fire and be ready to make any necessary target or barricade repairs. Talk with the general shooters through the day if they want to engage match targets at any point.
Following conclusion of the course of fire, pack up what you have used, including targets.
Collate scores and announce winners.
Hand the iPad to one of the committee so the scores can be placed on Facebook.
