Let's just back up here for a moment. Chasing the last shot out in the never never to place the next shot into the 10 ring?. Mmmmm......., isn't or wasn't this the philosophy behind the 1K marked shot idea and doesn't it also show a clear flaw in your wind reading skill or the effective use of sighters? Simply, shot adjustment after the event seems to me to be far inferior to shot adjustment prior to the event.
This psychological barrier of not being able to cope without seeing shots that existed in 1K seems to be looming here now with the Fly. It is this barrier that bisects those that are often in the winners circle and those that spend a lot of time in the whingers circle. From my own perspective it seems that nothing has been learned from the 1K experience. It only succeeded in dividing the members because of change and since that time many have returned to the blind method. The architects of the scheme have yet to come down from their ivory tower and still to this day believe that it was the right thing to do. However, their own scores and group results over these past years are an ongoing testimony to how wrong they were. The statistics do not lie.
What has surprised me is that there has yet to be a mention made of grading. This is where FClass went with FS and while the idea of grading in BR is like cutting test cricket back to 3 days, it did put a lot of bums on seats where they may ordinarily not have been. I in no way support any form of separation so that there is a winner amongst the losers, but there could be a statistical argument for it if we indeed do look to the FS attendances within FClass. But sadly this rise in numbers may be the eventual nail in the coffin for FO and is somewhat of an enigma as the true ideal of the sport and where the world championships are centered around, is FO.
There is also the question of how to grade? Do you do it by last performance or by equipment? This could be another perpetual argument and if history is to be heeded from the FS model, how many minutes will it be into a match before some-one gets protested for having an unfair advantage?
What is clear about all this is that there is a grievance. By that i mean someone feels disadvantaged and is wishing to do better by reforming the rules around their equipment or distinguishing themselves from the elite groups of top flight HGs or LGs. The question is is it important to keep these people happy and cater for them or just shun them and slot them into the two current classes? Dare i say it, but is there enough justification for a factory or varmint style class to be formed when you look at the numbers turning up to the Canberra matches?
Jethro Bodine, Loose Cannon.
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