ISSF: Trip to Munich

[Ross Mason]

Been there done that!
Well I got to go to Munich and I got to see a World Cup - including a equal
World Record in prone (which was nice to watch), got to watch some finals
and got to have a meeting with ISSF officials on Friday morning. I missed
Rajmond D winning 3P after being 6 points(!) behind. His final was 7 points
better than the next!!! Anyone for a post foresight???
It seems that the main ISSF object of interest from me was the idea of
shooting the matches in strings of 10 in a set time. A few permutations were
bounced around including; sighters and the first string of 10 in (say) 15
minutes, (say) 30 sec gap then 5 strings of (say) 10 minutes ith 30sec (say)
breaks; Sighters in 7 minutes (as per finals) and then 6 x 10 minutes with
(say) 30 sec break in between.
Included in the conversations were such scenarios as a shooter failing to
shoot their 10 shots off in the time. An idea was to allow a shooter to fire
in the 30 sec "rest" period but incur a 2 point penalty for each shot. The
usual problems of malfunctions could occur (both with targets and weapons)
that we deal with now anyway.
This was all bound up to enable a spectator to quickly keep a handle on
where everyone was throughout the match. It is obvious - and I made a point
of watching for it - that with shooters shooting fast and slow, the updated
TV listing did not indicate the winners until very late in the match at the
top of the list. Munich has quite a nice system with every 10 mounds a
computer screen with the results always being updated. With everyone
finishing strings together a presentable and meaningful result can be
displayed to all. I have heard of other systems that base the display on
percentage of score rather than totals. They tend to indicate the leaders
but it is still "hit and miss" until the end.
A few other things were pointed out like nowhere on the results was the
mound number displayed so one had to go to the list to find out where
shooters were. The old days of register keepers actually made this easier in
fact!
Finals are getting better and better. At Munich all the shooters were
introduced to the crowd with their shooting history and the medals. An idea
discussed ( for Sport Pistol and Rapid Fire) was to have all the shooters
complete the first string together and then shoot the second string one
shooter at a time from the 8th place (or however many are in the final) to
the leader. With a good commentator it may present a buildup and climax with
the spectator knowing who is likely to get the medals. What happens now is
that everyone blasts away and it is not until the dust settles can we figure
out the result.
The idea of organising finals so that there IS a buildup to the medals is
definitely on the ISSF agenda.
They are certainly keen to try to make shooting more "presentable" to Joe
Public and are still looking for interesting and workable ideas from people.
Some may know of a TV presentation system called "Virtual Spectator". It can
be seen on the World Rally Championship circuit with cars being superimposed
on each other for a stage so that the viewer can seen where a car gets ahead
and where the other catches thoughout the stage. It is intended to check out
VS to see if some interesting display technology may be utilised for
shooting.
Clothing was a hot topic with Rajmond Debevec going so far as to organise a
petition. By the time I signed it it had upwards of 200 signatures of
shooters, coaches and managers of the two WCs of Zagreb and Munich. I too
indicated to the meeting that the banning of pants may not fulfill the
object of what was intended. It seems that they are adamant that they are an
"advantage" to shooters.
I caught up with few of you. While talking and introducing myself around and
explaining what I was there for, I did not get any negative comments to some
of the crazy ideas. I WAS surprised at this!! There was certainly a feeling
that it was good to see the ISSF reacting in a positive manner and inviting
outside opinions.
None of these ideas have been accepted. I know of some who are going to try
some of the ideas out and I know that there will be more suggestions. They
have kindly offered for me to give them some more off the wall ideas. It was
made very plain to me that they are open to positive suggestions to enhance
the sport with the ultimate objective to keep shooting in the Olympics.
Other than that it was hot. It was nice to sit back and enjoy shooting with
no responsibilities and the shooting was great.
Ross Mason

.41358.0