Inventing interesting competition format
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:36 pm
If you could invent a "most interesting" shooting competition format - what would it be?
Here's one below of my own. I made an attempt to include elements of strategy and making the format easy to follow for the spectators, where the shooters themselves as well as spectators are aware of the results, such that it is immediately obvious at any time at which level the shooter must perform to advance or stay in the lead.
1. Shooters complete normal course of fire (compatible with existing world records)
2. Top 8 shooters proceed to elimination rounds, where they are paired off against each other.
3. In the dueling round, each of the two shooters is presented with an array of five targets (falling-plate or electronic) with different sized hit zones, valued from 1 (largest) to 5 (smallest) [it would take some number crunching to calculate proper sizes of hit zones]. The shooters receives the score of 1 to five for hitting the corresponding target, or 0 in case of a miss.
4. The shooters fire N timed shots (i.e. 60 seconds per shot), and each shooter is free to choose which of the five targets to shoot at, facing a number of trade-offs:
a) If the shooter feels calm and confident, it should be preferable to choose more difficult target, while otherwise it should be preferable to opt for easier target with lower pay-off. The mathematical expectation of the shot should be maximal when the shooter can adequately evaluate his/her condition, while otherwise safely underperforming or registering a miss.
b) The shooter having a significant lead over the competitor may opt for lower scoring target, trading off a guarantee of staying in the lead to the reduction of the lead amount; The other shooter may opt to risk a more difficult target in attempt to reduce the score gap.
c) The target system gives clear instant feedback with regard to hit/miss, so the other shooter instantly knows the outcome and can adjust the strategy accordingly (i.e. if the first shooter missed, the other shooter immediately decides to opt for easier lower-scoring target). As such, it is natural that both shooters would hold off until the end of the allotted time to complete the shot, as not to give the other shooter informational advantage. The trade-off, however, is that the shooter gives up a chance to abort a shot or have enough time to achieve maximum quality of aim/hold. Additionally, holding off increases intensity for both spectators and the shooters.
Give me your thoughts.
Here's one below of my own. I made an attempt to include elements of strategy and making the format easy to follow for the spectators, where the shooters themselves as well as spectators are aware of the results, such that it is immediately obvious at any time at which level the shooter must perform to advance or stay in the lead.
1. Shooters complete normal course of fire (compatible with existing world records)
2. Top 8 shooters proceed to elimination rounds, where they are paired off against each other.
3. In the dueling round, each of the two shooters is presented with an array of five targets (falling-plate or electronic) with different sized hit zones, valued from 1 (largest) to 5 (smallest) [it would take some number crunching to calculate proper sizes of hit zones]. The shooters receives the score of 1 to five for hitting the corresponding target, or 0 in case of a miss.
4. The shooters fire N timed shots (i.e. 60 seconds per shot), and each shooter is free to choose which of the five targets to shoot at, facing a number of trade-offs:
a) If the shooter feels calm and confident, it should be preferable to choose more difficult target, while otherwise it should be preferable to opt for easier target with lower pay-off. The mathematical expectation of the shot should be maximal when the shooter can adequately evaluate his/her condition, while otherwise safely underperforming or registering a miss.
b) The shooter having a significant lead over the competitor may opt for lower scoring target, trading off a guarantee of staying in the lead to the reduction of the lead amount; The other shooter may opt to risk a more difficult target in attempt to reduce the score gap.
c) The target system gives clear instant feedback with regard to hit/miss, so the other shooter instantly knows the outcome and can adjust the strategy accordingly (i.e. if the first shooter missed, the other shooter immediately decides to opt for easier lower-scoring target). As such, it is natural that both shooters would hold off until the end of the allotted time to complete the shot, as not to give the other shooter informational advantage. The trade-off, however, is that the shooter gives up a chance to abort a shot or have enough time to achieve maximum quality of aim/hold. Additionally, holding off increases intensity for both spectators and the shooters.
Give me your thoughts.