Not familiar with the requirements for a 'club level stage'. Obviously, there's some sort of rules for it depending on the affiliated 'Association'.
That said, depends on what the 'objective' of the match is? Combat realism? Marksmanship skill above everything else?
JMO, but anything 'beyond' straight-forward bullseye shooting should be geared as much as possible toward a combat scenario.
So, moving targets, engage targets while moving, targets close, targets at distance, round count that taxes the capacity of the magazines. A stage that requires LOTS of 'critical thinking'. No targets larger than, say, 9" - 10" (sq. or dia., depending on the target). High level of difficulty. No '14th place ribbon for "participation"', LOL...
Oh, and stock guns or VERY minor 'street mods' only. Same with holsters, etc.
Many other ideas come to mind, but those pretty much cover the options offered.
Not familiar with the requirements for a 'club level stage'. Obviously, there's some sort of rules for it depending on the affiliated 'Association'.
That said, depends on what the 'objective' of the match is? Combat realism? Marksmanship skill above everything else?
JMO, but anything 'beyond' straight-forward bullseye shooting should be geared as much as possible toward a combat scenario.
So, moving targets, engage targets while moving, targets close, targets at distance, round count that taxes the capacity of the magazines. A stage that requires LOTS of 'critical thinking'. No targets larger than, say, 9" - 10" (sq. or dia., depending on the target). High level of difficulty. No '14th place ribbon for "participation"', LOL...
Oh, and stock guns or VERY minor 'street mods' only. Same with holsters, etc.
Many other ideas come to mind, but those pretty much cover the options offered.
I like all those. Variety is a great thing.
-rvb
Is this some sort of push for strange?
I shot a match up in Holman WI. earlier this year and I though they did a good job making use of some bays where the space was pretty limited. That's certainly not unique to them, and its not something that local IN clubs are lacking in but they found ways to create a good balance of short and long shots, steel and paper, movement and reload options that made each stage fun and challenging for all classes. On pretty much every stage there was an opportunity for the individual shooters to take targets on the move or from static positions depending on their preference.
They also modified the start rules to add to the challenge of a stage instead of just adding to the novelty of it. Starting a stage in a phone booth or a dentist chair in TX was neat but it didn't really add anything to the match. The first stage in the video only allowed shooters to start with 1 mag in the gun and everything else was on the table. The round count was such that you could develop a target sequence to make it to the table before you needed to reload, or go directly to the table and then retreat back to the other targets. I liked the concept of risk/reward the worked into the stage. Another smart aspect of it was that the targets you could skip to make it to the table were steel so it was easy to remember which targets you skipped. However, the angle from the table made them about half the size they were from the port so the challenge was based on marksmanship not memory.
They also used walls differently then most local matches by creating hallways off the main path that lead to different shooting positions and target ranges that made the courses feel bigger then they actually were. The requirement to move into a section then shoot a target 90 degrees off of the direction of movment added to the depth of the course. I found that to be more challenging and more fun then just using the walls to create a cubby with a target at the back. There is an example of this in second stage in the video. (and yes, I shouldn't have engaged the last target after the reload but I put a round in the hard cover from 2 meters and pride took over)
The main thing they did that was different from some typical local matches was they setup a very dynamic field course with a huge shooting area that was littered with targets inside the shooting box with different challenges and options to run it. It's the third stage on the video and its the most complex and fun state I've shot to date. Guys tried to run it different ways and each shooter was able to draw on their particular strengths or preferences so it made for an interesting time. I know most guys will ***** about having to go prone, which I get, but even without that it was still a very impressive stage.
[video=youtube;0JEofPZY_2g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JEofPZY_2g&list=UU97PxDYg_hHZpwJejE7OYSQ[/video]
I think it's hard to incorporate all those options in one stage. I like to see all those elements in a club match. Indiana clubs do a really good job of preparing shooters for level II matches.
Anything in excess usually doesn't end up being fun, but a mix of a few things ends up being a cool shooting challenge.
Reluctant to say it, but I agree with Chad.