Pro-Am Format as Spectator Sport

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rockon71385

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I was sad to hear that USSA wont be holding the monthly pro-am matches, but I hope they'll continue to hold the annual match. I think the pro-am format is the perfect action-pistol format to interest spectators. The scoring is easy to understand, all the targets go "ping," and all of them move so you don't have to wait until they're scored to know how the shooter did. It doesn't seem like action shooting has done much in the past to attract spectators, but it seems like it would be the ultimate extreme sport to witness. Maybe it's because most ranges aren't that hospitable for spectators since you've got to either sit on the grass or haul a lawn chair from stage to stage and there's generally no concessions which can make for a long day in the summer.

I personally think Phil was a genius for putting this match together, and the coverage from Shooting USA proves it's a spectacle to behold. I hope that style of match continues because I think it could really help to grow the popularity of our sport in the public eye. I guess the downside is that all of that steel is HEAVY and somebody has to do a lot of work to set it up. What do you guys think?
 

Antichrome

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I guess the downside is that all of that steel is HEAVY and somebody has to do a lot of work to set it up. What do you guys think?

Yes, hauling all the heavy steel is hard.
Designing inspiring stages is harder.
The crux is determining the par times.
That was Phil's genius...keeping a clean stage just out of reach for a GM,
and still give everyone an opportunity to hit a lot of steel.

The ProAm format provides a fair and level playing field. Its cool because I could run neck and neck with much better shooters on many stages, but at the end of the day, I'd shoot somewhere near my classifier percentage based on the GM scores. If I shot better than my classifier percentage, I had a great match. Neat math.

I dont think we'll see the major Pro Am anymore, or at least not at USSA.
I hope I'm wrong.

A big thumbs up to the guys trying to revive the Pro Am club match.
Thanks in advance for your efforts.
 

Glocktogo

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Yes, hauling all the heavy steel is hard.
Designing inspiring stages is harder.
The crux is determining the par times.
That was Phil's genius...keeping a clean stage just out of reach for a GM,
and still give everyone an opportunity to hit a lot of steel.

The ProAm format provides a fair and level playing field. Its cool because I could run neck and neck with much better shooters on many stages, but at the end of the day, I'd shoot somewhere near my classifier percentage based on the GM scores. If I shot better than my classifier percentage, I had a great match. Neat math.

I dont think we'll see the major Pro Am anymore, or at least not at USSA.
I hope I'm wrong.

A big thumbs up to the guys trying to revive the Pro Am club match.
Thanks in advance for your efforts.

I think they'll try to have another big Pro-Am. The question will be whether the sponsors and the top shooters will come with Phil not running it.
 

rockon71385

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Yeah, I was talking specifically about the big match. I do remember Rob Leatham saying that he was there specifically and only because Phil was his friend during the awards ceremony. I hope it works out and continues to grow as a format.
 

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