There seems to be some griping on the boards about scoring methods. Some folks like total time, others rank points. Some want to change the scoring altogether to reflect accuracy instead of time. Others want to only score within category instead of against the field.
Here are some points that have been discussed, and to be considered when selecting a scoring method for your club matches.
Rank Points
Do we score rank points with category only or against the whole field? There are arguments both ways. My thought is that if you score rank against the category only, there is a smaller statistical sample that you are working with. This translates into a fast shooter being able to miss more shots and have it not affect rank as much as when weighed against the whole field.
Say you are a man shooting 49’er at EOT. Last year there were 78 folks in that category. That means that your match is only against 77 other shooters. So, if you miss a few shots, you can only pick up a maximum of 78 rank points. If you were shooting against the whole field of over 600 shooters, you would pick up a LOT more rank points, thereby potentially changing your category standing much more. Misses end up being much more expensive when weighed against the whole field instead of within category only.
In addition, you can end up placing 1st in your category (if scored against the category) and then 2nd or 3rd when placed against the rest of the field. It depends on your misses.
Rank points also reward the consistent shooter. If you shoot a clean match, at a reasonably quick time, you can come out over a really fast shooter that missed a few, even if he beat you on total time. Does that make you the better shooter for the match? Scoring by rank points it does.
Total Time
If we score by total time, it doesn’t matter who your competition is, you fall out in exactly the same place if scored within category or against the field. This removes some of the discrepancies that can occur with rank point scoring.
However, this can mean that you can miss a few shots in a match and still come out on top. Thereby rewarding speed over accuracy.
Misses First, and Then Time
This method encourages much more careful shooting than the other methods. More time will be spent on sight picture and less on speed. Personally, I don’t know that this will make much difference in overall results, but will result in a slower paced match that won’t be for everyone. I liken this more akin to silhouette or bullseye than an action shooting match.
Hit Factor
This method is used in IPSC matches. It uses a formula that takes into account both speed and accuracy. Scores are calculated on a formula of number of points in the stage divided by time. So if a stage has 120 points (24 shots weighed at 5 points each), and you clean the stage in 30 seconds, your hit factor will be 120/30 or 4. This hit factor is then compared against the field. The person with the highest hit factor gets all the points for the stage. The rest of the field then gets a percentage of those points based on their hit factor compared to the stage winner. So if another shooter misses one target and shoots the stage in 22 seconds (raw time), his/her hit factor will be 115/22 or 5.23 (rounded). If the stage had just these 2 shooters, then the 2nd shooter would get 120 points and the first shooter would get 91.43 ((4 / 5.23) * 120) points.
The benefit to this method is that the final score is a better representation to the actual shooting results. You can then determine how much better a shooter shot by the score.
Conclusion
Which is a better method for scoring CAS matches? That’s open to endless debate. SASS suggests that we use Rank Point scoring. That’s the way most of the state level and above matches are scored. As shooters (at least for those of us that are competitive), we need to take the scoring method of the match into account when deciding how to shoot. Do you go for raw speed (total time), consistency (rank points), a clean match (misses first, then time), or some sort of combination of speed and clean (hit factor)?
In an effort to help folks with this question, I took the scores from the April, 2004 match of the CA Rangers and scored it by Total Time, Rank Points, and Hit Factor. The results are different for each method. I found it very interesting. Scores here.
Let the debate begin! |
