PRS Talk Hybrid scoring thoughts ?

[Boomhauer_lives]

So they dropped this video today



Going over changes to the scoring system for the upcoming season. And i have mixed feelings on it . I also wanna say i know the guys who put in the work to come up with this worked hard so it feels weird sharing criticism . But heres my takes

And let me preface with im not special , 18 months into this and mid pack as it gets so maybe my opinion isn't going to be considered as valuable as the top 10 percent or whatever .

There are two main parts to this . The first is hybrid scoring . This is a thought for how to deal with the meatball match issue where if you live in the right area or are willing to travel alot you can just hit the right matches where down in the 40th places people are still at the 90%’s in match percentages . Which is a legitimate issue . Its not fair that some people get a gravy train to the finale while other people get drug by some heavy hitters at some hard matches . I think anyone who follows scoring can agree this is bad . But heres my issue . As a midpack shooter the finale is a maybe it happens sorta thing . And my current state of trying to improve is based around trying to climb classifications . Like after being an absolute wreck my first year all i wanted to do is get past my am tag . Then i see im teetering around 80%s and im sure i can get there so hitting that semi tag seems achievable. But its going to be really demoralizing if the next season you’re forced to try and climb through that stuff against a field of people who did it when the system was easier . So without doing something wild like recalibrating classifications then it changing the scoring system is kinda a turn off to all the new shooters who realize they cant catch up to someone even if they shoot as good as them . To be clear i dont mind the idea of the score numbers generally being lower i think that part of it and the fact that you aren't going to make it to the finale off a bunch of 40th place 90 percent finishes is fantastic . It does solve a problem . But creates another problem is now i cant compete against the rest of the field at the metric thats meaningful to me thats really discouraging.

The second part of this is the idea of making your score require 4 matches a year . I cannot understate how much i hate this . I have been trying to drag friends into competing and getting a membership to track their stats since i started and to alot of people 3 a year sounds like a lot . I shot 3 two days my first year to get a class and then shot 6 two days this year . And i have things coming up so im sure i wont be able to shoot as many next year . Theres 3 in our state and id have to drive more than 5 hours or fly to hit another …. And to be honest i probably wont . If it moves to a 4 match needed to get a score system im probably just gonna shoot like 2 pro matches for fun and shoot a few regionals . Probably pass on keeping an active membership . and probably build a 22 since i can shoot that all over around here . Switch from a competitive mindset to a more casual one .

Anyways i just wanted to make a thread to discuss this and maybe get some opinions on record . I really appreciate what the scoring committee is trying to do but i feel like it really might be overlooking what it looks like in practice for the very large midpack group of shooters .

 

[Hotcoffee4all]

I’m totally ignorant on the process but can ask a simple question or maybe make assumptions. Is this sorta a thinning the herd move, ensuring that more meaningful (expensive) matches get shot across a wider span of the country and make us newer and maybe mid-packers chase harder-shoot more, spend more? More matches, more gear, more consumables, etc.
dumb thoughts out loud probably.
Ironically, I built out a 2026 schedule of matches, supplies, etc. it has 8 matches on it. 4 pros and 4 regionals. All the pros are in my region luckily. Thats $1600 in match fees total w/o travel and lodging. All in I’m at about a $12,000 year of PRs shooting for next year. Wild!

 

[Rob01]

You’ll learn the PRS can fuck up a wet dream. lol

 

[Burgundy Attentive Manananggal]

So they dropped this video today



Going over changes to the scoring system for the upcoming season. And i have mixed feelings on it . I also wanna say i know the guys who put in the work to come up with this worked hard so it feels weird sharing criticism . But heres my takes

And let me preface with im not special , 18 months into this and mid pack as it gets so maybe my opinion isn't going to be considered as valuable as the top 10 percent or whatever .

There are two main parts to this . The first is hybrid scoring . This is a thought for how to deal with the meatball match issue where if you live in the right area or are willing to travel alot you can just hit the right matches where down in the 40th places people are still at the 90%’s in match percentages . Which is a legitimate issue . Its not fair that some people get a gravy train to the finale while other people get drug by some heavy hitters at some hard matches . I think anyone who follows scoring can agree this is bad . But heres my issue . As a midpack shooter the finale is a maybe it happens sorta thing . And my current state of trying to improve is based around trying to climb classifications . Like after being an absolute wreck my first year all i wanted to do is get past my am tag . Then i see im teetering around 80%s and im sure i can get there so hitting that semi tag seems achievable. But its going to be really demoralizing if the next season you’re forced to try and climb through that stuff against a field of people who did it when the system was easier . So without doing something wild like recalibrating classifications then it changing the scoring system is kinda a turn off to all the new shooters who realize they cant catch up to someone even if they shoot as good as them . To be clear i dont mind the idea of the score numbers generally being lower i think that part of it and the fact that you aren't going to make it to the finale off a bunch of 40th place 90 percent finishes is fantastic . It does solve a problem . But creates another problem is now i cant compete against the rest of the field at the metric thats meaningful to me thats really discouraging.

The second part of this is the idea of making your score require 4 matches a year . I cannot understate how much i hate this . I have been trying to drag friends into competing and getting a membership to track their stats since i started and to alot of people 3 a year sounds like a lot . I shot 3 two days my first year to get a class and then shot 6 two days this year . And i have things coming up so im sure i wont be able to shoot as many next year . Theres 3 in our state and id have to drive more than 5 hours or fly to hit another …. And to be honest i probably wont . If it moves to a 4 match needed to get a score system im probably just gonna shoot like 2 pro matches for fun and shoot a few regionals . Probably pass on keeping an active membership . and probably build a 22 since i can shoot that all over around here . Switch from a competitive mindset to a more casual one .

Anyways i just wanted to make a thread to discuss this and maybe get some opinions on record . I really appreciate what the scoring committee is trying to do but i feel like it really might be overlooking what it looks like in practice for the very large midpack group of shooters .

100% with you on this.

 

[Mongo68]

As a guy who seldom breaks 20 impacts, will there still be free stickers and chamber flags??

 

[DairyDictator]

Lot to unpack here but here goes:

And my current state of trying to improve is based around trying to climb classifications . Like after being an absolute wreck my first year all i wanted to do is get past my am tag . Then i see im teetering around 80%s and im sure i can get there so hitting that semi tag seems achievable. But its going to be really demoralizing if the next season you’re forced to try and climb through that stuff against a field of people who did it when the system was easier .

This shouldn't change much in theory. Remember, the classification structure is relative to the field anyway so climbing the class structure shouldn't be easier or harder per se as scoring methods would change across the board. The top 20% would still be pro's, next arbitrary percentage would be spro's, marksmen, etc on down the line. The scores would span a wider gap but the placement would be close to the same.

But creates another problem is now i cant compete against the rest of the field at the metric thats meaningful to me thats really discouraging.

But you just stated in the previous sentence that the metric was flawed because a mid pack guy shooting mediocre at a meatball match could walk away with enough points to earn him a spot in the top 200. That implies that the metric isn't really all that meaningful outside of a single match. In other words, a 90 point TX match (40th place) is not the same as a 90 point Nut Crusher match (top 5 or top 10 finish), so why would you want to compete using a metric that sees the two as identical?

In general, this will probably hurt more for guys that only shoot the highly competitive, tight scoring matches like TX, K&M, etc and help the guys that only shoot tougher matches like WAR, Oklahoma, and western matches. Most importanly, it should do a better job of ranking shooters despite dissimilar matches.

The second part of this is the idea of making your score require 4 matches a year . I cannot understate how much i hate this . I have been trying to drag friends into competing and getting a membership to track their stats since i started and to alot of people 3 a year sounds like a lot . I shot 3 two days my first year to get a class and then shot 6 two days this year . And i have things coming up so im sure i wont be able to shoot as many next year . Theres 3 in our state and id have to drive more than 5 hours or fly to hit another …. And to be honest i probably wont . If it moves to a 4 match needed to get a score system im probably just gonna shoot like 2 pro matches for fun and shoot a few regionals . Probably pass on keeping an active membership . and probably build a 22 since i can shoot that all over around here . Switch from a competitive mindset to a more casual one .

As it's currently written, they're still taking your top 3 matches for a classification, but is being reviewed. Top 4 scores would be considered for the finale. There are a TON more matches in recent years and a vast majority of shooters that make the finale through pro series invites (not through regional) are already shooting 5+ matches per year. With that many matches, the likelihood of more people going into the finale with perfect scores is higher. Going to 4 seems like an attempt to reward perfect scores by making them more difficult to achieve, and by the numbers wouldn't really affect who goes to the finale.

That portion of the rules would directly affect me as it may price me out of the pro series, but I do think it is the right move especially as things get more competitive and more matches are added.

I’m totally ignorant on the process but can ask a simple question or maybe make assumptions. Is this sorta a thinning the herd move, ensuring that more meaningful (expensive) matches get shot across a wider span of the country and make us newer and maybe mid-packers chase harder-shoot more, spend more? More matches, more gear, more consumables, etc.
dumb thoughts out loud probably.

I'm sure those things all go into the decision and sponsors would probably like to see increased numbers in that regard, but again those that made the finale mostly shot 5+ matches regardless, so I'm not sure that taking top 4 would make those that are willing to chase it shoot any more or less matches, see above.