Listened to the podcast yesterday. I see both sides of the discussion. To Frank’s side- if you wanna beat the Jake Vibberts- shoot more and practice more. He is the goal post. We don’t move the goal post or we loose sight of the end goal. It gives competitors something to try and attain.
To Scott’s side- classes MAY be good if done the right way. Then those who can’t practice and shoot more because of time or money can compete amongst others at their level. How we get there may be a little more complicated. Scott mentioned black powder does it (BPCR silouhette ). I shoot that game and we do have classes. B, A, AA,AAA, Master. Once a shooter shoots a score that is the next class level in three matches, they move up. It is all ruled by NRA. Takes an act of Congress for a shooter to move back down. BUT, and here Is the important part IMO- everyone is shooting the exact same targets at every match. Matters not weather you shoot east coast west coast or somewhere in the middle- the targets and distances are exactly the same. So you have a standard in which to judge a,shooters performance. In PRS there are no standard matches. The one I shoot here on the east coast where I take three steps and plunk my game changer on a piece of lumber MAY not be as competitive as something out west where it’s a find,range and engage.
Personally I would like to see more matches have some practical application. The cookie cutter matches have grown boring, and that is coming from me, someone who has NEVER won a single match and best score maybe in the top 20 in one or two matches. I will never beat the Jake Vibberts. It used to piss me off that I sucked and couldn’t get a good finish. Then I realized that it is what it is. I don’t shoot enough, practice enough, or now even care enough. I shoot because I challenge MYSELF. I try to beat the class of me. I enjoy meeting and talking with the other competitors , watching how they approach the stage, checking out all the neat gear. I just chill and shoot!
