A League Handicap System The success or failure of any competitive league program is proportional to the interest displayed by the club members. Shoulder-to-shoulder league shooting is a satisfying way to enjoy shooting and helps to sustain interest and perpetuate the club. Two major factors to a successful league program are: • Complete participation by all who want to shoot • Realistic workable handicap system Many leagues are composed of teams of 4 or 5 members. Team shooters are usually selected because they shoot the best scores in the club. This means that other members are not directly involved in competition. Establishing a second and perhaps a third team and entering each in the league schedule is only a partial answer. Because of rigid roster limits, newer shooters and less proficient shooters must wait for a vacancy on a team, which may involve an entire season’s wait. It is easy to see how interest might wane. The ideal situation in league shooting is that in which: Every club member who wishes to shoot may do so, at any match Teams of any skill and varying number participate Every participant’s effort counts toward deciding the match A handicap system is used which gives the less skilled shooter an even chance without penalizing the higher scoring competitors. For an example, use an indoor smallbore rifle position match (see example below). The program works this way: X TEAM Previous High Name Score Jones 387 Smith 385 Brown 378 Robinson 391 Carter 376 Jackson 371 Pitts 382
Prone 100 95 99 100 100 99 99
Sit 96 100 100 98 99 97 100
Kneel 94 96 95 98 90 92 94
Stand 38 86 90 92 90 84 86
TOTAL 378 380 384 388 379 372 379
TEAM
399
399
383
360
1,541 13 TOTAL POINTS
1,575
19
H’Cap 3 7
11 16 10
H’Cap Total 381 387 384 388 390 388 389 1,554
POINT
• •
• 3