I get to setup a USPSA stage for my coming match

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Dudedog

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The Club needed Volunteers to help set stages.
So I volunteered. (seem to remember something about not volunteering for anything but I am getting senile so I signed up anyway)

I can either go from scratch or grab a stage someone else has designed.
I interested in any links that anyone knows about that might have helpful info or stages.
(other than the current rule book)

Thanks in advance.
PS
This gives me the rare opportunity to choke on a stage I designed.:D
(I always seem to manage to choke on one.....)
 
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It's not as easy as it looks. Be sure to actually walk through it before shooting. Many times targets overlap, walls hide what they shouldn't, etc. You may have to adjust the placement of targets a bit after you set up the stage.
 
That's why I asked, as with most things there are a lot more ways to do it wrong than to do it right.
Main trick I think is to try to make in fun for everyone GM on down to the people like me.
 
Pick a round count you want and number of shots per target first. That gives you the number of targets/stands you’ll have to drag out.

Then decide how much movement you want and reloading opportunities. If you want to help the folks that don’t reload in the blink of an eye, more movement to another shooting location will help. That lets you know what you will need barricade wise.

Most important and often overlooked is make sure a hit on a target won’t also be hitting equipment behind it down range.

Young guys can have fun in all sorts of positions and old guys don’t have as much fun in odd ones.

Oh and don’t use a no shoot or you’ll be the only one to hit it. :)
 
Oh and don’t use a no shoot or you’ll be the only one to hit it

I always want to shoot at least one of them:eek:
(at least the last one was an A hit in the head instead of just breaking the perf on the edge)
 
The best course descriptions always say "On start signal, shoot targets as they become visible from within the shooting area."
 
Here's my advice for people getting into stage design:

Start with 1-3 concepts that you want to include in your stage, and then fill in the rest around those concepts. Don't sacrifice or degrade those concepts in order to hit round count or otherwise do other things you think might be good - build around the concepts.

What do I mean by concepts? Think of the most interesting parts of stages you have shot. Some choice that was presented, some technical sequence of timing or movement required, some risk-reward offering.... anything that was worth discussing with other shooters during a walkthrough or, better yet, after the match. If your stage has even one really interesting component, it will be better than 80% of the stages in most matches. If you have 2 or 3, you probably have a really good stage (assuming it is rule compliant and safe otherwise).

Example: After 6 months off from doing stage design, I volunteered to do a couple of stages last night for the indoor match I ran for several years. I had 2 concepts I wanted to include in our larger bay, both of which are slated to appear on multiple stages of the upcoming state match: 1) a mini-popper activated swinger not available from the same location as the mini-popper, but only 1-2 steps away (thus rewarding a shooter who can call a shot on the activating popper and move immediately a short distance to catch the first exposure of the swinger); and 2) a "flowable" stage section where targets of 7-10 yard range present and get lost within a step or two of movement, but not so densely packed as to demand static shooting (to reward shooting on the move).

So I first built the starting position around an array of steel including the activator, and separated it with walls from the swinger's location. I threw in an extra paper target in the vicinity of the swinger to give people something to do if they missed the timing on the swinger, but didn't want to add any more because that would so fully "cushion" the swinger's availability that nailing the sequence wouldn't reward the shooter who pulled it off. So there's concept #1.

Then I built a walled off area with targets available through a port at the other side of the bay (and significantly downrange). The port array wasn't one of the concepts, but it was used to give a spot shooters had to reach by the end of the stage (in front of the port). Along the way, I used a couple of walls and a barrel stack to have 3 targets that were available during a 10-foot stretch of movement, but making sure that there was no shooting location where all 3 were available. There was concept #2.

At that point, I had a couple of steel and 5 paper targets out. I added another target that was only available from a mid-point in transit from the first concept to the second, and allowed one (but not all 3) of the concept #2 targets to be engaged from that same area - although from a further distance than if the shooter tackled them during the concept #2 movement. Since the stuff behind the port was somewhat isolated from the rest of the stage, I threw in a mix of partial and open targets at different heights for some not-completely-vanilla blasting at fairly close distance. Done.

Was it a great stage? Not really, but it was interesting enough that those who went out for dinner afterward talked about it at some length. There were big differences in time and HF for those who executed well versus those who did not. Nothing about it was super difficult (although a 12-15 yard swinger is not a joke for most of us, including me), but it was an effective "separator" in terms of rewarding skill and execution. Other than the port, there was some room to "float" on most of the targets, so it felt freestyle and didn't force a go-here-shoot-x-go-here-shoot-y approach. There were options on where to engage a couple of targets and options on how to attack the activator sequence. It wasn't larded up with a bunch of meaningless targets that diluted the core concepts so much that fouling them up would be washed out by a bunch of hosing, but there was also nothing punitive about it. It was the kind of stage that I like, anyway.

So there's an explanation of one approach to designing stages. There are certainly others.
 
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Young guys can have fun in all sorts of positions and old guys don’t have as much fun in odd ones.

I like it when odd positions - low ports or prone or crazy leans with a rope or wall to hang from while shooting one-handed - offer closer targets or the elimination of multiple positions, but can be skipped and the stage shot from other positions/locations.

Example: A short course with 4 targets, 3 shooting areas and one wall. The wall allows prone shots under it. The first shooting area is directly behind the prone-available wall section, and allows shooters to see all 4 targets if the shooter goes prone, but the shooting area does not reach the ends of the walls. There is no way to shoot around the wall from the first shooting area. The other two shooting areas are somewhat uprange, and set to the left and right of the wall. 2 targets are available from each of the second and third shooting areas. So shooters who are willing to go prone have a significant (non-)movement advantage, while those who do not want to go prone (either because of health/fitness issues or because they are simply unfamiliar and uncomfortable with prone handgun shooting) do have an option of eating some time and taking slightly more distant shots instead. Everyone can play to their strengths and level of participation.
 
waktasz
Thamks,
I don't facebook, are they anyplace else by chance?
(I can hunt, just would save sometime if you know)

Thanks ALTDave for the input I appreciate it.
 
I like it when odd positions - low ports or prone or crazy leans with a rope or wall to hang from while shooting one-handed - offer closer targets or the elimination of multiple positions, but can be skipped and the stage shot from other positions/locations.

I do too and don’t completely shy away from them either. A friend of mine that passed away earlier this year, Lou, had a 3 digit IDPA number and always said he enjoyed the challenges of my stages, he did request that when I did have difficult positions, that I put them at the end of the stage as falling down was easy, getting back up might take some help.

You can have fairly simple stages that are challenging, even if they don’t require a lot of athletic ability.

Like a simple shoot though the port or around the far barricade.

https://oi664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/mvsa/aug15/aug141.mp4
 
he did request that when I did have difficult positions, that I put them at the end of the stage as falling down was easy, getting back up might take some help.

I also think that's consistent with the USPSA rule guidance that the match is supposed to be primarily a shooting challenge, not a PT test. Shooting from a prone position is a shooting test. Getting into a prone shooting position is something of a shooting skill. Doing a one-armed pushup is not primarily a shooting skill. Accordingly, make physically difficult positions optional and/or sensibly shot at the end of the stage.
 
waktasz
Thamks,
I don't facebook, are they anyplace else by chance?
(I can hunt, just would save sometime if you know)

Thanks ALTDave for the input I appreciate it.

Link doesn't work? hmm. That's the only place it's posted
 
waktasz
Link works ok, but I don't have a facebook sign on and don't really have a desire to join.
Thanks though.

he did request that when I did have difficult positions, that I put them at the end of the stage as falling down was easy, getting back up might take some help.
:rofl:

I think it's ok to fall down as long as you don't drop your gun.

I have no desire to make the stage a PT test.
Going down to shoot through a window is ok but nothing crazy.

I have something in mind may draw it up here in a bit.
 
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OK I was thinking maybe something simple like this. (it is hot so easy setup is a +)

Start on the left two paper there. (need to decide on how many no shoots I want around the paper, some in back for sure)
No steel so I don't have to worry about distance to the steel. No more than 4 required shoots from any shooting position (I believe it needs to be 8 or less, rereading the rules again)
Back and forth down the center.
Targets at the end on the right can be shot thru a low window in the wall or a longer shot from the right part at the start.
So if you want to take the longer shot it saves going right at the end and getting down for the window. Risk/reward. (no shoots by these for sure to increase the risk)
Note: not drawn to scale

Description: 32 rounds 16 paper
Start Position
Handgun loaded hands at side below waist
PCC; Loaded, safety on, stock on belt
At start engage targets from the shooting area in any order

(need to check my wording on the description)

Barrels will be set so none of the shoots are real close to the 180, I don't care for the ones that people setup that are like 170-175ish-just 180 traps IMO.

Attempt2.jpg
 
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Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated, since I am new to setting one up.

PS: Art was not one of my favorites in school:)
Will do it up in powerpoint or with a drawing template once I have a final plan.
 
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Somehow though I don't think this would work

PCC: Gun in your trunk unloaded, and cased, firing pin removed, at start .....;)
 
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