Handicaps

[Micky]

I have a handicap of 24, and apart from when I compete at the club I simply don't use it. It's of no earthly use at any of the tournaments that I go to, because they're all based on straight score, and if they're based on handicap then I haven't got a snowball's chance in ...

Having said that, I do use it to compare my performance on a particular round if I've shot something other than a FITA or Hereford. Because I only submit 12 doz scores to our records officer I know that it's not an artificially low handicap, so it's a good guage of how I'm doing on a day to day basis when I don't have a score to compare it to.

You know, I make sense on Planet Micky

[Furface]

Originally Posted by Micky

I have a handicap of 24, and apart from when I compete at the club I simply don't use it. It's of no earthly use at any of the tournaments that I go to, because they're all based on straight score, and if they're based on handicap then I haven't got a snowball's chance in ...

Having said that, I do use it to compare my performance on a particular round if I've shot something other than a FITA or Hereford. Because I only submit 12 doz scores to our records officer I know that it's not an artificially low handicap, so it's a good guage of how I'm doing on a day to day basis when I don't have a score to compare it to.

You know, I make sense on Planet Micky

Well....
a) In your first paragraph you imply that you will never shoot a PB at a tournament (otherwise you would stand a chance in a handicap element). If you go in to tournaments thinking like that, you never will.
b) Second paragraph implies that you would get a better handicap if you shot the shorter rounds. This is a common fallacy. Try it. In terms of arrow numbers, these are allowed for in the construction of the tables (have a glance at the section on "Score for two dozen arrows, and work it out); in terms of shorter distances, the shorter the distance, the higher the expectation (A "Full House" on a Short Junior Western rates a handicap of 26).
c) Combining the two, because you are selecting the rounds you submit to your records officer, you are distorting your handicap anyway. The handicap is the result of your best scores. If you do not submit scores with a lower handicap, you are artificially keeping your handicap high, not stopping it from being artificially low. And what happens at re-assessment time?
And why is your club records officer not pestering you?
Sadly, Planet Micky seems a little out of kilter!

[Micky]

Wellllll...

a) No, I don't shoot my pb's in tournaments right now. I had a fine season two years ago and have been struggling to match it ever since. Nothing to do with kidding myself, I simply don't have the ability at present to match my pbs. Maybe it's all in the head - probably is - but that's something I'm working on.

b) I do shoot lower handicaps on shorter rounds. I've consistantly shot lower handicaps when I shoot Nationals, Warwicks etc. But if I can't maintain a standard for 12 dozen arrows over my maximum distances then I don't count it as MY standard. I don't see the point of parading a sub 20 handicap when I can't do it on a FITA. To me, that's a false handicap. I rarely compete at any tournaments which aren't FITAs, Herefords or 720s. Anything else is shot at the club.

That kind of answers (c) as well I think.

Because I don't compete in handicap tournaments I don't see that I'm falsifying my handicap in any way - up or down. I don't use it for anything else but comparing my lower rounds against my 12 dozen rounds and my 720s, and when the guys at the club decide to throw me into our club tournaments and handicap the hell out of me See the thread I put up about our All Comers Warwick a couple of months ago to see what I mean...

So, Planet Micky may be a bit out of kilter with recognised thinking, but it makes sense to me. Besides which, if I'm alone up here then I get all the cake :P

Oh, and my club records officer doesn't pester me because I explained this to him - I'm not sure if he agrees either, but he does at least understand my logic... amazing man

[joetapley]

I agree with Micky's viewpoint (even as a club records officer) that handicaps are there to be used by archers as they think fit.

I also agree that lower handicaps are easier at shorter distances (that's why to get higher classifications you have to shoot the longer distance rounds). Combination of wind effects, sensitivity to equipment and equipment setup and archer technique and archer friendliness of the GNAS scoring system.