Posted by Dave Groves on Mar 17, 2017; 3:49am
URL: http://oldforum.flyshooter.com.au/Spotting-vs-Coaching-Proposed-wording-to-address-the-issue-tp5709184.html

Dear All,
                I have drafted some proposed changes to the Rulebook to address this issue further.
 
Rather than leave a grey area regarding spotting and coaching I have done my best to define what a spotter is and what a coach is.

I have tried to make this something that would not disadvantage anybody and capture that which is the "Spirit of the Fly" when it comes to having a friend work alongside you as a spotter.
 
I have made a small change to 2.4.2 because if we define what is coaching and what is spotting, we don't need to determine what constitutes "excessive coaching". This removes a grey area as follows:
 
2.4.2   Sportsmanship
Competitors shall behave in a sportsmanlike manner as befitting membership of the SSAA. In the observation of any competitor behavior that the Range Officer or match organisers deem contrary to the spirit of the event, the Range Officer shall caution those involved once, and, if there is any repetition of the conduct, the competitor/s may be asked to immediately leave the firing line and or the target being shot scored as a zero or the competitor/s may be disqualified. Coaching or deliberate crossfires to gain an advantage may come under this clause.
 
I have defined "Spotter" as follows, note I have not stated it has to be another competitor.
 
“Spotter” means a person who, with the aid of a spotting scope, rifle scope or the naked eye, observes weather conditions, mirage, wind flags and fall of shot and collaborates with a competitor in that competitors participation in the Fly Shoot.
 
I have added a new rule 3.12 that deals with the whole Spotting vs Coaching matter, tying this back to the Sportsmanship rule.


3.12         SPOTTING OR COACHING
 
3.12.1   A spotter may, without the permission of the Range Officer:
Call fall of shot, bring attention to changes to wind flags, weather or mirage conditions, advise the shooter to correct elevation settings on their scope, advise a shooter to stop shooting or continue shooting ("Stop, that third flag has changed" or "It's in the 10 ring! Keep doing that!") and draw the shooters attention to remaining time.
 
3.12.2   A spotter may not, without the permission of the Range Officer:
Coach a shooter, ie adjust the elevation, windage or parallax settings of a shooters rifle scope, advise the shooter specifically where to aim, give the shooter specific firing instructions by spoken word or physical signal ("Shoot Now", "Go On", a shoulder touch or other signal)
 
3.12.3   Where, in the opinion of the Range Officer or match organisers it is deemed that a shooter has taken advantage of any instruction provided by a spotter in contravention of rule 3.12.2, the Range Officer shall caution those involved once, and, if there is any repetition of the conduct, the competitor/s may be asked to immediately leave the firing line. The matter shall then be referred to the disputes committee by the Range Officer and dealt with under Rule 2.4.2.