zone accuracy rules

[raymod2 1]

There is a thread at canopypiloting.com discussing the CPC zone accuracy rules. I don't think that forum gets much traffic so I'm starting a thread here.

Last year the CPC zone accuracy rules closely followed the IPC zone accuracy rules. The minimum requirements were to fly through the entry gate (break the imaginary plane formed by the entry gate markers), to make first point of contact (over dry land) in a scoring zone, and to come to a complete stop in a scoring zone or a penalty zone. If you failed to meet these requirements you scored a zero for the round. Otherwise you were scored as follows: gate points + zone points - penalty points - standup penalty. Gate points were awarded for dragging your toe on the surface of the water through each gate (maximum 60 points total). Zone points were awarded based on which zone you landed in (40 points maximum). Penalty points were deducted based on which penalty zone you stopped in (40 points maximum). The standup penalty was deducted if you failed to stand up your landing (10 points).

If the event was not held over water then gate points were awarded for free. You just had to fly through a gate to get the points. Since it was highly unlikely that you would hit the 1st gate and then miss the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gates you almost always got all 60 gate points (assuming you met the requirements for a scoring round).

This year there are two major changes to the CPC zone accuracy rules. (1) The gate points are awarded for free even when the course is over water (no need to drag your toe). (2) You no longer have to hit the entry gate to get a scoring round. Hitting any gate qualifies you for a scoring round (but you obviously don't get points for the gates you missed).

Personally, I don't like the first rule change. I think it discourages CPC pilots to learn the skills they will need to compete in the championships and/or the PST.

I am ambivalent about the second rule change. On the one hand it will make it easier to get a scoring round on windy days. It will also add an element of strategy (go for the 1st gate and risk a zero or play it safe and go for the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th gate?). On the other hand it seems difficult to judge since one video camera inline with the 1st gate will no longer be sufficient to judge vertical extensions.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

I'm of mixed emotions about the regional zone accuracy rule changes this year. If not mistaken these rules don't apply to the "pro/advanced" pilots who need to make 5' entry gates and still score dragging points just like last year. Plus there will be a challenge for some of the judges to properly score the competitions when "pro/advanced" pilots run the course versus everyone else. The rule changes definitely help the "regular/rookie" swooper stay competitive in these events (they may even help win some comps for a "regular" competitor). But unless the swooper is dragging their toes during some of their jumps, these pilots aren't developing the much needed recognition skills that help us later like knowing when dragging ones toes is helpful or hurtful towards making a positive scoring zone. Depending on what conditions you're jumping in, zone accuracy is all about either having to slow down or speeding up all the while judging your desired targeted touch down zone (ie: often a controlled crashed to score points). I don't care how much or how little you dragged or what gates you entered in. If you don't first touch down in a positive scoring zone and stay in the course. You get a big fat donut.

Each region did many things different in the various disciplines last season and zone accuracy was one of them. In CO, we followed all the proper IPC scoring rules except that we also scored dragging points over hard ground before the swoop pond was even built in our regional comps #2 through #5. We had so many ties in the 1st comp that we thought "what the heck, let's give it a try" and it worked for us. Because of this, I think it helped some of us when it came to dragging over water (at least we were used to doing this in competition). Swoop comps aren't the right time to be trying something new, so if people want to get experience dragging their toes through some gates (regardless of whether it's over water or over hard ground), they really need to be doing it in the realm of practice before they try it in the high stress environment of competition.

I don't mind all these regional handicaps if it brings out more people and helps develop the sport. But hopefully come CPC championship time, the "advanced" pilots (there's not many of us and we're not automatically better than everyone else) won't be handicapped too much to the point where all of a sudden we're the ones at a disadvantage thanks to the rules. I kind of think the playing field needs to be pretty level for all during that competition. But I can see these zone accuracy rule changes helping the lesser experienced pilots more than hurting the more experienced pilots during our regional events. Zone accuracy is a fun event (I'd love to try the carving zone accuracy course) and the more we do it, the better we'll get.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over