Upcoming Shoots
Sat Nov 9th
Sat Nov 30th

Leagues

The leagues and monthly results are available to view here.

League Fixtures

League Fixture dates can be seen Here.

Farmers Fixtures

Farmers Fixture dates can be seen Here.

Memberships

Memberships are available, details Here.

Leagues

At BT Shawlands we operate a points based league using the top 6 cards throughout the year. Many people ask why we use a points system instead of just the number of clays hit. This page will explain why we use a points system and how it works.

Reasons

Firstly, not everyone can attend every shoot. We try to make our shoot friendly and enjoyable, rather than competitive, but having the league does add an element of competitiveness. Winning the league does not generally mean that George Digweed will start to worry (although with our AA shooters he might be a little concerned).

But we want every member to stand a fair chance. The committee saw that the majority of members attend at least six shoots and thus decided that the top six cards would be counted in the league and any remaining cards would be discarded. If a member does not shoot sufficient cards, they will still be positioned in the league but they will obviously be significantly lower in the table than another member who has shot the minimum six cards.

Why points?

Each shoot varies in difficulty. This is partly intentional by the layout of the traps, and partly down to the conditions of the day. As a result, some shoots are easier than others. Also, sometimes there are a different number of stands; normally the league is shot over 8 stands, but periodically we alter the layout to have more or less stands. Also, on some occasions we have had trap failures in the middle of the shoot, so we remove the scores from that stand. By using this points system we can still score everyone equally and fairly over the all the stands irrespective of how many there are.

Given that we are only counting the best 6 cards per member, if one member turned up only on the days when we had easier shoots, they would be at an advantage to those members who turned up on harder shoots.

It is true that there is no way to know in advance which would be a hard shoot and which would be easier, but the committee felt that some kind of relative points system would be a fairer way to judge the results throughout the year.

Points system

So, the points system calculates a score, relative to the average for that particular shoot. This calculation we are using was introduced in the 2010 season. The calculation in the past has tried to perform a similar function, but it was more complicated and less clear. The result was that no one could relate their scores to the actual number of birds they hit.

The new calculation uses a standard statistical measure (standard deviations) to calculate a Z score. For those that are statistically inclined, this simply measures how many Standard Deviations a score is away from the mean average. Another article on the subject can be found here.

The result is that, if you shoot the same as the average, then for that shoot you will score 100 points. If you shoot more than the average you get more than 100, the better you do, the more points. Equally, if you shoot less than the average, you get less than 100 points. It is completely even and consistent across all the leagues, and if any members are so inclined, they will be able to re-calculate the values using the standard Z-score calculation and the details published in the website.

Leagues

The committee hopes that by simplifying the calculation, and by making all the details available on our website, members will better understand how the leagues are run.

After each league shoot we will publish all the scores, the average, and the league table based upon these Z-scores. Statistically, 95% of all the scores will be between 98 and 102. It also means that a score on a shoot that has a higher average (easier shoot), will score less points than the same score from a shoot that has a lower average (harder shoot).

2011 Season

Note that the 2011 season was extended to include the first 3 months of 2012. This allowed the league and the membership renewal to be brought into sync. So, for the 2011 season only, the league was scored using the top 8 cards shot over the 15 month period from Jan 2011 to Mar 2012. The 2012 season started in April 2012 and reverts back to using the top 6 cards over the 12 month period from Apr 2012 to Mar 2013.

Further details

If you would like further details, or if you would like to offer your opinion on the subject (for better or for worse), then please feel free to contact the committee. We only run the club for the benefit of the members, and if the members would prefer that it ran in a particular way, then they need to tell us. Alternatively, if you like what is being done, then please also feel free to just tell us that as well.