WHFTA 202 2 Meet the course setters
Course setters are very much the unsung heroes of HFT. Without these guys and girls we wouldn't have competitions to shoot in. Countless hours of; planning, building, planning some more and then rebuilding goes into creating a great HFT course.
We are incredibly privileged at WHFTA 2022 to have two immense teams of course setters who will be doing their utmost to trick and deceive the HFT massive. Here we speak with two people who are very much the "brains of the outfit" to see what they have in store for us. Have a read below
We are incredibly privileged at WHFTA 2022 to have two immense teams of course setters who will be doing their utmost to trick and deceive the HFT massive. Here we speak with two people who are very much the "brains of the outfit" to see what they have in store for us. Have a read below
Name : Perry Broad
Club: Nomads HFT
Tell us a little about yourself
My name is Perry Broad. I grew up on a farm back in the 70s and that’s where my love of air rifles was born .I started out with spring rifles and they are still my preferred choice today.
After finding HFT in about 2012 and realising how much I enjoyed the sport, I was given the chance to to become a part owner in a new club now known as Nomads HFT, which has since gone from strength to strength manly due to our fantastic membership.
As the respective lead of one of the WHFTA course setting teams what do you feel makes a truly world class course setting team?
I would have to say a big part of it would be the relationship within the team, everybody bringing something different and individual to the task but still being able to bring it all together to form a complete picture of what we’re trying to achieve.
What do you enjoy the most about the whole course setting process?
The most enjoyable part of course setting for me I think would be the camaraderie and banter that takes place within the course setting team, and then when all the measuring and marking is done the fitting of the faceplates, that’s when the course really comes to life.
How important is team work when setting courses?
I think Teamwork is paramount if you are trying to set a course to a good standard. The Nomads team have been working together for sometime now and have a well rehearsed format with which we are all happy.
What do you feel makes a truly great HFT course?
For me a great course is one that has a good balance of shots spread evenly throughout the course, and lanes where the shooter has to stop and have a little think about it before pulling the trigger. I don’t mind anyone knocking over our targets as long as they’ve had to work it out first.
Tell us about the best HFT course you have ever shot?
I would say that the best course I’ve shot (and there have been some great ones) would have to be a National round at Quarry, not sure what year but it was my lowest ever HFT score, but still one of the most enjoyable rounds I’ve ever shot. A true measure of a great course!
What do you have planned for the competitors of WHFTA 2022?
All I can say is we’re planning to bring all of our course setting knowledge and experience to bare on every single lane, and hopefully provide a challenging but enjoyable experience for all competitors.
Give one piece of advice to anyone competing in their first HFT world championship…
Try to relax, and don’t worry to much about your score. Just enjoy the experience of being part of a truly great event that is the HFT Worlds!
Club: Nomads HFT
Tell us a little about yourself
My name is Perry Broad. I grew up on a farm back in the 70s and that’s where my love of air rifles was born .I started out with spring rifles and they are still my preferred choice today.
After finding HFT in about 2012 and realising how much I enjoyed the sport, I was given the chance to to become a part owner in a new club now known as Nomads HFT, which has since gone from strength to strength manly due to our fantastic membership.
As the respective lead of one of the WHFTA course setting teams what do you feel makes a truly world class course setting team?
I would have to say a big part of it would be the relationship within the team, everybody bringing something different and individual to the task but still being able to bring it all together to form a complete picture of what we’re trying to achieve.
What do you enjoy the most about the whole course setting process?
The most enjoyable part of course setting for me I think would be the camaraderie and banter that takes place within the course setting team, and then when all the measuring and marking is done the fitting of the faceplates, that’s when the course really comes to life.
How important is team work when setting courses?
I think Teamwork is paramount if you are trying to set a course to a good standard. The Nomads team have been working together for sometime now and have a well rehearsed format with which we are all happy.
What do you feel makes a truly great HFT course?
For me a great course is one that has a good balance of shots spread evenly throughout the course, and lanes where the shooter has to stop and have a little think about it before pulling the trigger. I don’t mind anyone knocking over our targets as long as they’ve had to work it out first.
Tell us about the best HFT course you have ever shot?
I would say that the best course I’ve shot (and there have been some great ones) would have to be a National round at Quarry, not sure what year but it was my lowest ever HFT score, but still one of the most enjoyable rounds I’ve ever shot. A true measure of a great course!
What do you have planned for the competitors of WHFTA 2022?
All I can say is we’re planning to bring all of our course setting knowledge and experience to bare on every single lane, and hopefully provide a challenging but enjoyable experience for all competitors.
Give one piece of advice to anyone competing in their first HFT world championship…
Try to relax, and don’t worry to much about your score. Just enjoy the experience of being part of a truly great event that is the HFT Worlds!
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Name : Chris Cundy Club: Emley Moor FTC/Misfits HFT Club
Tell us a little about yourself…. I started off originally by shooting FT in the Yorkshire area and was graded AA for a while. Around 2005 HFT was starting to take off so I set up an Air Arms S400 with a Simmons scope (duplex ret) and found that many years spent hunting when I was younger helped me with the different HFT positions, plus the ability to have decent ranging by eye. A few years later and I was UKAHFT Champion and was well and truly bitten with this type of shooting. Air rifle shooting has been good to me, giving me friends that are more like family and new shooters that will hopefully become friends too. It's been nice to give some things back and I picked up an idea from a fellow shooter as to how to support the younger new shooters. friends, acquaintances and the shooting industry supplied me with small amounts of kit that could be sold and then the proceeds used to buy a starter HFT rig for the Juniors, after many years we supplied 21 'combos' which resulted in a Junior HFT world champ and also a Field Target European champ. After nearly 3 decades of competition shooting I'm fortunate that I feel I can still compete at the top level.........let's hope this continues. |
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As the respective lead of one of the WHFTA course setting teams what do you feel makes a truly world class course setting team?
Number one for me is trust. You have to be able to trust the team around you as it's really hard work for one person to go around checking to see if a target is positioned correctly, is working correctly and won't fall off a tree half-way through a comp. A good team (of any kind) needs a defined leader but I'm fortunate that every member of the Emley team has decades of experience in both shooting and setting courses.
What do you enjoy the most about the whole course setting process?
It's a challenge to try and get into the thought processes of other shooters, the varying different ways that people use to work out kill sizes and ranges can be duped by clever target positioning or by the use of large/small faceplates. I love the sneaky side of course setting and will always give a nod to a course setter if something like that catches me out, and also feel the same if someone comes off of a course, looks you in the eye and calls you a swine!!
How important is team work when setting courses?
Crucial, placing a 30 shot course to a 'worlds'' spec takes a lot of thought and planning. Team work means that those around you just know what you are thinking when looking at a lane and before you know what's happening they have grabbed a ladder, target, bracket, string and number and are setting whilst you move on and plan the next lane.
What do you feel makes a truly great HFT course?
Variation. if a course has a mix of downhill, elevated, wind catching and range trap shots then it will test even the best shots in the world. A truly great HFT course is one that won't be cleared, even when the best are present.
Tell us about the best HFT course you have ever shot?
Most shooters will always recall a course where they had a win that was 3 or 4 shots clear of the pack, or maybe won a major trophy. For me it's a course where I've had to double check my thought process on almost every lane, a course where you finish and you feel that you've fought for every single point and earnt every single target knocked over. There's been so many over the years but my personal favourite was a very gusty Sunday at Quarry where the wind would move 40 to 50mm from left to right at the drop of a hat. The targets had been placed in areas where the wind would be most noticeable at the target but not at the peg. Very clever course setting that cost many shooters a good score and those that did well must have felt that the score was 'earned'.
What do you have planned for the competitors of WHFTA 2022?
Some new targets that hopefully will make range finding harder. Using a few different bits and bobs that will make those that use bracketing as a range finding aid trickier, some bits that will hopefully make reading the wind difficult....can't really say too much without giving the game away but we will be as sneaky as possible.
Give one piece of advice to anyone competing in their first HFT world championship…
Never worry about the word 'competition' or 'championship'. The vast majority of shooters in both clubs and on the comp circuit are approachable and friendly, that also carries on into the worlds.
Number one for me is trust. You have to be able to trust the team around you as it's really hard work for one person to go around checking to see if a target is positioned correctly, is working correctly and won't fall off a tree half-way through a comp. A good team (of any kind) needs a defined leader but I'm fortunate that every member of the Emley team has decades of experience in both shooting and setting courses.
What do you enjoy the most about the whole course setting process?
It's a challenge to try and get into the thought processes of other shooters, the varying different ways that people use to work out kill sizes and ranges can be duped by clever target positioning or by the use of large/small faceplates. I love the sneaky side of course setting and will always give a nod to a course setter if something like that catches me out, and also feel the same if someone comes off of a course, looks you in the eye and calls you a swine!!
How important is team work when setting courses?
Crucial, placing a 30 shot course to a 'worlds'' spec takes a lot of thought and planning. Team work means that those around you just know what you are thinking when looking at a lane and before you know what's happening they have grabbed a ladder, target, bracket, string and number and are setting whilst you move on and plan the next lane.
What do you feel makes a truly great HFT course?
Variation. if a course has a mix of downhill, elevated, wind catching and range trap shots then it will test even the best shots in the world. A truly great HFT course is one that won't be cleared, even when the best are present.
Tell us about the best HFT course you have ever shot?
Most shooters will always recall a course where they had a win that was 3 or 4 shots clear of the pack, or maybe won a major trophy. For me it's a course where I've had to double check my thought process on almost every lane, a course where you finish and you feel that you've fought for every single point and earnt every single target knocked over. There's been so many over the years but my personal favourite was a very gusty Sunday at Quarry where the wind would move 40 to 50mm from left to right at the drop of a hat. The targets had been placed in areas where the wind would be most noticeable at the target but not at the peg. Very clever course setting that cost many shooters a good score and those that did well must have felt that the score was 'earned'.
What do you have planned for the competitors of WHFTA 2022?
Some new targets that hopefully will make range finding harder. Using a few different bits and bobs that will make those that use bracketing as a range finding aid trickier, some bits that will hopefully make reading the wind difficult....can't really say too much without giving the game away but we will be as sneaky as possible.
Give one piece of advice to anyone competing in their first HFT world championship…
Never worry about the word 'competition' or 'championship'. The vast majority of shooters in both clubs and on the comp circuit are approachable and friendly, that also carries on into the worlds.
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