[GEEK] ShootClay Cup 2014 - Score Analysis

[ExSCA]

(this could be a long post - grab a cuppa - and it will only appeal to the geeks like me - pdf documents included)

One of the advantages of a shoot like the ShootClay Cup is that geeks like me can get full access to the data that comes out of it. All the scorecards we had were entered into a spreadsheet,and with some simple processes in Excel, you can do analysis to tell you the story of the shoot. I have talked to a few people about some details of the ShootClay Cup - and a few people have called or PM'ed me and asked me to post some info.

So here goes:

First up - all the scorecards were entered onto a single spreadsheet - with the per stand info captured:

0. ShootClayCup - Scores by Stands.pdf

My first question is always, how did the course shoot? Did the top guys find the same stands hard that I did?   Were all the hard stands in the same place?  So average scores per stand give you some info about scores from each stand:

1 ShootClayCup - Average Scores Per Stand.pdf

Looks like stand 11 (two crossers) was the hardest, although every one seems to remember Stand 12 with the fast low crosser and the R/L battue.  The Sim driven caused some issues as well. 

Maybe you want to see the average scores per stand, per class:

2 ShootClayCup - Avg Score Per Stand by Class.pdf

Looks like the overall shoot was very different to a registered, steadier? harder?  Seems like the averages compared quite well with the normal registered averages:

3. ShootClayCup - Score Analysis by class.pdf

Of course, if you started on Stand X, you definitely had an advantage.... either you got the easiest stands first, or the hardest ones out of the way? How does starting on a tough stand affect the lower classes?

4 ShootClayCup - Top 10 by Starting Stand - by class.pdf

Not much correlation here - the top ten in each class were pretty fairly distributed around the stands... although you might say that B and C class might have had an advantage if they started away from the harder shooting stands.

Finally - it must be the time of day or rotation that makes it easier/harder to shoot - the sun affects these targets, and the wind affects those:

5. ShootClayCup - Average scores by rotation.pdf

Doesn't really show in the average scores per rotation. 

That's it - anything else you want to know from the data I have?  

 

[Sian]

I found that interesting and Santa will love it - he likes things like that

 

[Nimbusgb]

Nice to see that I screwed up pretty much the same targets as others in my class!

I wasn't expecting stand 11 to come out as the toughest. ( lowest average ) but the high driven pair off the tower was a very close 2nd hardest!

Nice to have this lot to play with! 

One day the CPSA might just catch up!

 

[chubby]

GEEK :nhl:

 

[ExSCA]

Geek and proud.

The great thing is - you only ever have to do this analysis once... everytime you get scores, you click a button and all of this analysis emerges. 

Seems a shame to me that every shoot doesn't have a tool that would allow them to publish data all the time. 

It gets really powerful when you have data from multiple shoots - then you can start to think about course averages, rating grounds & shoots based on the difficulty over time. 

 

[BTC3]

Are there such things as digital scorecards?  The home-made version could be an excel VBA form somehow loaded onto a tablet, and placed into the hands of the scorer for each stand: score data uploaded into a spreadsheet as you go, and voila, automatic scoreboard.  Search and print out for each shooter at the end, and you'd have automatic stats as you go/at the end of the shoot...  And of course with some more work, the shootclaycup app could be used by individual shooters to view their running scores.

Now, if only I knew how to code apps, and not just spreadsheets! 

 

[ExSCA]

Richard - absolutely simple to do - biggest issue would be getting a ground to invest in a wifi network across a ground (or the costs of 3g/4g) and then buying tablets and training it out. There is also the problem that many grounds don't have a solid internet connection.  At some grounds, I cannot even get a phone connect. 

I am doing some work with some very helpful members of the forum to streamline the process of getting scores online (something that any ground could use)  - then getting them from the stand to the sheet is the last obstacle.

The scoreboard I had built for the ShootClay Cup - was absolutely perfect - the issue was getting the scorecards onto the web... that manual process was too slow over a poor wifi/internet connection and meant that the scores didn't get to where they needed to be. 

Will demo the new system to people when it is finished - but in summary:

1. Excel - quick input.

2. SQL - single click to upload the scores to a sql database

3. Display on the web by a combination of SQL queries / PHP to get it onto the webpage. 

 

[BTC3]

Matt - I wish I'd made it to the cup this year (prior engagement and feeling a bit new at this to go for it got in the way), but will make sure I do next year.  I probably don't have any additional skills that you might need to help you out here, but a thought: could you get one of the mobile broadband carriers to come in as media sponsor for the next one, and have them set up, at the very least, some femtocells or similar to cover the course?  The publicity angle for them is clear (for individuals and grounds), and you'd get your IT enabled scoring system...

 

[ExSCA]

That has been suggested - and something I am looking to pursue.

If anyone has any marketing/sponsorship contacts at a cellphone/broadband company - please let me know. 

 

[Santa2512]

I found that interesting and Santa will love it - he likes things like that

Indeed,  you know me too well, 

I might do some stats stuff with it later

:santa:

 

[Santa2512]

Richard - absolutely simple to do - biggest issue would be getting a ground to invest in a wifi network across a ground (or the costs of 3g/4g) and then buying tablets and training it out. There is also the problem that many grounds don't have a solid internet connection.  At some grounds, I cannot even get a phone connect. 

I am doing some work with some very helpful members of the forum to streamline the process of getting scores online (something that any ground could use)  - then getting them from the stand to the sheet is the last obstacle.

The scoreboard I had built for the ShootClay Cup - was absolutely perfect - the issue was getting the scorecards onto the web... that manual process was too slow over a poor wifi/internet connection and meant that the scores didn't get to where they needed to be. 

Will demo the new system to people when it is finished - but in summary:

1. Excel - quick input.

2. SQL - single click to upload the scores to a sql database

3. Display on the web by a combination of SQL queries / PHP to get it onto the webpage. 

When i used to Race hovercraft, they started to televise the racing live,

Initially i beleive it  was done with some video camera's and a 3G data dongle to get the stream online

Last i saw they had a mixing desk and multiple camera's  and stream live racing from every event.

(admittedly they only have 7 meetings a year, but  it shows what can be done on a budget)

:santa:

 

[Santa2512]

Hi Steve,

Any chance of 0 &1 as an .xls file please

Converting .txt is going to take ages

:santa:

 

[Nimbusgb]

No need to rely on a wifi backbone at the grounds. Peer to peer networking is the way to go. An informal mesh of each of the scoring tablets would cover a ground. An app for smartphones using Near Field Commmunications and each shooter could carry their scores home simply by tapping their phone against each scoring point and would provide a manual bridge where the mesh couldn't reach. The App could also carry scores into gsm coverage as people leave the grounds. Effectively you are building a small local 'cloud', every device acting to try to keep all the data ( not a vast amount , a couple of K ) to provide resilience and independance.

Things to overcome.

Resistance of the dinosaurs, so you need to maintain bits of paper until critical mass is reached ( make scoresheets the same size as the back of a tablet, flip over to score old style )

Tablet waterproofing. Robust tablets cost bucks, I take an ipad sailing and the case added a chunk if change to the deal. ( shower resistant tablets are coming )

As Matt said with electronic scoring you'd be able to get a whole bunch of meta data before stepping on to the ground. With a network there'd be no need for radios for example a button press for misfiring or empty traps.

You arrive at the ground and tap your phone at the entry desk, payment is made, the course layout is uploaded to your phone along with the sponsors adverts. Your scorecard is initialised with a brief description of each stand, your start time and stand. Handicap and class data entered into the central scoring system and a welcome message is splashed onto the grounds screens.

At the end of the day your personalised web page displays your performance data and updates your classification ( weighted against the difficulty of the days shoot )

Have I thought about it? Prototyped a few bits of it?

 

[chippy]

Some of the old three colour pen brigade will need to get a computer programming course booked up asap.

 

[no.1topdog]

I'm beginning to feel a little left out if shoots go all hi-tech like this.

I'm not sure I would want to consult a "cloud" or connect to an "e" something to find my final score

I can see me having a pocket full of marbles so I can drop one or two into a different pocket to denote a miss. Subtract the quantity from the total shot to find my score. What could be easier?

Oh yes! Writing it on a scorecard would be easier but isn't that what we do now?

I just love these "advancements" in technology. Invent a problem then try to find a solution for it!!!

(Apologies to young people who think electronic devices can solve all the world's problems. When the power runs out you are going to be completely stuffed!)

 

[Dskize]

Yeh...or you could of course just have radios and relay the contestants number and score card back to base. ..For visual verification later. ..posted on a large centrally located screen.....

 

[Papa]

I think it sounds a good idea , it would be nice to see the results for the also rans like me rather than wait a couple of weeks for the cpsa to update . Would also be interesting to Analyse strengths and weakness on different types of targets . Electronic devices do seem to control most things nowadays . My car even starts in the winter now .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[ExSCA]

I just love these "advancements" in technology. Invent a problem then try to find a solution for it!!!

That's not really how it is - not all technology is about solving problems, some of it is just improving something.

Paper and Pen is fine, there is nothing broken - assuming you get round the potential for cheating, the rain and the fact that someone has to manually add something up at the end to get a score in a pile. 

What I am thinking through - is how to IMPROVE the processes of getting scores online, improving information available and making life easier.   

All sports are modernising, and shooting grounds right across Europe have the ability to put scores INSTANTLY online, from the stand, to the clubhouse, to the internet.   I just want to explore some of that for our majors... not our Sunday morning relaxing enjoyment. 

I'll give you my example - the shoot in Dubai last year, I liveblogged on ShootClay.  I had 1.2 MILLION hits to my website during the 4 days, with over 150,000 of those during the final shoot off hours. All from people looking for updates on scores.  That suggests to me that given the right shoots, with the right competitors, with the right setup - you can create GLOBAL interest in a shoot in the desert.  

I think we need to aiming for that, not standing still. 

 

[Nimbusgb]

No One is saying anything is broken, just that we can do better. I've said it before here, if we want to get/keep the younger generation involved then 'information' is part of the challenge.

Oh, and topdog flattery will get you everywhere. At 55 to be considered as having a young mindset is, like AWESOME bro !  

Just a thought, paper scoresheets and a ball point pen in the rain are not exactly immune to the weather.