Hard or Easy ?

[gold40]

Most of the posters and readers here are serious SC competitors.

But for clubs that have local competitive SC ranges nearby, and are trying to survive financially, 
a key question is "How difficult should the course be?"

The seious competitirs want a difficukt course; but that turns off the casual shooters and hunters.  And there are many more of them than serious competitiors.  So, do you make the course EASy to keep the casual shooters coming back - and paying the freight?  Our club barely breaks even financially, so this is a real issue.....

And what about corporate events....how do you attract more of these revenue events that bring 50 or 100 shooters for a day?  And do you make the course much easier those days?

All comments and suggestions appreciated.

[Bang Bang XXXXXX]

First of all, thanks for breaking the ice. No one has posted in this forum for over a month.

I am a competitor who shoots at least one round of practice a week. There are a lot more non-competitors who shoot one or two rounds a year. Do you cater to the walk-ins or the regulars? The people at the desk see the faces and should be able to do the math.

Target setting is walking a fine line between razor blades and broken glass. Any problem involves pain. If the club has the resources, an Easy/Advanced approach is the way to go.

Either three traps per station, two or more shooting positions per station, or stations used by one or the other skill level is definitely the way to go. The businesses that have those options seem to do  whole lot better than those that have only one course for everyone.

I see the reply about limited money, but you have to make an investment to make money. Even the lottery requires that initial investment. The odds of setting a course that keeps everyone happy without multiple options are just as long as the lottery's.

The course owners should be helping you with this one. shotgunfun's place is the perfect example of a set-up that works for all skill levels. He has a mix of all the things I mentioned above and goes from easy to OMG. Lehigh Valley and M&M also do the same.

As for hosting corporate events, keep your rates fair, treat the hosts fair, and have good facilities. I have a friend who moved his event because he was being charged $5 for every extra person at the event. For every registration person, every hospitality person, every one not a shooter. This was for emptying garbage cans, setting up tables, rest facilities, etc. The new guys charge for the shooters and that's it.

Thanks again for breaking the ice.

Bang

[shotgunfun]

  I agree with Bang. Especially for the corporate/fundraiser events. Make a profit but don't gouge the corporation. Also, keep the targets VERY hittable for those events. Keep them smiling and they'll be back.

[Hawk]

While the economy is really down here this year, and has been dropping for over a year, we have been able to remain fairly successful. We had 38 events in 2009 and are in the process of doing 39 in 2010.

The vast majority of these shoot are fund raisers. We are having 8 registered shoots this year of the 39. In a nut shell, I tend to throw a bit more challenging shoots than most. Especially the registered events. My philosophy is that the shooters are paying hard earned money to come to our place and shoot, so I need to give them my best each time out. Nothing way out there or stupid, but no fluff stations either.

The fund raisers have to be fun for the majority of the participants but not each one. I believe that a little imagination in the target sets will attract the guys and girls that are excited about shooting and want to continue to another level. Frankly, the ones that shoot in the teens for a score are not good shots and probably won't ever be. We remove a lot of spring, maybe bounce a battu off the water, and show a lot of belly or dome for the fund raisers.

While the number of shooters are down this season, we average 50+ for registered shoots and around 120 per fund raiser. We already have 20 shoots booked for 2011. I think we do something right.

Oh, and by the way, we are not in a position geographically to offer multiple stands per station, so we change the targets pretty much each week or more for practice and the events.

Hawk

[shotgunfun]

   Good deal Hawk!! Biggest thing I agree on is changing targets. We change ours at least every 2 weeks. Even with multiple shooting positions, we never let targets get stale. Another positive is while most clubs have increased their tourney fees, our went down this year. $66 for 100 bird events and $33 for 50 bird events, with trappers!!

[gold40]

Our member-owned not-for-profit club only has room for a single SC course, with 12 stations, and finances are an important factor.

I suppose the real issue is whether making the course EASY, and promoting it better, will result in more revenue from "casual shooters" as opposed to having a challenging layout (HARD) and concentrating on the serious competitors.  Its not apparent that we can do both at the same time.  As mentioned earlier, there are six othe SC courses within an hour's drive.

We're in a metropolitan area, and I think EASY will bring in more revenue? but am not sure....

[Bang Bang XXXXXX]

Gold40, we go back to one of the first things that I said. The people at the desk will know what works best.

If you go the easy target route all the time, you will lose shooters who are looking for more advanced targets. If your marketing brings in more shooters to replace the ones that left, good job.

The corporate shoots are a great way to get the hook into a new shooter's mouth and giving them a successful result is setting the hook. They will be back. I cannot tell you the number of shooters that I have talked to who have added sporting clays to their activity list as a result of a corporate event. Many have even cut down on their golf time to add to their shooting time.

If you think that you have found a niche for your club among the other facilities in your area, give it a go. It is better to be known as a club that does one thing extremely well than as a club that goofs everything up.

Good Luck

Bang

[Hawk]

Your clientel will show you what kind of targets to set on a daily basis. Here I can guarantee you that if I have a hard station with the rest being moderate to easy, the difficult station will need loading 3 to 1 over the others.

With the fundraisers, we charge a minimum price which covers the first 65 guns in the main event. Then we have a per gun charge for any over the 65. There is a further charge per head for any side games they want. We also have a cancelation fee if the event is called off. Sometimes groups decide they want to hold a shoot but when push comes to shove don't quite have the organization to pull it off. With our calendar being as busy as it has been, there is no way to reschedule events in place of ones that might be canceled.

Hawk

[gold40]

Thanks for all the comments and advice.

[Browningfan369]

Good Post guys, Having played this game for a while now, is there no such thing as a Happy Medium? Especially when it comes to corporate/fundraiser events. Last fall I shot in a Fundraiser, where the target setter seemed to care less about the fact the event was a "Fundrasier" . I managed to hold my own on the course, while checking the score board I noticed, a vast majority of the score were under 50 with one 0. The comments I head during the meal that followed lead me to beleive that many of those who attended won't be trying sporting clays again. I know this doesn't happen that often but, what a shame and what a bad taste it left in the mouth of those shooters.

[Bang Bang XXXXXX]

The Browning man is dead-on.

I would risk a couple of the "heavy" shooters running the course rather than beat the new shooters. Shooting a hundred straight on any sporting clays course isn't all that easy. There are mental lapses out there waiting to jump out and attack at the worst times.

One thing to look at is the trapper staff. If it is a corporate event, experienced shooters at a station that "help" the new shooters can be a good thing. It's hard to come back if you've had no success in your new endeavor. I know that one local facility would bring in some instructors the morning before an afternoon shoot to do quick lessons. This is another way for the club to make a buck or two and give the host another option for their guests.

Bang

[KRIEGHOFFK80]

The more targets they break the more they want to do it again!!

[Hawk]

It is true that if they break targets they will be happier. I have had a couple of 100's shot over the last few years at our fund raisers. But then I have also shot in some fundraisers where you basically had 10 stations with everything coming in full belly, and that had to be the most boring shoots I have ever been in. An imaginative target doesn't have to be a difficult target. I believe that you have to keep a course somewhat balanced even in the fund raisers to offer everyone a little something to enjoy. Right to left, left to right, incomers, and trap shots. Just like those of us that shoot competitively, the fun shooters will have target trajectories that they favor more than others. Even if they don't know it yet, lol.

I think at the end of the event you need to look at the scores and see where the average is at. If you have the large majority of participants at 50+ % in a fun shoot, then it's not a bad course. On the other hand, if 40 to 50 % of the shooters are around 50% or less, you were too tough on them.

Hawk

[shotgunfun]

  Hawk is dead nuts on with those percentages!!