You can please some of the people all of the time ………….
At the request of the league manager, on 24th March, Ripon Spa and York U3A agreed to trial the advantage method. The standard league system of 45 minutes a game plus 2 shots per ball after the whistle was used.
Ripon Spa handicaps were 7, 9 and 9. York U3A’s were 9, 12 and 12. Thus no great disparity
Practice followed a briefing and play started at 10:13 and ceased at 15:42. The average time taken for each of the 5 rounds was 58 minutes.
It took a few minutes to appreciate who did have and who did not have extra clips, where they went and what they signified. The players and I eventually got the hang of them. I never looked at the advantage post. I did glance at the centre peg.
The first doubles game stopped at the whistle, tied at 5/5. There was a discussion about using the extra shots, because it was unclear how running a hoop would affect the result, until the rules and scoring tree were consulted. At this point, York had actually run 4 hoops and Ripon had run 5. We looked at the ratio of what we had actually run, compared with what we needed to run. Ripon had run 5 out of 7 and York had run 4 out of 6. 5/7 is a bigger fraction than 4/6, so Ripon won. This position also occurred in a singles match in the afternoon
2 singles and 1 doubles match finished within 45 minutes. I did not allow the unfinished games extra time, to see how much extra time would have been needed.
The matches were just like level play ones to this [sole] observer, in the sense that there was a natural flow.
One small point on the Federation score sheet. In the rounds section, there is no provision for the handicap, only for the starting score. I see that there is room for the numbers, but not for the actual narrative.
Conclusion. The games flowed well and were enjoyed. Not one of the players knew for certain whether or not they were winning during the game. The final position was clear only when 7 hoops had been run. The final position, in unfinished games that were close, was always in doubt until the scoring tree was consulted.
It seems a compromise that almost works and thanks are due to Roy Tillcock for devoting so much time to devising the system. However, with all the paperwork on starting scores and scoring trees, I believe that it will have to be forced into use.
Michael Franklin Ripon Spa league manager
25Jul24