For those shooters that are not aware, the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) is the major trapshooting governing authority for "American Style" trap-shooting in the United States. All SBTL tournaments are shooting "American Style" trap. While the SBTL is not affiliated with the ATA, we do follow most of their rules.
In the ATA rules published as of September 2009, there was a rule change to Section IV, paragraph G, part 2 that the SBTL missed. According to the ATA, this rule change was intended to address safety and consistency concerns. Unfortunately, this rule was not well written nor well highlighted by the ATA and, as such, has had slow adoption at ATA member clubs because of confusion and disagreement in the rule’s meaning. There has also been some contention within the ATA as to whether the rule actually accomplishes anything.
The SBTL picked up on the rule in May 2011 when one of the SBTL management was handicapping an out-of-state ATA shoot. We contacted a member of the ATA rules committee and received clarification on what the rule actually meant. At that point we published a notice in our May newsletter that we would be following this rule and fixed all squads to adhere to this new (to us) rule as of the June 2011 shoot.
During the August shoot there were still some questions from several shooters about this rule. As SBTL and ATA shooters get used to this rule, and in lieu of sporadic adoption at ATA clubs, we wanted to take the opportunity to remind everyone of the rule’s content and how this rule is "supposed to be interpreted according to the ATA rules committee".
As of the May 2011 update to the ATA Rules published on September 2011, the IV. G. 2. rule now reads: "In Handicap there shall be no more than two (2) yards difference between adjacent shooters in the squad, and no more than a total difference of three (3) yards in a squad. When squadding 18,19 & 20 yard shooters, there shall be no more than one yard difference between adjacent shooters in the squad and no more than a total difference of two yards in a squad."
Since the SBTL does not handicap shooters at the 18 yard line, the effect on short yardage SBTL shooters is: "if there is a 19 or 20 yard shooter on a squad, we can allow no more than a one (1) yard separation between shooters, and a maximum of two (2) yards difference on that squad."
We hope that this explanation helps everyone better understand this rule. As always, if one has any questions, please feel free to speak to one of the SBTL management or staff and we will be very happy to assist you as best we can.