The handlers are all doing so great that I figured it was once again time to challenge them a bit. So I designed a Snooker course for last week's agility class.
Designing short sequences to train specific things is not that difficult and I am never at a loss for ideas there. But I have never designed a Snooker course. It was a bit harder than it looks, especially when you factor in our equipment limitations here. It took me eight attempts to draft up a reasonable idea on paper then further tweaking in the course designer software. And we had to tweak it just a bit more when we set it up. A real learning experience for me.
I didn't actually research the exact specifications for a USDAA Novice Snooker course, although I know the rules of the game because I played it fairly often. So when you look at my course map below, you will probably find more than one thing that violates the rules for course design for this game. But, when I look around, I don't see anybody else here who has played USDAA Snooker but me, so as long as the course was runnable for our little group but still challenging, it would be fine.
I decided to go with a four-red-jump course to maximize their chances of success. I also explained the timing rules to them but we did not enforce opening and closing times, only recorded the total time in case of point ties. I also told them that I would allow them to make some errors not normally allowed (refusals for the most part) but that taking obstacles in the wrong order would get them whistled off.
I appointed a chute fluffer, a timer, and a scribe for every run. I was the judge calling points for all runs but my own (MH called points for me and Mimi). I even made up some score sheets. And finally, I scrounged through my supply of dog toys and brought prizes for the highest scoring student of each round (MH and I played for points but not for prizes).
So here's the course that I made.
We had time to play three rounds and thankfully three different students won each round! They were all quite skeptical in the beginning when I explained the rules but got into it fairly quickly and a couple of them were clearly trying to be strategic and competitive! It was great fun, especially when I challenged them all to try something completely different for their third run through the course.
Some of them might very well end up back in the real world with their dogs already infected with the agility bug, and I'm trying my best to give them confidence to successfully pursue it.
Designing short sequences to train specific things is not that difficult and I am never at a loss for ideas there. But I have never designed a Snooker course. It was a bit harder than it looks, especially when you factor in our equipment limitations here. It took me eight attempts to draft up a reasonable idea on paper then further tweaking in the course designer software. And we had to tweak it just a bit more when we set it up. A real learning experience for me.
I didn't actually research the exact specifications for a USDAA Novice Snooker course, although I know the rules of the game because I played it fairly often. So when you look at my course map below, you will probably find more than one thing that violates the rules for course design for this game. But, when I look around, I don't see anybody else here who has played USDAA Snooker but me, so as long as the course was runnable for our little group but still challenging, it would be fine.
I decided to go with a four-red-jump course to maximize their chances of success. I also explained the timing rules to them but we did not enforce opening and closing times, only recorded the total time in case of point ties. I also told them that I would allow them to make some errors not normally allowed (refusals for the most part) but that taking obstacles in the wrong order would get them whistled off.
I appointed a chute fluffer, a timer, and a scribe for every run. I was the judge calling points for all runs but my own (MH called points for me and Mimi). I even made up some score sheets. And finally, I scrounged through my supply of dog toys and brought prizes for the highest scoring student of each round (MH and I played for points but not for prizes).
So here's the course that I made.
Some of them might very well end up back in the real world with their dogs already infected with the agility bug, and I'm trying my best to give them confidence to successfully pursue it.
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