This thread came back on topic....

I went to Brian Howard's regular judging school in 2004 at Desert Aircraft. I went to the Advanced Judging School in 2005 held in Chandler. I was also at the judging refresher at the Tucson Shootout. Here is what I was taught and what I recall.

1. The standard is perfection. Deductions are taken from there.
2. There is no "allowed" displacement on snaps that isn't deducted. As a judge, you have to find a consistent way to downgrade for ANY displacement after the snap.
3. Whether or not it's possible to snap without displacment is irrelevant. The standard is perfection. The pilot that meets the criteria with less displacement would get less of a deduction than the pilot with more displacement.
4. Much to the dismay of the judging "perfection standard" purists, a "judging reference card" was published by IMAC that now stated that "Lateral/Vertical displacement of line due to the snap NOT downgraded". This guideline doesn't appear to have any basis on the published judging criteria in the manual, but the statement was put on the IMAC "judging reference card" anyway.
5. Because it was on the "reference card" (but not in the judging criteria in the manual), Brian allowed the "reference card" "guideline" to be used at the Shootout.

This move away from the "perfection" standard which wasn't based on the criteria in the published judging guide is what Brian mentioned being addressed. I don't think he had any plans to change ANY rules. As Aresti2004 states, that takes many years. He just wants to make sure we go back to following the existing rules instead of the "reference card" someone created, which I'm guessing has no actual authority as a set of rules. It was just created for convenience.

I judged all year based on the manual and didn't read the "reference card". All the pilots WERE deducted for displacement in snaps, except for my judging at the Shootout.

My best wishes to all the pilots next year, whether it's the same class or a higher class. I know I'm going to have my hands full with the Advanced class in the Southwest Region!!!

Take care,

Dean Bird
2005 Tucson Shootout Intermediate Class Champion
2005 IMAC Southwest Intermediate Class Champion