Man, I have been there on the t.16 thing. Long Beach Invitational used to suffer from the sunlight-through-the-high-windows, it was not fun to be on the east-facing side of the strip.
The other interpretation I've seen for false starts is for the referee to verbally warn the fencers not to start early at the first infraction and then card subsequent infractions as "refusal to obey"
yes! that used to be the interpretation when the was warn first, then card. now its just starting early is an instant card and the reasoning for that is just delay of bout
The biggest issue I find with false starts is the huge disparity in application of a penalty for a false start. Some refs immediately punish a false start, others warn and on occasion refs will just flat out ignore it (for example if carding will end the bout). There's also disparity in what some refs will allow vs what gets punished. Some punish the slightest twitch, others won't punish unless you're obviously moving. Hell in epee unless it's the final dash and fencers are just running off the line they don't even care. There's also disparity in who gets punished sometimes. In a scenario where one person false starts and the other person reacts to them I've seen some refs card just the fencer who went first and other refs will card both. I'd also love to see refs crack down harder on fencers policing false starts themselves. There's one fencer high in the rankings in Australia (who's not on the international circuit) who does this all the time. Even multiple times in the same bout on occasion. I've seen him get warned but I've never seen him get a card like he should even if he's stopped the same bout multiple times to complain about a non-existent false start.
Man, I have been there on the t.16 thing. Long Beach Invitational used to suffer from the sunlight-through-the-high-windows, it was not fun to be on the east-facing side of the strip.
The other interpretation I've seen for false starts is for the referee to verbally warn the fencers not to start early at the first infraction and then card subsequent infractions as "refusal to obey"
yes! that used to be the interpretation when the was warn first, then card. now its just starting early is an instant card and the reasoning for that is just delay of bout
The biggest issue I find with false starts is the huge disparity in application of a penalty for a false start.
Some refs immediately punish a false start, others warn and on occasion refs will just flat out ignore it (for example if carding will end the bout). There's also disparity in what some refs will allow vs what gets punished. Some punish the slightest twitch, others won't punish unless you're obviously moving. Hell in epee unless it's the final dash and fencers are just running off the line they don't even care.
There's also disparity in who gets punished sometimes. In a scenario where one person false starts and the other person reacts to them I've seen some refs card just the fencer who went first and other refs will card both.
I'd also love to see refs crack down harder on fencers policing false starts themselves. There's one fencer high in the rankings in Australia (who's not on the international circuit) who does this all the time. Even multiple times in the same bout on occasion. I've seen him get warned but I've never seen him get a card like he should even if he's stopped the same bout multiple times to complain about a non-existent false start.