Each youth participant in your league will obtain a “ringer percent.” This is a measure of their level of skill at scoring ringers. Over time, this percent will change as kids improve at making ringers.
A Ringer % is determined by dividing the total number of ringers by the total number of shoes pitched. This is done for each game, and again for all games pitched in a tournament. Generally, a horseshoe pitcher’s ringer percent will vary between games with some higher and some lower. The total ringer percent for all shoes and ringers pitched at a tournament represents a truer picture of skill level than does a single game.
A Ringer Percent Average is developed by using several individual tournament ringer percentages. The NHPA method uses the highest 3 tournaments in the last 12 months or 10 tournaments, if more than 10 are pitched in a year. If your league is participating as a sanctioned league with the NHPA, the NHPA will keep track of the ringer percentage of your youth participants, based on the date you report to them in a database called NatStats. As the coach, you should keep track of each game pitched. This will help you have a full picture of the skills of your participants as well as their rate of improvement.
Common multipliers used to determine ringer percent.
- 20 shoe game: Ringers x 5 = Ringer % (2 ringers represents 10%)
- 40 Shoe game: Ringers x 2.5 = Ringer % (4 ringers represents 10%)
- 50 shoe game: Ringers x 2 = Ringer % (5 ringers represents 10%)