[Mark Bignal]

Choosing before each game if A means FMP or MMP is very unnecessary and adds a lot of confusion and tracking of every single point

Proposal: WFDF do a coin toss once and that will decide the rule forever
i.e.:
FMP/MMP/MMP/FMP
or
MMP/FMP/FMP/MMP

The mixed division will eventually learn that the 9th point should be FMP for example

[Aren Siekmeier]

Better yet, play 6 on 6!

[Mark Bignal]

6 v 6 is also my preference but that’s a big leap, I think.
Would solve so much:
smaller squad sizes so easier to field and start more teams.
Reduce pitch size slightly to be able to fit 2 pitches on 1 football pitch (solving major tournament logistics in Europe at the very least)
Gender parity

[Meret Trapp]

It is easier for teams, but also takes away more tactical decisions. That might only impact elite level teams, but I can imagine teams wanting to be able to choose depending on O/D flip with what ratio they would like to start. And getting used to knowing whether the 9th point is FMP or the same as the first ratio in that game could be similarly effective.

[Brian Bradburn (Burn)]

Wow, I really like the intent of this idea. I once thought that the current ABBA system would be easy and error free. But, seeing this in action on many games, I now know this is not true. As the OP stated, if it isn’t tracked carefully every single point, confusion can (and does) arise. How many coaches carry around a cheat sheet so they don’t mix this up! I like this idea but I fear a forever-one-way decision is not going to get enough supporters.

[Oliver Browne]

I get where you’re coming from Mark, but actually I’m not sure this will reduce load in a meaningful way.

At the moment teams have to track (1) which point number of the game we’re on, and then (2) compute what that means for numbers of FMP/MMP. If the FMP/MMP starting value is fixed, teams will still have to do (1), and then (2), all this will do is make the computation of (2) ever-so-slightly simpler.

As a team lead, we can’t trust that the volunteer’s scoreboard is up-to-date at the moment we happen to look at it (e.g. immediately after a point has been scored) so we have to track the scores ourselves. Once we’re already doing that, does it really make much difference compared with writing this on your clipboard…

1 [2] [3] 4 5 [6] 7 8 [9]

to keep track of points played?

Further, as we increasingly move to a world where coaches use apps to track in-game data, this kind of thing shifts to near-zero effort.