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How do you a handle a situation with a quizzer who gets two wrong in a game?

Coaching quizzers with two wrong can be one of the more maddening tasks you will experience. Such situations can radically impact your strategy and derail a well-orchestrated game. How do you teach quizzers what to do when this happens? How do you avoid an error out? Let's look at a few guiding principles.

  • The Quizzer Must Obey
    • Some coaches have a hard time getting quizzers to do what they are told. I have seen coaches lay out a strategy in a time out, only to have the quizzer turn around and do whatever they want, completely disregarding the coach's instructions. If you have these problems, you need to solve them before you start quizzing.

  • The Quizzer Must Slow Down
    • Unless it's late in the game and you're going to lose anyway, a quizzer with two errors has to slow their hitting down. Often it's best to funnel rereads to that quizzer. Quizzing with two wrong means you can't make blind hits on the second word.

  • The Quizzer Must Continue to Hit
    • Shutting down is not an option. There is no reason, as long as the quizzer follows some basic rules, to stop hitting altogether. It sometimes makes sense to take a question or two off, but don't disappear completely. That does nothing to help the team win the game.

  • The Quizzer Must Choose Questions Carefully

    • This can mean different things to different people, but a few things to keep in mind:
    -Lay off the quotes. Unless you are an extremely natural quotation quizzer, there are too many chances to miss something.
    -Avoid completions and blind STQs. Anything that requires you to hit after the word 'quote' is problematic. Too many quizmasters pause in weird places, plus it can be hard to hear or read lips to get the right sound. Best to stay away.
    -Go for bread and butter stuff. Analysis, part-answers, GCAs are all good ones with two wrong.

  • The Quizzer Must Be Aggressive Late in the Game

    • Early in the match, it's smartest to back off and play it safe. If it's close late, that's the time to let it fly. You don't want to make dumb mistakes, but you don't want to lose because of timidity.

    Quizzing with two wrong is an acquired skill that takes a lot of discipline to master. Help your quizzers work on this, and they'll win more close games than they'll lose.