[Donut]

The shortening is not terrible. Yes, we have 5 seconds less than last year, but you start right in the middle of the field, which means it will take you less time to get anywhere in the middle of the field than it would if you were starting at your end of the field. As another effect of the middle starting, there are more defensive opportunities (you start closer to your opponents) for autonomous than in the past. There is also no need to have a large moving arm that takes more time to move than a shooter could take to get up to speed/loaded, and the balls can be fired more rapidly than tetras could be placed on goals (so more scoring opportunity). Lastly, it adds a new challenge; will you have enough time to shoot all 10 balls if you spend x amount of time finding or reaching your target?