Lessons learnt in 2009 and looking forward to 2010...

So, its New Years Eve 2009, and I am sitting here wondering about 2010, and what I have learnt from my first full season shooting compound.

I attended plenty of competitions this year with the aim of getting competition experience. I did not know what to expect in terms of scores, but overall I think I can be pleased with what I have achieved. I have got into the Surrey County Team and have shot a couple of FITA 1300's.

It has been difficult with the travelling and the cost of accommodation (Lilleshall being one such venue), and next year I intend to travel to those that are no more than 1.5 hours drive away. I might treat myself to one overnight stay; the Meriden FITA Star being one that I really liked.

As for my shooting, there are plenty of things I have taken from this year, some large, some small niggly things, but they all add up. Here is a run down of the main things I have noted and will carry into 2010, hopefully a better archer.

• Relax, and not worry about the score. When I do relax, my shooting improves. I have to learn to trust my technique.
• Keep pulling until the shot goes off. This results in far better and accurate shots, but I get sloppy sometimes.
• Write down my shot sequence and attach it to my quiver. That way I can remind myself of what to do when my form starts to suffer.
• Practice 90m/50m much more, and make this a priority every week.
• Don't keep changing my set-up, give changes a chance. I did this far too much and it set me back on several occasions. If something works well then don't change, even if my form suffers. It wont be a fault with the bow or the set-up.
• Try and space out the competitions to allow me to practice effectively between each one.
• Have a competition set of arrows separate from my practice set, and only use them to confirm sight marks. Maybe treat myself to some X10's or ProTours!
• Carry on with the weight training as this worked well and meant I was able to hold the bow steadier.

For next year, my goal is to shoot PB's, and not have any expectations. I will continue to set goals for scores as this has worked for the indoor rounds, but I must learn to not get down hearted if a round is not going so good. These things happen.

I will also not give up any rounds that are not going well. I should just use it as practice and remove all score expectations and relax and enjoy it.

I am having some coaching on the 4th of January with Liam Grimwood, and I am looking forward to this being a spring board into 2010.

Give it a rest!

Not much has happened over the last few weeks so nothing to really report. I shot a Portsmouth last night, and set my self a target of 575, and shot 573, so again, goal setting is still working and I am hitting 570+ regularly now.

However, I am still having issues with my rest and the large arrows. Due to the weight of the arrow, it bounces off the rest when drawing. You have to **really** steady. It was noted by another archer that the long rod was really wobbling and could be the cause. I have extended the long rod and it does flex a lot, although it shoots well. I have to get this sorted, either by changing the long rod (don't want to do that), get a stiffer blade or maybe open up the blade a bit so the arrow sits deeper down.

Oh well, no more shooting for a few days now due to Christmas, but it will soon be the new year and I really look forward to ramping up the practice ready for the outdoor season next year.

Need for concentration

I shot a Portsmouth round last night, and probably shot the best round I had ever shot in terms of shot execution, and it was really nice to follow up on the second session from the Surrey Indoor in Sunday. At one stage I shot 14 consecutive 10's and simply could not miss (have never done that before).

However, I blew my chance of a PB (OK, its only a club night shoot) because I shot one arrow on the wrong three spot face. Granted it was a 10 and a great shot (that's all that matters ;-)), but I should have been paying attention more. Even during the aiming process something felt a little odd, but the shot process had started and I didn't think it was because I was aiming at the wrong spot!

That cost me 10 points, and I finished with 568, it could have been 578.

I need to learn to pay attention, get my alignment right and come down if something it not right.

Other than that, I am delighted with how I shot, and I feel now I have stepped up a level and look forward to building on that over the coming weeks and months. The bow is shooting unbelievably well and am delighted with it and its set-up at the moment.