First York of the year, and some new arrows

Finally, got the chance to go out and shoot a full 12 dozen practice round! I shot a York today, and it was a mixed bag of really good shots and some pretty poor ones.

Its clear I am struggling with cramping up on some shots. When I lower the shoulder and open the body out, the shots are great. At least I have a clear set of things to work on and correct. In the end I shot 1238. Some way off my practice PB, but at this time of year and so little practice, its not to bad, and its a good base to work from.

I also tried out the new Protours (420's). I had a quick paper tune to get a level nocking point, and the tried them out at 100, 80 and 60 yards. The groups were great, visibly better than any other arrow I have shot from the C3. The tungsten points make a difference, pushing all the mass up front, making for a better shot than the steel points of the same weight.

Point testing and shooting with the hinge release

Bit of a mixed bag on Saturday. Tried out the X10's with 120gn points to see if the C3 could reach 100 yards, and it can, with some room to spare on the sight. Means when my 120gn tungsten points arrive with my new Protours, I will be able to get sight marks without having to cut off 10gn's.

Some ends @ 100yards were great, some tight groups, but also some strange left/rights. Could well be me, but some unexplained. I still think it's me, not shot that distance for a few weeks so a bit rusty.

I got out my hinge release, which I have not shot for a while and it felt really good shooting back tension. Got it set at the right speed and the best shots felt awesome, so I might stick with it for a few weeks. Just need to relax!

Shot 3 doz @ 30m with it, using my FMJ's, and put in 356, not to bad, could have been better.

Next week, I am going to shoot a full round (York). I have really got to start practising full rounds now. My first outdoor comp is at the end of April and now's the time to start ramping up the practice and start testing myself, if I am going to make the most of this season.

Happy New Year 2011, and time to set new goals

Well its 2011, and now time to really look forward to the outdoor season. Having looked back at 2010, I achieved all my goals, mainly getting to MB, with some bonuses on the way.

Another feature of 2010 was despite doing well, I was still negative about my achievements. My train of thought up until now has been to never be happy with anything so that I will never stop trying. This is wrong, and only reinforces negative thoughts. I will try and focus on the positives only, and there is no reason why this will stop be from trying. If I set goals, and reach these, then I can set more to keep up the motivation.

Here are my goals for 2011:

• Win the Triple Worcester in February (my only indoor comp this year)
• Win the Surrey County Champs in July
• Gain GMB status by October
• Be selected for the Surrey County team at the Intercounties
• Win the Surrey Indoor Champs in November
• Shoot the highest score for the County team in each match I attend
• Try and win every competition event I attend
• Always complete every round and attend every shoot I apply for, and not give up when things are not going well

OK, some of these goals are very high (i.e. winning WRS comps), but at least go into each one with the attitude that I have the ability to push myself further up the leader board.

I have now got my Mathews C3, and coupled with some second hand X10's, its looking promising. I have decided that this year I am going to invest in some X10 Protour's. Having shot with Cartel Triples pretty much all my compound career, its time to see what the best money can buy can do.

Not much to say really!

Been practising a lot lately, today 90m was good, 70m was a horror show!

Been trying some 420 X10's, and they group very well. Have 7 borrowed ones to see how they go, may well buy some for next season over my usual Cartel Triples.

Also have a Mathews Conquest 3 off eBay on its way. Really looking forward to shooting a pure target bow. The Monster is great but today I shot badly @ 70m and it punished me.