Goal setting

I shot a Portsmouth round at Friars Gate Archers tonight and before I set out I said to myself I wanted to shoot a 570. So, I shot the round and shot a 570 dead! I did this at the FITA 18 competition at the weekend where I said I wanted to shoot 560. In the end I shot 557 and 563, so an average of 560.

I recently watched the excellent Performance Archery videos by Alistair Whittingham, and he said you should set goals and look to achieve them, and only be a few points above or below. It maybe a coincidence but it seems to work. Choose a goal that is achievable and go for it. Once you are comfortable with setting goals and they can be achieved, raise the bar a bit and try and hit it. There was a time when I did not like setting goals because I feared that I would put pressure on myself and therefore fall short. Now I can and its starting to pay off.

As for the round tonight, I shot OK, but I am still punching a few shots but it was much better and came down a lot more when the shot was not right. Some of the shots were fantastic and nailed the X. I have not shot my hinge release with the Drenalin in a round because the trigger feels right with the bow and as soon as I get the draw length sorted I will do so. I am shooting the hinge in practice because the end result does not matter.

As a final note, shooting the Drenalin is a real pleasure. The Guardian is definitely going.