First real low and some lessons learnt

I shot another practice FITA this weekend in preparation for next weekend's FITA Star. It was a little windy and I knew shooting the hinge would cause some mis-aimed shots.

However, I allowed the breeze to affect the shot too much; becoming tense whilst I fought the dot into the middle which made things worse and I really did not shoot as well as I could, and should.

In the end I put in 1330 (313/339/329/349). The 70m distance was pretty good, as was 90m considering, but 50m and especially 30m was not well shot. I forgot the basic principles of shooting.

In fact I was so unhappy with 30m I shot a dozen @ 30m again, this time really applying myself, and put in 120. It proves that regardless of the weather, being relaxed but strong in the shot will return a good score.

However in hindsight this was a good lesson. It proves that even when I really do not shoot my best, and the weather is not great, I can still shoot a solid MB level score. However I am lacking a bit of confidence and need a good solid FITA Star to settle any doubts that I can shoot good scores with the hinge under competition pressures. Lets hope for good weather this weekend.

Practice FITA

Shot a 1359 (324/337/343/355) FITA in practice today. Was nervous, stupid really in practice, but I guess its the anticipation of shooting so well with the hinge recently I am getting ahead of myself. I didn't shoot that well, far too much tension but when I did force myself to relax the shots were great.

50m was brilliant, putting in a practice PB of 343; shot when relaxed and letting the dot float around the gold. This distance has really improved for me over the last 6 months, and has been really strong.

The Surrey Champs are this weekend. I have two days before hand to practice and get together my form. I know if I shoot my best, and am not nervous I can put in a big score. Even today, with nerves and not so good form I can still shoot a good score, so I have nothing to be nervous about! All I need to think about is the 1350 I shot at the UK Masters and draw on that confidence.

UK Masters practice video

Just a short video of me practising the day before the UK Masters on the range at Lilleshall.

A windy day but a well shot York

Had a club trophy shoot today, shot a York and put in 1244. Down range was very very windy, but the shooting line was quite calm for some reason.

Had a plan, tried to execute each shot as a single arrow, and generally shot well. Just need to take that into this weeks York/FITA at Middlesex. Stick to the plan, and most will land in the middle.

I feel very strong at the moment, and have the basis of a good technique for this season. I just need to have confidence in that technique and my system.

New arrows, my first field shoot and some PB's

Been a little while since I posted, so a quick update.

I shot my first ever field shoot at Friars Gate Archers, shooting a Foresters round. I had some practice a few days before (am some a few weeks before that) with some distance estimation. I shot a respectable 810 points, didn't come last! Distance estimating is a really hard skill. I got it right on most, but badly wrong on others.

However I have got to say I really enjoyed it and will definitely do some more field once the target season is done and dusted.

I have also got hold of some Easton Carbon One arrows, 450 spine. I got these as a backup and straw target alternative to my Protours. I have to say they are a really very good arrow for little over £100 all in. I shot these at the field shoot and was very pleased with them. I have also since shot two new practice PB's with them; 679 70m and 359, 3 dozen @ 30m.

I am now working hard to get ready for the Middlesex County Champs (York), SCAS FITA Star and the UK Masters. Overall I feel my best form is coming back week by week. My shot execution is OK, and the C3 is shooting well (have since got a new C4 though!).

Mixed weekend of shooting

Last weekend I spent time at two clubs, with the hope that getting out from the comfort of my own range would help with competition preparation. It was a very useful exercise. On Saturday I shot at Swan Archers, and attempted a York (which I abandoned after 100 yards on 584 points).

Lesson number one, trust your bubble. I levelled up the bow with the slope, not looking at the bubble and promptly sent several arrows off to the left.

Lesson number two, bloody keep pulling! Some of ends were very poor, so pre-occupied getting to grips with the new surroundings I forgot to shoot properly. Other than that, the good ends were fantastic, but I must keep my focus and discipline.

Lesson number three, when the sight marks are wildly out check the nocking point. The serving had separated and slipped. Consequently at all distances my sight marks were junked. I must check the basics when things go wrong.

On Sunday I shot at Worthing Archery Club, and shot the new 50m FITA compound round, and put in a respectable 663. This was despite some sloppy (again!) ends and a 5 when a fletching came off.

At the moment my focus is poor. I have the ability and the technique, I don't have the mental game sorted at all. I really need to get this nailed. I am hoping that once the real comps start this will be the boost and motivation I need. I am not too worried yet, there is plenty of the year left.

Its coming together bit by bit

Shot yet another Portsmouth tonight, and I followed on from Sunday, ensuring that I got the alignment correct and maintained the back tension, and put in a 580.

Still some sloppy shots, but these are easily avoidable and just need to find the consistency again, but its coming together slowly.

Re-occurring theme...

Again, a Portsmouth round shot, some good ends, some sloppy ones, ended on 577.

I had increased my draw length by about 1/6" and this bought my alignment in, but I am losing back tension on some shots and collapsing.

However, looking at the positives, my trigger pressure was good and positive for most of the evening, which resulted in some great shots.

Got to work on consistency. The SCAS indoor championships are on Sunday, and is another chance to work on ironing out my current form issues.

I have also booked a coaching session with Liam Grimwood for a couple of weeks time, and am looking forward to this, as I think this will give me some much needed direction and focus.

A bit of a low

Shot a 574 Portsmouth Wednesday night, started so badly, its a wonder I made it over 570. Put in a miserable 111 dozen to start. Was then followed by some reasonable dozens, but I shot badly and my confidence is a bit shot as well.

Really need a pick-me-up. Thinking of getting some coaching again to refocus and get myself back on track.

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.

Not so good...

Last Wednesday evening I shot a Stafford round indoors. I didn't shoot well, struggling with the distance under indoor light. My form was wrong and spent too long trying to wrestle the bow into the middle.

I finished on 678 (a county record - although I am not going to claim it). If it were two back to back FITA 30m distances, it would have been 355 and 356.

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.

Practice update and things to work on

Have shot an indoor Portsmouth for the second time this indoor season, and put in a 579. It was OK, but got stuck with repeated 10,10,9 sequences and could not find the level of consistency to get over the 580 mark. However, like the FITA 18 round the previous week, I finished strongly, with really good, positive trigger usage.

Shot a little on Saturday morning, but again the weather was freezing, and my hands froze after each end. I decided to practice a 3 doz @ 30m, and put in a tidy 357, one off my practice PB, so was pleased considering my hand were like blocks of ice. Again, the very best shots were those where I was positive with the pre-load on the trigger, and allowing the scope to float around the gold without trying to over aim.

Later in the week I will be shooting another Portsmouth round, and hope to get my first 580+ for this years indoor season. Next weekend I have the traditional trip down to the south-coast for the Arundown Triple Worcester. I normally do well in this, but the competition this year is going to be fierce, but I am really looking forward to the challenge, and will look to be mentally strong and shoot without fear.

So my goal over the coming weeks is to remain strong and positive throughout the shot, and not try and control the shot or wrestle the dot in the X ring. Relax, let it float!

Relax and try not to think!

Shot a FITA 18 for the first time in a while on Wednesday night. I had high hopes of a good score, and wanted to hit a 575. However, the indoor range was freezing and I could not relax and remove the tension in my bow arm. It was only the last dozen that I forced myself to relax that I shot well, and put in a 117 dozen, to finish on an average 565.

The positive from this was that when relaxed, this has a direct correlation to shooting well.

Today I shot some 90m outdoors, and again, I was cold, damp and generally fed-up of the crappy weather at the moment. I had the worse practice 90m for a long time, shooting two 306 and 310, 3 dozen practice ends. I normally hit 320+ almost every time.

Any positives? Yes, had some great shots, but some strange ones as well, where the shots felt on the money but ended up in the red. There was a variable wind down range so maybe this was the reason. But generally I think my shot sequence slowed down causing tensions and bad shots.

A day to forget and look forward to the next indoor session.

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.

New sight and practice PB

Got my new CBE sight sorted out and on my Monster. Its really solid and looks the business. Need to get the 1st/2nd/3rd Axes sorted out.

Shot a lot of arrows at the weekend. Shot a timed 3 doz @ 30m and put in a paltry 353. Was not happy so did at again, this time 358.

Discovered that due to the heavier sight, the bow was dragging down a bit, so a small amount of extra weight will be needed on the backrod to get the balance back.

Pics of the new sight to be posted soon!

String suppressors - remove and improve your score!

I was given some advice (thanks Ben) about removing the string suppressor off my Monster. I got it second hand and the suppressor came with it, and had been shooting OK with it so never bothered trying without it.

Tried this morning, and after shooting some ends, it looked like the groups had come in a bit. So I shot a timed, 3 doz @ 70m, and stuck in 347 (59/57/59/56/58/58), about 8/9 points over my usual practice scores at this distance, therefore a practice PB.

Apparently these things can affect arrow flight, certainly more than I ever expected.

I also gained some sight mark as well, and no arm slappage which is what I was expecting.

The down side is that there was much more vibration, mainly my knackered old Sureloc rattling away (new sight this week though!).

I wish I had more time...

Despite being very busy of late, I have managed to steal some time to shoot. Wednesday evenings I shoot at Friars Gate Archers, and my form indoors has been really good. I am not scoring but shooting at a single spot to mimic outdoors.

I got some time to go outdoors today and shot about 70 arrows @ 100yards. Despite a couple a stray ones, more form is still good. If I had the means to shoot a lot more I could really do something, but other things are getting in the way.

What is pleasing is that I have not lost the skill level that took me to MB and almost GMB this year, its just the consistency level has suffered a little bit. That is just something that more practice will bring back, nowt to worry about at the moment.

Hopefully soon I can really get back into it and get ready for next year.

Cant wait to get back into it...

Not much to say, not shot that much in the last few weeks. Preparing to move house lately, but once that is out the way then I want to start ramping up the practice.

The last months low key practice has been OK, had some great shots but consistency is lacking a bit, but that is to be expected. Last Sunday had some awesome shots followed by some poor ones.

I am starting to look at how I want to tackle next year already. I have already decided to shoot only FITA and Yorks (no 720's or H2H's), and I want to really prepare and be ready for the UK Masters in June. Don't want to be last!!!

Practice after my holidays

Last week I came back from a two week break (to Scotland and watch the Archery World Cup), and have managed to steal some time to shoot some arrows.

The day I came back I shot 30 arrows in a terrible wind, but was happy to just pick up a bow again.

Today, I intended to shoot a full York, but time meant I could only shoot 6 doz @ 100 yards. Its was again a horrible day with driving rain and wind, but finished with a 594. Not bad considering the weather, but about 20 points down from my usual practice distance score. Some ends not too good, but some really great ends, and gave me good encouragement that I have not lost it whilst being away!

With more practice and better weather, then I will be back to where I was a few months ago.