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.

Mixed night of shooting

Shot another Portsmouth round tonight, and finished on 577. A little disappointing, and I some how managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. After a poor start (113), I went on the rampage and shot 119 and 117. A shaky 115 still left a 580+ on if I had a strong last dozen. I ended up on 113.

I only had 3 arrows all night out of the outer ten ring. Many of them stuck in no-mans land between the inner and out ten.

However, I had some really good positive shots, and I tried to pay attention to the front shoulder position, and I feel I shot better than the score.

Damn those pesky 4's!

Shot at Nonsuch Bowmen tonight, and shot a Worcester round. I had a pretty clean round, nothing too close to the edge of the white, some nice groups, other than one crappy shot that was a big fat 4! Ended on 299/300.

Looking back it was a bit of alignment and hand position. Oh well, shot some great shots and had some awesome groups so not a wasted evening.

Will be looking to improve my front shoulder position which maybe I have neglected a bit, which will help with alignment issues. I will work on that Wednesday nights Portsmouth round.

Arundown Triple Worcester 2011

Today I shot all three sessions at Arundown and scored 298, 299 and the magic 300.

The first session wasn't great with a slow start. The second session I really started to motor and was putting in some really powerful shots. The alignment and positive trigger pre-load was becoming as it should be.

The third session was excellent. Really strong shots, and towards the end of the day I felt like I really could not miss. Even the last 5 arrows where I knew I could get the 300 for the first time ever, I just shot one arrow at a time. I knew all I had to do was align, pre-load, and the shot would drill into the middle, and it did. No nerves to get in the way as I was so confident in my shot routine and technique. Really pleased.

I beat my previous triple county record which is now at 897/900. I equalled the current county double round score of 597/600.

This was as much a mental as well as technical battle, and I feel I have made one step upwards.

Season PB and some positive shooting

Shot a 581 Portsmouth tonight, and was pleased with the positive shooting, particularly with the pre-load on the trigger. Whilst I had a slow start (114/114 dozens), I once again finished the round strongly, shooting 117/119 dozens, and got better as the round progressed. This is a season PB and just a few off my all time PB.

This has been a feature of my indoor shooting so far this year. I just need to get out of the blocks quicker to really rack up the points.

Now that I have had a run of indoor rounds with scoring and putting myself under pressure (in a good way), I can feel the competitive edge coming back. Now looking forward to taking this into the Worcester competition on Sunday.