- Slow progress being made
I've done a little shooting over the last two weeks as I've had flu for the last week. Before the flu struck, I was gradually progressing on making the groups smaller due to altering the drawing motion of the shot which I think has made the anchor point more consistent. When I next practice I will continue to work on this.
- A quiet week
I've only shot once in the last week, but what a great session it was. The aim of the session was to confirm what I had found at the end of the previous practice regarding the drawing shoulder. This was duly confirmed so now the only problem is to get the vertical pattern to the same standard as the horizontal pattern (about 2-3 metric zones). Altering what the drawing shoulder is doing has quietened down the shot reaction alot so the horizontal pattern is as tight as I've ever known it, and consistently so. The vertical patterning is believed to be caused by having the string too lightly anchored on the nose and jaw. The next practice will be about working on this.
- Progress being made
I've had a good week working on various aspects of the draw and the results have been good. Two things have been worked on - first, by aiming left of the gold prior to the draw, and then coming into line during the draw, the lefts have disappeared. Second, by pushing the drawing shoulder down as far as it will go comfortably, then the vertical pattern more than halves.
- The road to Louisville starts here
I've done some shooting at 20y this week and except for tiredness today the other times I've shot, I've shot really well. This raises the question of whether my championship performances are affected by choking. Some mental training will be required as well as the shooting practice. I will also need to look at how effectively I train. Today I was just not with it at all and it was really a waste of time. I need to be better motivated and have a clear idea of what I want each training session to achieve.
- SILVER - WIAC 2011
A horror finish (losing a four point lead with two ends to go), and an act of sportsmanship combined with some below par shooting were all enough to mean I finished only three points behind the new world indoor champion in the Worlds in Pretoria.I'm beginning to wonder if I have a choking problem when shooting indoors competitions. This is the fourth time this year I've done a shoot and once again I've shot much worse in it then the form I had going into it. As with Angmering, the English Champs, the European Champs and now the World Champs, scores were well down on what I expected myself to get.Despite that, an act of sportsmanship on the second day proved costly. The champion, Shaun Anderson, shot an arrow prior to the buzzer going off. It went in the five zone, but as it was an ac
- Final practice goes well
I've done quite a bit of shooting at 20y over the last week and put in two more Worcester rounds of 287 and then 288. If I can shoot at this level next week then I'll be very happy. The next time I shoot it will be Sunday, a practice day. Monday is another practice day, with the competition beginning on Tuesday. The only prediction I will make is that I will score higher than at the Euros. This is really about putting that one to bed.
- 295 - form found at last
After two weeks of really struggling at times especially in the windy weather, I finally found what I was looking for and shot a 295 for the Worcester, my best score at that for nearly 12 months. Naturally, I'm pretty happy to have found the right combination to get a score like that. Now the challenge is to stick with it as it should win the Worlds if I can do that in South Africa.Tomorrow, it is the re-run of the club championships and the forecast is better than it was three weeks ago. The priority for me there is the handicap head-to-head which I've had three near misses at. I also need to check the sight repair works after the scope fell off earlier this week.
- A quiet week
With all the bad weather around I've only shot once this week at 20y and it went well after a not great first three ends. If I can repeat what I've been doing for the last three months and again in this week's practice in South Africa I'll be happy with that.
- Bad weather wrecks Club Championships
One fine week of fine weather, then on the day of the Club Championships where I wanted to win the handicap head-to-head competition, the rain came down and stopped the whole thing after 30 arrows of the 70m round. I was going well at the time and feeling confident for the afternoon competition. I will have to see if I can make the re-scheduled championships.The rest of the week saw me continuing to iron out things but the main problem was that I was mis-handling the bow due to a high anchor point relative to my shoulder and failing to lock up the drawing shoulder. These got fixed when the weather eventually dried up this afternoon after everyone else had left so today wasn't a total disaster.
- Fine tuning technical points
Another week disrupted by the weather but shooting has gone well. With less than five weeks until I fly to South Africa, it is now a case of fine tuning a few technical points of my shooting. These include stopping any flying off from the drawing hand after loose, remembering to keep the bow shoulder scapula right down, and generally keeping focussed on what I'm doing. It's all coming together nicely.
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