Managed a silver medal over the weekend. Shot 688/87 for the double 50m Saturday which gave me 4th place for the day, just 1 point off the guys in joint 2nd and 3rd. Then shot a 1357 for the 1440 on Sunday to claw my way up to 2nd for the weekend. Conditions were excellent for shooting, so a tad disappointed with the scores but, for whatever reason, nobody shot anything really good apart from Adam Shaw's 696 at 50m Saturday which helped him to the overall win. Regardless of the scores, it was a fun weekend amongst good company :-) |
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Well, a decent finish to the 2017 season saw me get 7th place in the UK rankings. A few places down from the previous year, but a decent showing I think.
This year started well with training at Eaton Manor over the winter - shot a 701 indoors at 50m. First two competitions of the season didn't go too well though with some new equipment to get familiar with and some form issues which must have developed over the winter months. My last outing was a double 50m shoot at Cleve and I seem to have sorted both equipment and form out. I shot two 690 scores with the second 690 coming in a tricky breeze in the afternoon session. I took the win and some much needed confidence in my form. Looking forward to the coming challenges. A good couple of weeks archery. Great fun at the Oxford mixed team event with Pauline. Managed to win bronze in the double 50m and had great fun in the mixed team head to head matches with my teammate. Then travelled up to Meriden near Coventry for their double 1440 competition and managed to grab a silver medal. I've figured out some fundamental form issues I've been having and it looks like the changes I've implemented are starting to pay dividends - just need to hone them such that they're second nature during my shot. Optimistic for a good finish to the outdoor season!
Wow, was this weekend a windfest! Both days at Rivernook beat us up mentally & physically. 4th Saturday, alcohol & a Lebanese, then repeat Sunday. Managed a win Sunday by 1 point (which is crazy given the hurricane we shot in!) from Tom and Daniel. Exhausted now, but a great weekend and lots of laughs with the guys.
Windy, hot, cold & exhausting weekend at the UK Masters this weekend. Good day Saturday put me in joint 1st with fellow Team DIY member Daniel Tompkins. Unfortunately I couldn't hit the proverbial barn door early Sunday and it was way too late by the time I got my act together and all I could do was watch Daniel & Tom Duncan disappear into the Lilleshall sunset. Really, really pleased to have managed 3rd place overall though with the pack snapping at my heels. Full credit to Dan & Tom who both shot awesomely in a difficult wind and they were way ahead of the field by day close. Great result for Richard Kerr too who secured 21st place in his first Masters as a compound - brilliant mate. The usual suspects made the weekend a socially great event too - cheers guys 👍
Well, that's the 2016 outdoor season done & dusted and it was a fine season for many reasons. My final UK ranking was joint 4th, which is my highest ranking to date and means I've ranked in the top 10 for the last 4 years. This season the top rankings were so so tight and everything was to play for with the last few competitions of the year. I've also been invited onto the GB senior compound squad for 2017 which I'm thrilled about. I must say too that this year in particular we've had a great social side to the competitions and great camaraderie amongst the guys which has made the effort to travel and spend time away from home much less of a downside to the packed summer calendar. Lots of work to be done over the winter in preparation for the next outdoor season and I'm probably going to limit my indoor shooting to ensure I pack in as much outdoor training as possible between the wind & rain! A huge thank you to family, friends and sponsors without whom my archery life and achievements wouldn't exist - I'm really grateful guys :-)
Well, a successful but exhausting weekend at the New Forest. Ventured into another county's championship weekend and brought home the silver medal on both days.
Day 1 was the 50m and head to heads. I qualified 1st with 683 on a quite blustery qualifying session. Then got through to the gold medal match and came second by 1 point. Day 2 was a 1440. Again, a bit blowy but warm. 90m seemed like it should be okay, but some ends were very difficult with incomprehensibly wayward shots. Then it dawned on us that at around 70m there was a large gap in a row of trees and the wind was catching the arrows just as they were losing energy. So 90m resulted in a rather disappointing 321, followed by better scores of 346 for 70m, 343 for 50m and 358 for 30m to give me a total of 1368 and 2nd overall for the day. With hindsight perhaps this wasn't the best venue to have been at for the weekend, with many of the guys shooting great scores at the Bowmen of the Glen shoot and pushing up their ranking points whereas we struggled in Hampshire and I couldn't add anything to my ranking total. Still, a fun shoot and good evening's entertainment at some local pubs with my archery buddies. Overall an enjoyable archery weekend in the beautiful New Forest. Epic battle for the compound gold at Meriden over the weekend. Had a strong day in the monsoon that was Saturday and shot 1385 to have a lead going into Sunday. Then Adam Shaw came back Sunday with an excellent 1389 whilst I struggled a little in the afternoon to finally post 1376 and take silver behind Adam by 1 point after 2 days of shooting! Lost count how many times recently that we've had such close encounters and full congrats to Adam as he genuinely won it rather than me losing it, as I can't complain with the two scores I posted. Looking forward to the next match mate!
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September 2017
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