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 :-)
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After a frustrating night of trying to train indoors, I've decided to turn my focus to the upcoming outdoor season and fully concentrate my training on outdoor target distances and ramp things up both in terms of archery training and physical training. So, the Winter off-season is now officially over for me and it's time to knuckle down to some hard work! To kick things off I managed to get out in the garden today and shoot 12 dozen arrows at 40 metres. I was trying out a slightly different release technique to my normal one and bagged my first 12-gold 40 metre end of the season and may well stick with the new technique if things can continue like this. A 30 minute bike ride and I feel like some training momentum has now kicked in....
Based on my 2013 performances, I've been invited to join the GB Senior Compound Squad for 2014. Having very gratefully accepted the offer, I'm really looking forward to representing GB in 2014 and building on the work I've put in over the 2013 season. A couple of squad training weekends early in the year should mean a running start to the outdoor season. 2013 UK target rankings have just been published - I came joint 7th with Andy Rikunenko. Very happy with that as I was targeting the top 10 having ranked 13th last year but I was aware that some guys were putting in some very good scores during the season, so 7th was a very pleasant surprise and makes all those wet & windy days spent competing this season all worthwhile! It's also a great motivator to continue hard training over the winter months and come out running on all cylinders when the 2014 outdoor season begins.
Well, not a red-letter weekend by any stretch of the imagination - a very mediocre performance. A very hot weekend with a tricky changeable breeze on Sunday, but still good enough to put in some good scores. Scored 670 & 665 at 50m and was knocked out in my first H2H each day after an initial bye. I was really confused by how things worked out because I felt I was shooting well on the Sunday, but if I didn't get off a perfect shot then I was being really punished with wayward arrows. Spent Tuesday tuning the bow and discovered my nocking point was way out and also the cam timing. Then shot at 40m in the garden (photo) and everything was feeling great again and hitting where I expected. So, they say you learn more from poor performances than good ones - I've learnt to check my equipment thoroughly before any competition. Not sure how things got so out of tune, so I've measured everything and am going to keep a close eye on things now. Glorious summer's afternoon in Wiltshire. I was persuaded to take the afternoon off by Richard Kerr and we shot a York round at the field. In almost ideal conditions with a slight breeze I shot a pb to finish with 1266 and match the GWAS record - just need to do it in a competition now! Got home and went for a 3 mile run as it was such a nice evening. Alll in all a good very good afternoon's training.
Garage gym/range Well, training is not the pleasure it was this time last year! Very taxing conditions outdoors at the moment with the cold, cross winds and -6C wind chill. Getting out occasionally but finding it easier to shoot, run, cycle & do weights in the comfort (4 degrees C comfort) of my garage. 7 metres range isn't ideal but it allows me to work on technique and endurance without fighting the elements which can have an adverse affect on shooting technique if battled with for too long. Outdoor season starts soon so aiming to hit the ground running. Considering looking at periodisation as a training technique - low/medium/high intensity weeks. This feels like a high intensity week! So, roll on seasonal average temperatures please... |
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