After the Junior European Championships earlier this year, my coach and I decided to make some fairly significant changes to my shooting position and parts of my process. We knew that changing something which had become established was likely to affect scores in the short term, and that is what happened.
The changes came at a difficult point in the season because I still had major championships to shoot. My scores dropped while I was trying to make the new position and process feel natural, including at the Junior World Championships in Suhl. It would have been easy to go back to what I had been doing before, but we felt the changes were right for the longer term, so we continued with them.
Away from the major championships there were some good signs that things were beginning to settle. Domestically, I set a new British junior record in the Rapid Fire final, which gave me some confidence that the work was starting to come together.
The European U23 Championships in Wrocław were probably the point where I felt I was getting back on track. In the individual Rapid Fire event I finished just 0.1 of a point away from qualifying for the final. Obviously, I would rather have made the final, but after the changes we had made and the scores earlier in the season, it was encouraging to be that close again.
I also competed in the 25m Pistol Duet in Wrocław, where we set a new British record. It was another positive result from the championships and a good way to finish what had been quite a challenging period of rebuilding.
I have also competed at the Pardini Rapid Fire Cup in Suhl this year and continued to compete against both junior and senior shooters domestically. Every competition gives me something slightly different to work on, particularly as I start moving from junior competition towards U23 and senior level.
Alongside shooting, I am studying at Newcastle University, so I am balancing training and international travel with my degree.
Looking back, this year has probably been more about development than results. Changing my position and process meant accepting that my scores might drop before they improved, which is not always easy when you are competing at major championships.
The performance at the U23 Europeans, the British record in the duet and the junior final record domestically have shown that the changes are beginning to work.
My next international event is the FISU World University Championships in Taipei in October, which will be another chance to keep building on the progress from the U23 Europeans and see where the changes take me.
There is still plenty to improve, but I feel that I am heading in the right direction again.
