The clay season may be over for many, but Leah Southall is still clocking up the miles
The first Saturday in October I travelled to Mid Wales Shooting Centre to use some of my Laporte-CPC sponsored clays. I worked on perfecting my technique and my timing ready for the competitions that I will be shooting over the winter.
I want to get some good scores in for the England selection shoots for 2020, where I will be trying to make the World Championship team.
The following day I went to shoot the first DTL Winter Series at East Yorkshire Clay Shooting Ground – which brought the mileage for the weekend up to nearly 500! The last time I shot at this ground, it was for the England selection shoots around 18 months ago. This time it rained all day, but thankfully the layouts have covers!
I shot a 100/295, which I was over the moon with, especially with the way I have been shooting this year! I placed joint 5th out of 69 overall, joint 1st in A Class, joint 1st in Juniors and 1st in Ladies.
Rob Hall has done a fantastic job with the ground, even in the short period of time in which he has owned it. It offers Sporting, Olympic Trap, DTL etc and I would definitely recommend this ground to anyone who has never shot there before.
The next weekend I decided to attend the RAF Fundraiser Weekend at Nottingham and District Gun Club. The rain was absolutely pouring down, which brought the waterproofs out of the wardrobe, but I still wanted to shoot to support the charity.
The rain was driving into people’s faces, making seeing the clays a real challenge. I was pleased to shoot a 97/288, only dropping two points in my last 50, which placed me 1st in A Class.
A week later I was heading north again, this time all the way to North of England CTC. It’s rare that I go there, as it’s a five-hour round trip from home! The last time I shot there was for the second England selection shoot back in the spring.
I was glad I’d made the trip because I shot rounds of 25/74, 25/74, 25/75 and 25/73, giving me a total score of 100/296 – one point off my personal best! I was absolutely over the moon with that score, especially with the fact that I came fourth overall.
I am now looking forward to the rest of the Winter Series at East Yorkshire Clay Shooting Ground, and the training that I will be doing in order to prepare for next season.
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