Wow…. what a year it has been for Brown Jack, where do we begin… Firstly, with thanks, to the Swindon and District League and all the clubs who make our sport what it is, the support, camaraderie and of course competition is what it is all about and we are so lucky to have that in such vast quantities in our league. From our junior to our senior members, our community would not be what it is without each one of you. As is always the way in any club we have said goodbye to a few familiar faces at Brown Jack this year and a lovely hello to several new members. We are always looking to increase our membership so if you are interested in air rifle shooting and would like to know more then please just drop us a message, we are always happy to chat. It has been a very exciting 2024/25 league season for us with open shoots, league competitions, professional coaching sessions, events hosting and our wonderful juniors who are continuing to outshoot their seniors (!) as well as pursuing their development in 10M Precision. The entire team has worked very hard to continue to achieve results and improve their ability, this has really come through this season with league wins in the 10, 6 and 3 aside, the A’s did not lose a single match all season, an achievement to be very proud of. Individually we have had so many fantastic achievements and personal bests, these are the achievements that mean the most to us as a club. Huge congratulations to each of you who have achieved this year, be it a personal best, an increase in average or a competition win, we are incredibly proud of each of you. Heres to the 2025/26 season and the excitement and competition that will bring! We wish everyone a restful and enjoyable summer period and look forward to seeing you all refreshed and ready to go in September!
We were very lucky to once again welcome back professional air rifle coach Louise Minett. I am sure you will remember Louise came along in February of this year to deliver an initial coaching session; you can read all about this here – https://brownjackarc.co.uk/index.php/2025/02/09/brown-jack-professional-coaching-day-with-louise-minett/1334/blog/uncategorised/. It was a huge success and has seen our members continue to improve their shooting ability both individually and collectively, with excellent success as a team in this year’s Swindon and District League as well as numerous individual personal bests. As a club we want to continue our development and build on the solid foundation we have. During this shooting season we have said goodbye to a few familiar faces and welcomed in some new members, two of whom joined in today’s coaching session alongside Steve G who had also joined us for the initial coaching session back in February. So, onto the task in hand…. how did we get on and more importantly had we remembered what we had been taught last time! As always, we started with a group discussion; what did we find useful/gain from our last session and what we would like to achieve from today’s session? That being decided it was once again on with the jackets and gloves and to the firing points. Starting off today’s session we each tried to recall what we had learned last time, it was definitely something to do with feet, knees, hips, elbows and a square but it took as few attempts before it all started to come flooding back, much to Louise’s relief! We spent the initial half of our coaching session working individually with Louise on ensuing our stance was solid and supportive to enable us to create a base to build our position from. After a quick break for lunch and hydration it was back to the firing points and onto rifle and clothing fitting and adjustment. This is such an integral part of shooting and can very often be overlooked but having a coach who has a very keen eye, and years of experience really did ensure we were all getting the very best support and performance from our equipment. Louise then spent the remainder of the session working on targeted individual issues, this was fantastic as we all had different areas we needed support with. After putting everything we had learned over the past 3 hours into practice it was time to let our bodies rest, after a quick recap of everything, Louise took the time to answer our questions which brought us to the end of our second coaching session. With huge thanks once again to Louise for her knowledge, insight and commitment to delivering excellent coaching, if you would like to find out more about coaching with Louise, either on an individual or group/club basis then please reach out via her website https://www.lcm400.co.uk or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100049127597638. From a tired but very happy group of air rifle enthusiasts! We are already looking forward to our next session in August.
The Brown Jack are hosting this years Swindon Open Shoot event on Sunday the 27th of April, at Supermarine Rugby Club, Swindon. This will bring together clubs from the South West, Wales and the Midlands where shooters can showcase their talent and aim for a top spot finish in their categories. The question on everyones mind is, who will be taking away the main trophy (and braging rights) this year? It’s all to play for! Entry forms and event guidelines can be found here – https://swindon177.co.uk/ (select the documents tab and then click on competition entry forms). We are very much looking forward to seeing everyone on the day, it’s fantastic to be able to bring everyone together for a day of fun, cameraderie and competition.
What a way to begin a Sunday…… This Sunday some of our Brown Jack team plus Steve G were lucky enough to receive professional coaching from Louise Minett, and what a few hours it was! Louise’s international shooting career spanned 20 years and saw her competing in air rifle, 3P and prone. She has represented Great Britian at numerous World Championships, World Cup’s and European events, winning 1 World Cup Medal, 6 Commonwealth medals and she is 10 times British Women’s Air Rifle Champion. Safe to say we were in excellent hands. If anyone would like to find out more about Louise’s career and how to book in for coaching, please have a look at her website – https://www.lcm400.co.uk/ So how did our morning go? We arrived bright and early at 9am to get our range set up, check everything over and prepare ourselves mentally, there may have been a few lingering nerves for some! Once we were all set up we had a group discussion around what we wanted to cover over the next 3 hours and how Louise would structure our time. Then it was on with the jackets and gloves and to the firing points. This is where the hard work (probably harder for Louise!) began. At the firing point we were asked to take up position and shoot as we normally would, Louise then spent time with us individually to work out centre points and correct our alignment; despite thinking we had the basics down, this was not entirely the case. Alignment was soon beginning to look better for everyone and so we started building our position, ensuing our feet, knees, hips and chest were square, allowing us to set our position correctly and find our natural point of aim. The impact this had on everyone there was amazing, if a little uncomfortable as we were changing from a position we had been used to shooting in to a position which felt quite different, but will allow our shooting to progress, which as air rifle shooters is something we all want. We had time for a quick break before it was back to the firing point, this time Louise again spent time with us individually adjusting out rifles so they fitted us correctly, we had a vast selection of different rifles between us all so it was a bit of a job! We then had a chance to pull everything we had learnt together to see how our shooting was looking. The answer was much steadier, much less forced and much more consistent! By the time it hit 1:30pm, our bodies were starting to protest at working so hard, but we were all very happy with everything we had learnt and been able to work on, it was then time for a debrief. We recapped everything we had worked through and had a chance to ask Louise any questions, she is incredibly knowledgeable, and it was fantastic to have her experience and expertise available to us, we are very grateful. We now have the chance to put everything into practice over the next few months during our remaining league season matches and competitions. Once again, a huge thank you to Louise, I think we are all very much looking forward to our next coaching session.
WOW, what an amazing day for our 3 juniors at the British Shooting Regional Event. https://britishshooting.org.uk/article/1762 Maxx, Finley and Tommy have only been shooting 10M Precision for a short period and we are all so proud of their dedication, determination and achievements. On the 9th of November we had a very early start on our trip down to Okehampton, Devon. Once we arrived the boys were able to set up their equipment, familiarise themselves with the range and introduce themselves to everyone who was attending as well as the match officials. After a safety briefing and event instructions it was time to get in some practice and ensure everyone was happy with their sighting. Then came the nerve racking part (more so for the adults!) a 40 shot qualification match to be shot over 40 minutes. Now on to the part you are all waiting for, the results! In the 10M Precision Individual Event, Maxx achieved 2nd place, Finley 3rd and Tommy 4th. In the 10M Precision Youth Team Event they collectively achieved 1st place. These are outstanding result for all 3, and throughly well deserved. This means Maxx and Finley will be competing in the 10M Precision Event at the National Finals and all 3 will be competing in the 10M Precision Youth Team, what an outstanding achievement. The National Final is being held at Chase Leisure Center, Staffordshire, on Wednesday the 5th of February 2025. Well done boys, we are all so proud of you and can’t wait to see what the future holds.
