Tomorrow is like to organise a Zoom watch where we assess a game and have a discussion about the tactics, strategies, performance etc and see if we can have a bit of a social get together. I’ll post the link tomorrow in this thread as I’m playing in a local comp right now. 7pm French time is 6pm UK time

Coming back from the PE‑IR Challenge League, I’m still buzzing. It was a fantastic event and yes, lifting the trophy as Challenge Champions certainly adds to that feeling 😎 but honestly, even without the win, the whole experience was outstanding. You spend 2 days surrounded by old friends, new faces, nice to meet @Lee Herring, and constant play on varied terrains against tough opposition. It’s the kind of environment that pushes you, teaches you, and reminds you why you play the game. Scotland sent a squad of 16 players, all brought together specifically for this tournament. Most of us had never played together before. Each team had an experienced captain, with the rest of us there to develop our skills, tactics, and confidence in a major competition setting. On paper, my team was probably the least experienced of the group. But from the first morning, we were a team. Our captain, @Malcolm McKenzie , ran a rotation system so everyone got meaningful game time and also sat out occasionally as the sub. We were encouraged to think tactically, be honest about our form, and make decisions for the good of the team, am I playing well? Should someone else take my role? Is it better if I sub out? That mindset made a huge difference. We won 9 out of 11 games, including several where we came from behind against strong opposition. I went into the competition as a shooter/middle role. By lunchtime on day one, I knew my shooting wasn’t where it needed to be for this level of competition, two boules lost from missed shots per end isn’t helpful. So I shifted into more of a pointing/middle role, and it immediately steadied my game, when asked occasionally to shoot as middle I was far more accurate and consistent and therefore was more help to the team. Mentally, I stayed strong throughout, but I do want to understand why my shooting dipped. It wasn’t catastrophic, I think I only had one truly bad shoot, but even small lapses matter at this level. That’s something I’ll reflect on and work on.

In competition when marking the jack, I sometimes accidentally move the jack only a tad I simply move it back to where it was, should I be telling the opposition?

Tonight I’m joined by @Jimmy Skog for a special Zoom training call. Jimmy has been suffering with the mental side specifically his inability to let bad shots go and his tendency to focus on the negative in his game. This causes him to abandon his trust in himself and hunt for quick fixes in the moment. Everyone is invited to join this call as I believe it will help many of you.

Newbie here! Scoreboard ideas? Something portable, of course. Pictures of what you guys use?