By her own admission, the 2014 Commonwealth Games was not one of the finest hours of Amber Hill's shooting career.

But back to winning ways, and with a place for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio safely in the bag, she concedes it’s the tougher moments that make her stronger.

Winner of the 2013 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Award, expectations surrounding the country’s youngest skeet World Cup gold medallist Amber Hill were high going into the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

However things did not go according to plan, with the normally sharp shooter failing to make the final in Glasgow.

It was a painful experience but one which Hill can now look back on as being part of a valuable learning curve.

A new approach to competing was adopted and the rewards were soon forthcoming with Hill beating world number one Diana Bacosi on a sudden death shootout to claim gold at the inaugural European Games in Baku this summer.

“In Baku I was able to have my coach there and talk to the other athletes as well who I could talk to about their similar experiences and relate them,” explained Hill.

“Last year at Glasgow, I was away from home for three weeks and I didn’t have my coach or any family around me and that was the first time that I did actually find it really tough to know that I wasn’t in a good place with my shooting and I didn’t feel confident going into the competition.

“Training was going well, we did everything we possibly could going into the competition but just being away from the people who would normally be there to support me was quite difficult.

“But I think I have learned so much from that and I wanted to change that in Baku.”

Hill’s success in Baku earned Great Britain a quota place for next year’s Olympics, with her selection confirmed this week after she was named as part of a six-strong shooting team for Rio.

And the 18-year-old admits she will be drawing on all of her previous experiences when she takes to the range in Brazil.

“I one hundred per cent hope the disappointment from Glasgow will help me in Rio. Whether it is a good day or a bad day, you have to try to take the positives from it,” she added.

“I wanted to learn from the bad days and what I found hard in Glasgow and put it into my performances in Baku and I think learning from that really did help me.

“I am constantly learning and getting new experiences.

“You have to be tough on yourself but you have to take what you could have done better and work on it. That is how I go about my training.”

© Sportsbeat 2015