Silly question, but you don't have it installed backwards do you? If you install the nose strut backwards it will bend a lot easier than if you install it correctly. The force of landing should COIL the spring, not uncoil it.

A lot of guys never do learn to really land slowly, even some instructors. Not saying that's the case here, but I've seen it.

It also depends a lot on your field. If you have a lot of tall grass and grass clumps or a bumy field, you'll bend up the gear a lot faster than you might on a well cut and rolled grass field or on pavement. Tall grass is espeically sneaky that way, you don't think much about it, but it DOES increase the forces on your landing gear quite a bit, on BOTH landing and take off.