[Max]

OK – here’s one for you compound experts out there. I converted to compound from Recurve in December and have been doing OK. Groups getting better and loving it. Now in creeps a very strange phenomena which is crippling me and is getting worse – much worse. What I get is a totally uncontrolled wild release – so bad that I miss the boss completely at 20 yards. It is like a punch or a flinch, but is totally unstoppable and very violent. The only way I can describe it is like the nerve reflex you sometimes get in bed when suddenly your whole leg jerks in spasm. I have tried various release aids, to no avail, even stiffening the trigger and taking the trigger knob off completely.

I can’t ascribe this to target panic, (whatever that is) – I have no problem aiming or settling on the gold and can start the release motor running just fine – but every so often it is like being hit hard between the shoulders – a total surprise - I seem to have yanked the bow off my face and blown a shot wild.

Now, I don’t think I am letting the draw arm creep forward, I am putting tension into the shot by push/pull so I don’t think I am relaxing too much and the cams are snatching the sting. Is it possible this could be a totally subconscious trigger reflex and if so how do I fix it? The shots are so wild I dare not shoot at home, which rules out daily practice of any kind.

Is this a common reflex? Is it a kind of target panic, or is it something else? Anyone experienced anything similar?