Seeking advice for breaking bad habits

[fnshtr]

I video myself shooting quite often because it helps me see mistakes I am making, mistakes I don’t “feel”. When I concentrate on correcting one, a different one pops up.

A few of my mistakes include; moving my bow hand fingers, then “grabbing the bow” at release; drawing past my anchor, then settling back into it (this causes a disengagement of back tension... creep/collapse); and raising of my bow arm shoulder (especially after shooting awhile... fatigue).

As I said, I can correct these when concentrating on each one during my shot process, but as soon as I “relax”, I revert to the bad habits. Most times I revert to the bad habit, I’m not even aware of what I’m doing wrong.

I suppose I’ve developed these over such a long time, they have become “natural”.

Any suggestions for particular types of practice or ways to break the bad habits and replace them with good ones?

Thanks.

[Jim Casto Jr]

My only suggestion would be, repetition with cognitive awareness. I’ve done things wrong so long; I doubt I’ll ever be able to turn any aspect of my shot over the subconscious.  So… I just keep plugging along, concentrating on every aspect of my shot sequence along the way.

[McDave]

What you report is the inevitable result of not appreciating the amount of effort it takes to break a bad habit. To break any bad habit, to the extent you can rely on yourself to do the right thing without thinking about it, requires a MINIMUM of 60 days focusing on doing it correctly. If you lose focus during the 60 days and accidentally do it incorrectly, you probably have to add multiple days shooting correctly to the 60 to make up for it. Non shooting days don’t count on the 60.  If it’s a hard habit to break, like quitting smoking, it will probably take more than 60 days. OTOH, when you’re trying to quit smoking, ALL days are “shooting” days.   

You said that you can stop doing the things you want to change if you focus on them. The question is, can you focus on them every shooting day for 60 days?

[fnshtr]

Thanks for the responses.

When I go through my shot process, I can get each position right, but as I move to the next position, I sometimes “lose control” of a previous position. (Hope that made sense.)

I finish up indoor league next week and plan to begin Jim’s target panic program.

I’m assuming I have a form of the panic, as it is definitely a “loss of shot control”. Not an uncontrollable urge to release, but a loss of one or more correct parts of the shot process.

My wife takes piano lessons, and her teacher said “if you play a piece wrong once, you have to play it right 9 times to overcome the mistake”.

Frustrating to say the least. Thanks again.

[McDave]

If you want to change a habit, you have to keep that in the front of your mind until the conclusion of the shot. That might not be a desirable thing to do overall, but you still have to do it until you change the habit. Fortunately, when you begin Jim’s program, you will have a number of days where you draw and don’t shoot, which may help you to focus on the things you want to change.

[Wolftrail]

 Jim Casto Jr quote,    "My only suggestion would be, repetition with cognitive awareness."
I'm with you on that one.  For me its the consistency factor.  I have been like that in any sport I pursued weather it was tennis, billiards, baseball and of course Archery.  Some days my grouping is 6-8" from 20 yards other days it's a pathetic 20".  And no matter how long I practice on those off days I cant get out of the rut. ..
I just keep re-reading articles on shooting tips in Traditional Bow Hunter over and over again until I remember all the finer points.  It works for me.

[PrimitivePete]

I would focus on working on a single issue at each shooting session, rather than trying to fix the whole package at one shot. I used to pull straight back into anchor, found that was inconsistent so I switched to a rotation draw and while it's part of my routine now and I don't think about it, it took many days on the line to reinforce it. It takes time to undo the damage  but it's well worth it.
For fatigue I recommend a lighter bow where you can increase the time you take to complete your shot routine without having negative affects, the more reps you can do with a lighter bow should help the muscle memory and help give the workout you need to shoot a heavier bow. I would choose a bow weight where you really don't notice the weight.

[fnshtr]

Thanks for all the advice. I think Pete is right in that I need to work on one problem at a time.

Appreciate everyone's comments/advice.