In compound bow archery you use a trigger release to fire the arrow.

Although the trigger is released by the thumb barrel the correct motion is to use back pressure to fire, rather than squeezing your thumb. I tend to squeeze my thumb, trying to time when my sight is right on the bullseye. This technique can only get you so far, and it leaves you prone to target panic. Target panic is a response where you (unconsciously) rush a shot because you see you are lined up for a bullseye, but it’s caused by unintentionally panicking with a reaction that is neither controlled nor steady. It makes for a bad shot.

When you don’t have target panic, the shot feels good, and while it won’t be perfect, it can be consistent. However, you reach a plateau where you just can’t get much better being trigger happy rather than having good technique.

So I’m in the process of trying to stop using thumb pressure and start using back tension. That is, using a pulling back motion to apply pressure on the thumb trigger. A couple days ago I ended up shooting the worst two rounds I’ve shot in over a year. I’m trying to undo, or unlearn, what I’ve been doing for a long time, and it really sucks. But I’ve got to accept some poor scores while I rid myself of this bad habit. I have to trust my aim and not rush to time my shot while my site drifts past the bullseye. I need to unlearn a bad habit which is much harder than learning it right in the first place.