While shooting, it was
almost as if someone else had control of my body.
I spent the next four weeks practicing the counting method. I got to the point where
I could hold for a three count pretty consistently from twenty yards. The problem
was that I could still feel the target panic. The urge to release was still there. The
only difference was that I was able, through sheer willpower and near daily practice,
to hold the wolves at bay until the count of three. Clearly, this was no real cure, and
I certainly couldn?t practice like this indefinitely. Eventually the excessive mental
tension of shooting this way wore me down. I gave it up and was back where I
started four weeks prior.
I learned that if I constantly worked at it, counting might be a way to temporarily
fight the overwhelming urge to shoot, but it is only a band-aid. It doesn?t really get
rid of the problem. And this just wasn?t good enough for me. I wanted a real cure?
where I could hold without mental tension and release when I wanted to.
The other hurdle to get over is shooting in pressure situations?something I hadn?t
tried (at the time).
spare