"One of the difficulties that arises from the clicker is that when it's used, it is immediately entered as a part of the first rule of drawing....ie. Let's get through that clicker."
Paul, it seems we think the same way.
This may sound daft, but I sometimes think archers would get on better with their clickers if they didn't know they had one. Imagine the archer being told, " You just shoot as normal, but if you hear a click, just let the string off your fingers."
We once introduced the clicker to a group of archers having coaching that followed their beginners course. Some did not have a clicker to fit to their bows on the first day. I told them to shoot as normal, but to continue the aim and draw until I clicked my fingers. It worked a treat!
I think the reason was, they had no reason to draw to any fixed point. There was no expectations that they would have to REACH a pre determined draw length. If they drew to their normal references and aimed and continued to draw; as opposed to stopping or collapsing; they heard a click and off went the arrow.
Yes, I know it was a fake in a way because they were not the producers of the clicks. The point I'm trying to make is that they had no need to get hesitant as the clicker drew close. It was agreed that I would make the click before they had over drawn. It was also agreed that if they collapsed I would tell them and they would abort the shot and start again.
If their draw length varied, it did not matter; I was only reacting to them reaching references and aiming and continuing to draw and aim. It removed from the equation one of the problems experienced by those new to clickers; that of it going too soon or too late.
The fact that they had a click, so long as they stuck to their plan, gave them the chance to relax and enjoy the success. Because they were relaxed, they learnt what they were supposed to learn rather than learning to get tense.
( I know that proper coaching would avoid the tension in the first place, but I'm talking of archers who were not getting ideal coaching. Their form had already started to drift into bad habits. They had coaching once a week and most had no opportunity to shoot between sessions. We did what we could in the limited time available.)
A week later, when they had fitted their own clickers, they did what they had done in the previous session. They drew to their references, aimed, continued to draw and off went the clickers. Because of the work they had done the week before, they were quite prepared to draw much further than they actually needed to. To them, the clicker seemed to be going earlier than normal, but not so early that they were unsettled. Most agreed that it was easier with their own clicker than with my clicking fingers.