I wasn't going to post again on this thread, since several responses reminded me of why I and many others have decided to steer clear of clicker threads. Posting on this thread was a mistake and I didn't intend to compound it. But after several nudges, I've agreed to make one reply.
Currently, there is a widespread opinion in recurve archery that the clicker should be allowed to trigger the shot - the archer just glides through the clicker and automatically releases on the click, with a surprise release.
In my opinion, this is mistaken. I believe this mistake has two sources:
- an incomplete observation of what the top recurve archers do;
- an attempt to apply the compound technique of the "surprise release" to recurve shooting.
The top archers appear to glide through the clicker and release automatically on the click. But this just an appearance. The give-away is that those archers occasionally come through the clicker and let down if they're not happy with the shot. How could they possibly do that if they're shooting automatically on the click?
What's actually happening is that the clicker is going off and the archer is then deciding (not necessarily consciously) whether or not the shot feels right. The top archers have practiced until they know the feel of a good shot, and it's this feel that makes the archer decide. The click is a decision point, not a trigger. The clicker provides information, not instruction. At all times, the archer stays in control of the shot, even though that control may not be explicit and conscious.
If you want to get a similar level of control, you must absolutely NOT train yourself to shoot on the click. This is why I suggested a quarter-second pause after the click to check that you're happy with the shot. This pause will reduce with experience and increased ability, but it should never disappear. You should always be able to come through the clicker and let down.
Another big problem of shooting on the click is that it can disguise a tendency to flinch. It can even induce that tendency.
The surprise release is a great technique for compound shooting, but in my opinion really isn't applicable to recurve shooting.
When shooting with a release aid, nothing in the archer should change at the point of release - the archer can and should keep exactly the same muscle usage before, during and after the loose. The surprise release technique helps the archer to do this.
When releasing with fingers, a change of muscle usage is unavoidable, since the archer must relax the forearm muscles to relax the string fingers. Does the surprise release work in this case? I'd say not. I know it didn't work for me, since I found that I wasn't just relaxing the forearm muscles on the click - I was relaxing the drawing muscles and bow shoulder muscles too. This problem wasn't at all obvious to me or to observers, and took a lot of work to find. I suspect it's very widespread.
In my experience-based opinion, the recurve archer should NOT train for a surprise release, since few of us can really manage the trick of automatically relaxing just the forearm muscles while not relaxing the other muscles in response to an external stimulus. Better to keep control of the shot, feel whether or not it's right, and decide whether or not to release. With that approach, the archer is better able to continue the muscle usage of the draw while relaxing just the string forearm muscles.