That's half the battle right there. You KNOW you should let down to restart your shot sequence, but you try and force it anyway.

".....it's still there....I can still get it....just a second more..... dammit go off now already...."

Once you can consistently average in the mid 50's on a 5-spot face, the only thing keeping you from a 60X game is mental discipline and proper shot execution. You've proved you can shoot well by getting to the mid-50's. It's only those couple of bad shots the screw you over. Like you mentioned, you usually know your misses before the arrow ever gets to the target.

Once you get to a certain talent ability, spot shooting is all about the mind. One of the most nervous feelings and pressured situations you'll ever have is that last arrow for your first 60X game. You'll never forget it. Every arrow counts the same in a game of 60 arrows, but we all put more pressure on the last ones. We think that the last few arrows are the ones that really count. Which isn't really true. EVERY arrow counts. There is no more important arrow than the one you are ABOUT to shoot. Could be the 1st arrow, the 23rd, or the 60th. Miss any one of them and you don't get your perfect game. And if you do miss, let it go. Don't get all mad about it and let it influence your upcoming shots. You can't do anything about the miss once it has happened, just move forward and drop it out of your mind. If you keep thinking about your miss- other bad things will likely happen. Visualize what you WANT to happen.

There's a good book for mental management that fits in perfectly with spot shooting. It's called "With Winning In Mind" by Lanny Basham. You can get used copies off Amazon for less than $10. It's a really easy read you can do in one night, but the basic principles are something that will take lots of time to become an automatic part of your shooting. Well worth the few bucks. I think it helped me get above that mid-50's plateau.

Two years ago at the NFAA Sectionals I was clean allllll the way through my game and had only one arrow to go to make a perfect 60X game. I knew I had won the tournament (as long as I kept it in the 5-ring), and I "told" myself there was no pressure. Just put the last arrow in there and FINALLY hit a 60X game in a competition. I had done clean games in league, but never in competition tournaments. I blew it. Choked on the last arrow. [:@]

That what Lanny's book helps with. Last year I DID hit that 60X in that same tournament.

Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Set some realistic and ACHEIVABLE goals to work towards. Log your progress. Keep a shooting notebook with dates, scores, equipment changes, etc. Sounds like you're on your way!! Keep up the good shooting. Spots are addictive....