If I get a suprise release and hit what I am aiming at how am I cheating? I know the difference between making it go off and having it fire on it's own. It's a freakin back tension release, not rocket science. 10 months to get used to a release? I have had archery lessons and none of them said anything about taking 10 months to learn a release. Like I said, maybe if you only shoot once or twice a month, but if you are shooting everyday and practice correctly it shouldn't take anywhere near that long.

I think your problem is with not holding the release correctly when drawing and letting the bow down. And possibly not holding it correctly while trying to shoot it.