My standard competition is an exercise in debugging -- shoot some good shots, then a flier, fix what went wrong, shoot some good shots, then a flier, fix what went wrong -- repeat for the duration of the match.
Figured I would go back to an exercise Martin proposed some time ago -- logging my shot sequence. Maybe I can concentrate more on doing the shot right, and less on analyzing and fixing the fliers.
Wrote down my sequence, then went to the range to confirm it -- turns out I had a couple steps out of order -- wow -- no wonder I am inconsistent.
Anyway, have been repeating the logging and confirming for a couple of weeks, refining and expanding, ending with a personal best in a league competition.
Went to the next step -- identify some nice keywords that evoke images of all the right things -- competed again -- shot a personal worst
Went to 'pure feel' and shot very nicely.
So, do I throw out the analysis and go with pure feel?
I don't think so -- I think the analysis was incomplete -- and by concentrating on important things that I normally take for granted, I inadvertently ignored other important things that I never think about.
Next step -- identify what got ignored and add it to my list.
Eventually, my conscious knowledge of my shot will be in alignment with the best of my unconscious. I hope.
During practice, I can then try to do all the right things. During competition, I can revert to pure feel -- but it will be pure feel drawing on what I have been practicing.