Target panic

[BT]

Anyone ever suffered from target panic

If you don't know what it is you can thank your stars because it can really ruin your game

It can be experienced in alot of different ways with the majority of problems being related to snap shooting or failure to release.

I have it from time to time but it only lasts for a dozen shots or so.
Some cases can last for months or even years and it destroys accuracy

I remember one man at our club who shot for perhaps the last 20 yrs. of his life under the pressure of target panic.
It was painful to watch but during that time he did arrow the biggest buck in club history.

It's a little like buck fever for some people where it is nearly imposable to get on target , as if the bulls eye and sight pin were polar opposites that can not be held solidly together.

If anyone has gone through this I think it would be beneficial to explain what you experienced and also what you did to over come it.

It will likely happen to everyone at some point so when it happens...That information is going to help alot to overcome it quickly.
(hopefully)

[smj]

A pal of mine suffers from target panic a lot. As this is my hunting partner, I am trying to help him figure it out.

I have found a book that may offer the best insight to this problem to date - "Instinctive Archery Insights" by Jay Kidwell. The second edition, or revised edition, claims to offer the means to cure target panic... I thought that a rather large statement to make. However, after reading through about half the book, I am impressed. I'll get this over to my buddy, if it cures him it will cure anyone! (He was going to change over to rifle hunting because of this issue!) It is 127 pages, easy to read and understand. It seems a bit simplistic at first, but I can find no fault in it yet.

[BT]

SMJ....Whats the jest of the therory?

[elk4me]

Sounds like an intresting book I found it on amazon .com and 3 rivers archery. IMO it will be worth checking out ,thanks for the tip

[vonottoexperience]

I suffer from it in both Compound and Traditional archery. The compound side dosent effect me that much but I have to fight the sight pin some times. What I do know is to wait a little then drift the pin back on target. The hardest thing is not to shoot till I get back on. With the Traditional gear I had it so bad, the harder I tried the worse it got till I could not hit the broad side of a barn. I think this came about by shooting to much and to long. I stopped altogether for some time. I started again in my basement standing 10 feet from the bag and closing my eyes. I would draw back and release about 20 shots a session, just feeling the release and achor point. this has helped and Im back in action! but I have to do it from time to time If I feel it comming back. Hope this helps.

[buffalocounty32]

I got a bad case of target panic just before deer season...I would find myself "swinging through" the target instead of letting my pin float on it.
I have noticed a big cause of target panic is when the shooter tries to put a dead lock on the target instead of letting his/herpin float around the target and subconsioulsy squeezing the trigger. reason is that when you try to stay lcoked on the target you get very tense becuase you put all your muscle into trying to hold the pin still. once that happens you try to jerk on to the x..which causes inconsitency and form problems.
I got over it by shooting at blank bales...I stand about 5 yards away and close my eyes, draw anchor and concentrate solely on my form and follow through..doesnt matter at all where the arrow hits, just get my form back up to par, after about 50 arrows I was back to normal...this is the method that has worked for me...and has worked for a quite a few other guys I have had try it

[flatbowMB]

I think one of the biggest exacerbators of target panic when using trad equipment is being overbowed. As a result the archer can't confidently hold anchored at full draw for any length of time and lets the arrow fly as soon as he thinks he's on target.

Try a shooting session where on every single shot where once you are at full draw you stay anchored there for a slow 10 count before releasing the arrow. Keep track of the # of whots wherein you can do thiis before your bow arm gets shaky, and see if you can improve on that # with each subsequent shoooting session.

[smj]

"Instinctive Archery Insights" seems to, at least so far as I've read it, promote that while you can focus on many things at once, to some degree, you can only focus on one thing close to 100%. I think he breaks taking a shot down into 6 steps or so. Of these, which ones are veriables, and which ones are not. Point of aim is the only one that should change - and says that 5 of these steps you need to be able to do without thinking about them. This allows you to focus on the spot you want your arrow to hit. You don't look at the arrow, only that special spot. Sound goofy? I've tried it, seems to work when I do it right. Not sure about target panic yet, but I look forward to reading through it! I've never read a book about shooting a bow before, but I think I recommend this one. About half done, so far so good. It has made me realize a few things, and look forward to my practice time even more!

[BT]

Thats true instinctive and when I am shooting well that is what I am doing.

Shooting well means that at any distance , I can hit my target.

[smj]

A Quick Review of “Instinctive Archery Insights” – revised edition - 127 pages, www.Amazon.com has it.

Author: Jay Kidwell, Ph. D.

First off, while this book is not about shooting compounds with sights, it does not mean that compound shooters could not get just as much out of it as instinctive shooters. I won't try to tell all here, but give you some flavor!

Shooting form is broken down into several “shooting process”; the shot, the stance, the draw, anchor, aim, release, follow-through, consistency, and he defines four attentional focus. These all need to be intimately understood by the shooter. This is, in my own personal opinion, where most shooters suffer – and then claim that it is target panic when in fact it is not. For example, if you anchor at a different spot each shot you will not shoot as well as you should and it is not target panic at all.

Dominate eye shooting is shown false for instinctive shooting.

Accuracy is in several steps: shooting form (see above), windage, and elevation. Focus is on a single spot, mentally place a button on the target, and arrow trajectory. (Arrow trajectory works, and is amazing.)

There is a chapter on why we miss – what is going on between the ears, or, where is your focus? What happens with “buck fever,” how to use of imagery, ideomotor responses, and stimulus confusion. If all that sounds fancy, just relax because Kidwell takes you through it all with examples and simple text to help you really understand his meaning.

He also deals with target panic. The real deal. It has to do with classical conditioning – just like Pavlov’s dogs! Kidwell explains it, it makes sense, and he also includes instructions and examples on systematic desensitization to get you past it. Basically, target panic is a premature something, with premature release or hold being the two most common according to Kidwell. It is not the heavy draw-weight, it is the associations learned while trying to shoot it. He does recommend a 10 pound draw bow, you can make out of PVC pipe, as a therapy tool to help with the treatment of target panic.

I think that this book is really worth a read, for a lot of reasons!