Target Panick

[pupper]

over the weekend at the willy lake 3D shoot I noticed as soon as I would put my pin on the target I would start to get anxious and jerk and jiggle. I would be smooth at the draw and on the way down to the target, but as soon as I placed that pin on the target I was panicky. I really had to focus all my energy on holding back from hitting the release early.

Ive never had this before. I could always hold steady, where did it come from and why now?

how can I work towards shaking it off?? pardon the pun!!

Justin

[oldtimer]

Justin, I know your a young fella and an awesome hunter but it does this old guy a huge lift to know it isn't just the old guys who have the herky jerky's when you center on the 10 ring. I hate it !! I concentrate sooooooooooooo hard on holding steady I herk and jerk all over the place, just ask any body that shoots beside me at a FITA shoot. After seeing how Chris shoots with a heavier, longer stabilizer I am thinking about making some mods. Mike

[pupper]

what bugs me is that it never used to happen and now it only happens when i am on the target and when my finger touches the trigger my mind wants to pull that trigger immediatley and it takes all of my self worth to hold back.

[Kirby]

some guys consider it target panic, I just find it a huge pain in the ass. I find I have this problem constantly with 3-D, however shooting alone or hunting its never an issue. Its a habit, and you can break it. When your shooting target concentrate on a smooth release. I find if i concentrate on it in target it comes out less in 3-D. Also I use to use a thumb button release and I got extremely bad at punching it, when I changed releases it went away.

Kirby

[pupper]

yah ok, I dont notice either hunting or shooting paper but I was considering using my middle finger to pull the trigger with instead of my index

and next time Im at the range I am going to work on my follow through

[Bigbear]

Justin,
It does Happen , and it can be cured. try using a varity of different releases. different feeling releases wil help because yur not settling into the old steps that are familiar to preceade the target panic. try this for a few weeks. the go back to yur release. that u use.by the time you come back to your release the familiar target panic should be gone. another method is to practise at a trget at close close Range.This is so you don't miss the Target. Close your Eyes and go thru the steps to the release , and fire. Practise these till these steps that you normaly take to the time you release ,are just Automatic. Part of the trouble with Target Panic is That a person is Antisapating the shot. In this method your steps are so layed down that the shot is just Natural, and Not antisapated.
Kelly

[greybark]

:) Hey Pupper , I suggest you talk to Wayne M of BGArchery .

REMEMBER -- Keep Your Fingertab On --

[pupper]

thanks big bear,

I will work on that

[Bow Walker]

Pupper, you might consider 'blind bale' shooting when you go to the range next time.

Stand about 5 - 10 yards away from the big target butt and close your eyes. Draw your bow, come to a comfortable anchor and relax just for a few seconds while holding at full draw and keeping your eyes shut.

After holding for a few seconds, begin to slowly - I mean slowly - apply pressure to your release trigger. Concentrate on the feel of the bow and the tension of the release, all the while very slowly applying pressure to the trigger. Did I mention that you should apply pressure to the trigger mechanism really slowly? I Did? OK, just making sure.

In the soon to be immortal words of Byron Ferguson...."Be the Bow."

When the arrow is released you should be surprised as all get out.

Do this for about 10 - 20 shots, or until you no longer feel like jerking the trigger.

Move back out to your first pin and practise the same sequence with your eyes open this time. If you start to get the "herky jerkys"(:lol: ) again, just move in and do it with your eyes closed until you relax and don't jerk or jiggle. Move back out and try to shoot "normal."

The more you try to hold on the "X" or the dot or the spot....the more you will jiggle and jerk. It's muscle tension. Your mind is sending all these correction 'signals' to your muscles and they just can't keep up - hence the herky jerkys.

[pupper]

good advice bowwalker:lol:

[jessbennett]

good advice bigbear and bowwalker. blind baling is a wonderful thing. so is a pure back tension release if you r brave enough:lol: up until this year, ive never had this problem. 3-d has been pretty much smooth sailing for me. well......... this year ive been shakey like a dog $h!!ting razorblades..... until this past weekend. first round on sat was horrible. punchy punchy........ but through will and determination , i worked through it. sunday was mucho better. i have been using a pure"n"tension back tension release also to work on this and it helped. i would really like to use this release all the time for 3-d, but it causes me to kick left when i shoot. i think i may need a v-bar to the right, or to shorten my draw length a bit to help the bow kick forward and not to the left.

[Rainwater]

Try relaxing and have more fun at the 3D, don't worry about your buddies score or winning top prize. Sometimes that will work.

[Tank]

Try relaxing and have more fun at the 3D, don't worry about your buddies score or winning top prize. Sometimes that will work.

blasphamy!:smile:

[jessbennett]

uh ......did he say not worry bout score????:confused::lol:thats a good one......... :twisted::twisted:

[pupper]

I went to the range today and started off with some bale shooting. Everything was perfect.

I went to the first 3d target at 25 yds that I shoot every week and as soon as I had my finger on the releas I could not move the bow and I shot low.

After that I tried keeping both eyes open until I was pretty well lined up then I closed one eye, and only after I was locked on the spot I moved my finger in front of the trigger release. Using that system I avoided any anticipation or twitching and I shot quite well on the course.

I think I grew accustom to shooting as soon as my finger was in front of the release and now I cannot line up unless my finger is behind the trigger. I panick as soon as I bring my finger in front. So waiting until I am locked on seems like a fix for now.

[jessbennett]

pupper,
do you raise your pin up to target or do you aim high and lower pin onto target???the reason i ask is i used to aim low and raise my pin into position and had a very hard time getting myself to raise up to where i wanted to hit. and when i did get it up, it was more of a drive by than anything. i changed to lowering my pin onto the target and the problem was almost instantly resolved. (minus getting a new routine and such). give it a try. let me know. are you more comfortable with shooting one eye closed??? i cant do it. just doesnt work for me. sometimes and i mean sometimes, if you have to shoot with one eye closed, that can mean your possibly shooting with your less dominant eye. not saying that is the case

[pupper]

I do raise up to the target. I will work on lowering down to it. I can see how that would help. My bow locks up and I cant move it up higher if I start below the target.

Justin

[Bow Walker]

Randy Ulmer has a shooting tip in the May/June issue of Bowhunter magazine in which he is talking about 'relaxing' as you aim.

The point being that the more you try to hold the pin on target the more muscle tension builds up and the more you begin to quiver and shake.

He goes on to say that if you can relax and squeeze off the shot while you are "floating" - don't try to time your hot for when the pin floats over the X as this will lead to trigger punch.

He advocates keeping both eyes open during the shot. With both eyes open your depth of field is much better, you can see the target and the area around it, and it is easier to let your sub conscious take over the shot process.

If your non-dominant eye tends to take over when you have both eyes open, try squinting that eye. If the problem persists - well you need to close that non-dominant eye.

I've tried the "float-shooting" method and surprisingly it works very well. The more I practice that way - the better I get.

Now....if only I could judge yardage accurately!

[pupper]

thanks bowwalker,

one question though: If you are not waiting till the pin hits the X until you fire, what do you focus on?

[Bow Walker]

According to his article...he says that some focus on the pins, some focus on the target - his recommendation is to soft focus on both, or to focus somewhere in the middle an let your subconscious take over.

I've tried that, but I find it very hard to do. I guess that it takes practice, just like anything else.

[loki]

Also one thing that I feel is important that has not been mentioned yet; don't forget breath control. If you take nice deep and calm breaths you'll notice that all the shakes from adrenalin are gone, and then learn to shoot on the exhale (or inhale, whatever feels better to you) as that creates a more stable shooting platform than breathing at shot.

Got the Bowhunter magazine that Bowwalker is talking about, and I'd recommend it, it's got a few good reads in it.


If you are not waiting till the pin hits the X until you fire, what do you focus on?

He points out that you should squeeze the trigger slowly while the pin floats in the general area of the X to avoid punching the trigger. I found this way applied to finger shooting is optimal for me, as the pins float over the target my reflexes allow my hand to relax before the pins are perfectly aligned over the X, and most of the time it gets me into a good group near center. This is the only way I've found to consistently hit bulls eye, as releasing on the bulls eye always means a miss for me, but releasing instinctivly before the X is a better chance of hitting dead center.

The best thing that article finishes with, is whatever your preferred method, do it consistently. Consistency is key.

I'm curious, I see your bow is 70#. Now obviously you can draw it comfortably, that's not what I'm about to ask. However have you tried dialing your bow down to 60# (I'm assuming that 70# is your peak and it can go down to 60#)? You may find that you have greater control, less shakes, and a easier time bringing the pins up to meet the target area with a lesser draw.

[Bow Walker]

Excellent comments loki....

re; bow poundage......the "shakes" might not be a factor of drawing a heavy weight bow if the letoff is up around 80%. But.....

My older Martin Phantom was a "female dog" to draw, but once past the cam rotation where the letoff kicks in, that bow was easy to hold (and it was set at 54 lbs). My new Diamond Liberty is set at 61 lbs. It is easier by far to draw and hold than my oder Martin. Just some random thoughts.

[Onesock]

You guys are way to technical. We are talking about killing an animal. Draw back, release and have a good time. There is no such thing as target panick. This is bowhunting, don't f### with it. If you want to kill a critter that bad maybe bowhunting isn't for you. Or better yet, get a X BOW. Talk to Hermit about it. Oh yea, its Froday night, enjoy yourselves.

[Bow Walker]

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/7/7_2_113.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZSYYYYYYJOCA) Are you sure that Hermit is OK with you casting aspersions on his shooting ability...


...let alone his shot placement?http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/15/15_8_217.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZSYYYYYYJOCA)

[pupper]

I'm curious, I see your bow is 70#. Now obviously you can draw it comfortably, that's not what I'm about to ask. However have you tried dialing your bow down to 60# (I'm assuming that 70# is your peak and it can go down to 60#)? You may find that you have greater control, less shakes, and a easier time bringing the pins up to meet the target area with a lesser draw.[/QUOTE]

I do not shake, I more or less get anxiety as soon as I am inside the spot i want to shoot sometimes. I hold it steady w/ no moving or shaking and as i put my pin on the spot I want to shoot I have to fight my finger from hitting the release and I pancik or rush the shot. the 70# wieght is light for me and do not even notice it, especailly with the 80% let off. It is more an issue of my mind trying to shoot before I am ready. hard to explain but I have been working on it and it seems to get better especially when shooting 50 & 60 yds.

[pupper]

You guys are way to technical. We are talking about killing an animal. Draw back, release and have a good time. There is no such thing as target panick. This is bowhunting, don't f### with it. If you want to kill a critter that bad maybe bowhunting isn't for you. Or better yet, get a X BOW. Talk to Hermit about it. Oh yea, its Froday night, enjoy yourselves.

Actually we are in the bow tuning and technique section... so....maybe pound sand while I try to improve my shooting by getting helpful advice from the seasoned shooters on this site which is the opposite of what you gave me one sock!

[jessbennett]

You guys are way to technical. We are talking about killing an animal. Draw back, release and have a good time. There is no such thing as target panick. This is bowhunting, don't f### with it. If you want to kill a critter that bad maybe bowhunting isn't for you. Or better yet, get a X BOW. Talk to Hermit about it. Oh yea, its Froday night, enjoy yourselves.



well that was insightful wasnt it...:???: im guessing you know all that there is to know about shooting a bow???

some of us actually shoot a bow for more than just "bowhunting". and actually there is such a thing as target panic...

i didnt actually see where pupper mentioned anything about "wanting to kill a critter that bad"? i think he was talking about shooting a 3-d target... could be wrong..... nope he said 3-d target...

oh p.s....... its panic not panick....and im not to sure what day of the week froday is? sounds alot like frIday maybe though?:confused:

[Bow Walker]

I hope (and beleive) that what onesock posted was in jest - at least that's how I'm taking it. So cut a little slack here, unless he proves otherwise.

Jumping on a person because of spelling errors could be a full time job - check out most of the other two thousand plus members.

[jessbennett]

sure didnt sound in "jest" to me but hey you may be right..8)

[pupper]

thanks for that jess

some good people on this site

[The Hermit]

When this happens to me I make my shoulders relax and find that helps.

[Bow Walker]

Good point Hermit. When shooting a bow (or X-bow) you don't have your shoulder or shoulders hunched in any way, as if expecting a recoil (like gun shooting).

BOTH shoulders should be in a relaxed, natural position when at full draw. Especially the shoulder of your bow arm. Relax, drop that shoulder back down into a normal position. Don't over think it.

[Eagle1]

Go right back to the basics of shooting, do some blind bale, at lest 10 - 15 minutes a day. The other thing you can do is at about 20 m/yards draw and aim on target, hold as steady as you can, don't shoot, then let down, do this 3 - 4 times then the next time relax and shoot the arrow right in the 10, do this for about 1/2 to 1 hour every other day. It should slowly come back to you. If you get it now before it becomes to big of a problem you'll be able to over come it eaiser.

[pupper]

good advice eagle

[Coyote]

Pupper get ahold of a book called Instinctive Archery Insights by Jay Kidwell. He has an excellent section on TP that makes the most sense of any I've read in the past 30 years. It applies to all archers, not just stickbow shooters. He's a psychologist that investigated the problem and came up with a rational explanation that has nothing to do with fear of missing, nerves etc. It is a real fresh scientific look at the problem and it helped me a lot.

Coyote

[pupper]

will the library have the book or amazon?

[Bowzone_Mikey]

the thing that helped me with my T-Panic was actually listening to the advice of others ...but that got confusing after a while ... I bought the "Straight Talk" dvds from Gene Brehm (straight talk from the pros... straight talk from Micheal Braden) ... the Braden one helped alot with regards to the 3D game ... but the Pros ...albiet older really helped alot .... gave me a bunch of drills and ideas ....

are you certain its target panick ... could be hunger shakes .....

But lets say it is target panick and it sounds like you cant set the pin on the target ...have you tried a open circle reticle (for lack of better term at the moment) the reason i ask is that I know of alot of people that all of a sudden didnt trust themselves to hit something they couldnt see (as it was covered up by the pin) they switched over to a circle set up and started pounding those Xs

[Coyote]

Pupper you may find it on amazon. I know Three Rivers Archery sells it. And you want the second addition. It's a paperback with a pale green cover.

Good Luck. You can beat it.
Coyote

[Walksalot]

Try a couple of deep breaths before shooting. You can beat this it's mind over matter. Truth be known we all have went though bouts of this. Don't make a big issue out of it and it will go away.

[pupper]

I have not shot for a couple weeks and i went to the range yesterday and shot really good groups all the way to 60yds. I found it better for me to lock on and move up to the spot instead of down to the spot. I know it is not the traditional way but I seem to get anxious if i move down onto the spot and I am shooting tight groups with this method.

[jessbennett]

well if it works for ya then by all means........



shoot straight.8)