Danny45

Hey folks. I' m wondering if anybody has a solution for Target Panic where a finger shooter is involved? I' ve been bowhunting since 1985 and love the sport. But, I got bit by the competition bug in 1995 and developed a very bad case of target panic. I started out competing in 3-D shoots and was very successful, then Field Archery, then Indoor Archery. It was in the indoor archery aspect of things that I developed this malady that is killing me. I' m afflicted in two ways. One, I sometimes can' t get the right pin on target. When this happens, I hold steady, but freeze the right pin off the target. The other way, happens more often, is I get on target, then can' t stop shaking. I usually pull the shot off, or flinch really bad. It sucks. I stopped shooting all together a couple of years ago because of this thinking that in time, I could pick it back up. Well, I went and shot a fun shoot on a 3-D course the other day, no competition, no pressure, just for the heck of it. I took four of my arrows from my previous shooting days and lost all four of them after the 7th target. Had four misses in a row. Needless to say, my confidence was totally shot after that. I used to go to tournaments and use one arrow for the entire event.

I don' t want to shoot with a release aid, as I' ve tried them before and never liked them. I want to get back to the level of shooting I was before. I' ve read books, watched some videos and nothing helps.

Any ideas? I refuse to go hunting until I get over this as I don' t want to wound an animal.

Red Hawk

Well i am still learning myself so i will try to help you out the best i can. I know the problem you are having about target panic because i noticed when i shot, i seem to not know what pin i should use (i just have the three pins) let alone if i am on target. I use a release but when i shot, i just barely tap the trigger. Sometimes i hit too hard and i pull back. I been shooting almost every other day and learning how to tap more and more. I think just praticing to tap the trigger is your best bet. Hopefully i have help you out little bit with this. good luck

Arthur P

I went through a period of that about 13 years ago. I' d shot NFAA competitive bowhunter class a couple of years and switched back to BHFSL. All of a sudden, I couldn' t get a pin in the dot to save my butt and, when I did, it suprized me so bad I snap shot at the target.

The harder I tried to do better, the worse I got. You say that fun shoot was no pressure. BALONEY!! You were pressuring yourself and you know it.

I tried blank bale shooting. I tried shooting with my eyes closed. I tried holding on target without shooting. I tried a release. But when it came time to put that pin in the dot and let go of the string, I' d get the shakes. Nothing I did on the target range did a flippin' thing to help. Target panic + target range = More target panic. More target panic, the more pressure you put on yourself to do better.

I don' t know if it will help YOU because we' re all different, but it did help me. I got into my archery box, dug out my judo points and started stump shooting. It was amazing that I could put a pin on a certain leaf, hold on it as long as I wanted and drill that sucker every time. About six months of that and my confidence was restored. I KNEW I could still hold and shoot. Get back on the target course though, and I' d fall to pieces.

I had to also change my focus. I did not go to a tournament expecting to win, or thinking I need to shoot some minimum score, or thinking I had to beat the score I' d shot last time. I went to enjoy shooting, and to enjoy the company of others that enjoyed shooting. I started having fun again, and I started bringing home trophies again.

At some point in there, I discovered the wonders of the act of letting down when the shot didn' t feel right.

It' s not going to be easy to get over it. In fact, I don' t think anyone that has a severe case of TP ever does fully recover. But you can still enjoy shooting. If you' ll take the pressure off yourself, that is.

Just remember that the last arrow you shot is ancient history. It' s gone. No going back to do it over. The only arrow you have to concern yourself with is the one on your bow RIGHT NOW. Take a deep breath, let it out slowly and focus. Draw, aim, execute the shot.

And don' t stand there for freakin' ever aiming the $%^! thing. Anyone that aims more than 10 seconds needs to either shoot or let down and start over.

If all else fails, find yourself a coach. Best of luck to you.

Actually, come to think of it, a coach should NOT be a last resort. Find one!

DaveH

Up until this year, I was a finger shooter and had numerous, often serious bouts of target panic. Last year it got so bad that I actually released a couple times before I was at full draw. I switched to a relase this year and it has really helped.

Since you stated you do not want to make the switch, I offer several suggestions. Mental rehearsal over and over and over, etc. of every aspect of your shot cycle. Draw, aim and release the string mentally. Visualizing this exactly as you should repeatedly at various times throughout the day helped me a lot. The parts giving you the most difficulty are the parts you should really " see" perfectly. After a while, you develop good mental habits which can translate to your shooting.

I would also spent a good deal of time blind baling. Just shoot, eyes closed at a large bale concentrating on feeling the release. When you finally are ready to start aiming/shooting, start at very close ranges and only move back gradually when you do everything perfectly at short ranges. If you find it returning, go back to the short ranges until you' re confident again.

Hope it helps.

Danny45

Thanks guys, your support has helped me and your ideas have too. I just can' t figure out why I can hold dead solid steady when I " know" I' m not going to release, but then when I decide to release the arrow, it falls apart. Weird stuff. Thanks again, and I' ll try several of your suggestions. I' m also going to dig out my target bow so I can do this at lower poundage. 70 lbs is just too much to battle this with. Thanks again!!

gutshot

You may have touched on another reason when you said that 70# was to much. Maybe you should back your bow down a little and see if that helps. Another thing that helped me was going to an adjustable sight instead of 3-4 pins, this way you only have to concentrate on one pin instead of the right.

TWIG69

I shot fingers for years and had the same problem at first but got some hints from a seasoned vet that helped. Set the bow' s draw weight so that you can hold the it close to where you wanna hold and be able to draw it straight back. Then instead of bringing pin down on target , which many do, bring it up. When the pin hits, release. The weight of the bow helps steady me better this way and the release is more surprise like with a rifle.I' ll be the first to say that I shake like crazy all the time , some kind of nerve condition i guess. But I virtually don' t shake at all shooting in this form. Maybe the concentration is more on form this way than on pin, until that last second. I' m no expert but it really works for me!!! Hope it helps

Rack-attack

That is because your mind is only thinking of aiming and not about releasing. IMO the best way to get over TP is to learn back tension and a surprise release. When you learn to do this - all you do is concentrate on aiming and the release (after a bit of practice) comes on its own - with no mental thought. Its when you " decide" to release that gets you in trouble. The release should not be decided it just comes.

Red Hawk - taping the trigger will probably get you into trouble aslo because you are consiously thinking about firing the release. A fear of missing comes over the mental process and accuracy can go down the drain.

My accuracy has gone up 10 fold since I learned to fire the trigger with my back, and just concentrate on aiming. Its worth the time to learn it IMO

Just my 2 cents

Red Hawk

Rack,

Yeah its all good and i understand what you are saying. I dont really think about when i hit the release button, its coming more natural to me as i shoot more. I found myself taping it sometimes when i pay attention to it. I still have a tenceny to sometimes flinch or pull the bow to the right when i shoot. Still learning but have a long way to go before i am can consider myself good. Any ideas on how i can stop from pulling it to the right when i shoot?

Arthur P

Push that sight pin directly into your aim point and keep pushing till the arrow hits the target. Your bow won' t pull left or right if you push straight ahead. Pushing with your bow arm will force you to pull with back tension. You' re trying to hold full draw and make a static release. Shooting a bow has to be dynamic. You' re losing back tension, probably using a high letoff bow.