I need some advice from you guys. My wife currently has a bad case of target panic and is shooting all over the place. I have had the same thing before, and I tried everything I could think of to solve it. The only thing that ever helped me was shooting a recurve for awhile so that I didn't have to worry about a pin. Anybody have any other tips or tricks to help her? Thanks.
Blank bailing has always been the best remedy for me. There's some info here: http://www.bowhunting.com/bowhunt101/cure-target-panic/
Blind bail helps me some. I also don't have a big enough target to fully do it. Often I will just shoot at 3 yards with eyes open so I can focus on release. Recently I started practicing holding on the target but not shooting. I drop back to 30 or 40 yards, draw back, rest my finger on the trigger, and just hold the pin on the target as long as I can hold without releasing the arrow. Its hard. First bunch of times I would release the arrow due to the anxiety caused by target panic. But as you go, it gets better. Easier to control. And its helping a good bit. Still have a long road ahead of me, and my work schedule doesn't help it much, but its making progress.
TP is the worst thing to overcome. Often once you get it, its something you have to work to keep at bay forever. I do a couple of things that help me. cmonsta brought up the number one thing that has really helped me. Don't shoot the arrow. Draw, aim and hold on the target, then let it down. I do this all the time. Once you do it long enough that you don't want to jump out of your skin squeezing the shot off, you can shoot a single arrow, then repeat drawing and holding without shooting. As Justin mentioned, blind bale shooting is another standby to help focus on another aspect of shooting.
Blind bale shooting was my plan for tomorrow. Holding without releasing has been really tough for her so far. I feel bad for her because I know what it's like. Blind bale in the morning and we will go from there.
Blind bale is great. Focus on her release from very close up. Nice and smooth. Don't even worry where the arrow hits. Just worry about a nice smooth release.
Trust me I feel for her. Its so frustrating. Even to the point that I have given up bowhunting in the past and get so down on myself I consider it even as of this year. Ive been even looking into different forms of meditation or other mind relaxing things, in hopes to find a cure. I have yet to try them though, due to fear my redneck friends will shun me haha
I had it bad and tried everything 25 years ago, the thing that really saved me was the focus on the follow thru. Keep your eye on the spot thru and after the shot. Focus on staying in the spot, you will squeeze the trigger believe me just keep the pin on the spot. Train the mind to focus on something else the spot. Loosen up and don't take it to serious. Everyone will have days they shoot bad. Ther is nothing like those days when we're in a zone and you can't miss. Just make it fun .
My target coach has me listen to the sound of singing bowls (some Buddhist thing. You can google it) and just close my eyes and visualize a perfect shot, execution and follow through. Kind of corny but it seems to help me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm not some professional shooter and have only been shooting for a 2 years, but I've noticed when I start shooting erratically it's because I'm not breathing or I'm breathing too shortly. Nothing adds panic like lack of oxygen to the brain. Slow quiet breaths. And +1 for making sure she's watching the arrow hit the target through her sights (or where her sights and not pulling her head to the side to see where it's going - once I'm shooting crappy I find myself wanting to tip my head out to the side too quickly to watch where the arrow is going.
First make sure bow fits her and is easy to hold back...then practice holding pin on target and letting down without firing...could use a practice release for that...then blank baling to get the feel for a surprise or at least a smooth command release. What I found helped me was switching from a wrist to a thumb release...I used a thumb for 3 months, then when I went back to my wrist it was way better.
Have her start out doing blind bailing, then after a couple shots like that have her keep her finger off the release and practice just aiming at the target. Have her float the pin for about 10 seconds through the target then have her let down. After she gets used to this have her keep her finger on the release but do not shoot keep getting that 10 seconds and let down. Then once she is comfortable with that allow her to shoot. I got over a huge case of target panic like this last year all the guys on the forum were extremely helpful and this was the combination that helped me
Blind bail helped me quite a bit as well as using a back tension/hinge style release. Trained me to pull through the shot rather than punch the shot
I have found also that if you shoot an index style release, one with a stiffer trigger has helped me a lot. I started out blank baling with my eyes closed and getting my finger deeper into the trigger and squeezing back together for shot to go off. After getting the feel for that I would just aim, get finger deep into trigger and float the pin over the target. I never shot though and did this for 2 weeks without even shooting an arrow. You want to train you mind to just think about aiming and get rid of that now, now command your mind is thinking when you have target panic. I still have a ways to go but this has helped me a lot.
Target Panic is not a funny thing - I had it a while back, and still do to some degree. What helped me most recently was switching from a wrist and index finger release to a handheld and thumb release. I shoot much better these days, but still occasionally get punchy and pull a shot.
I have a back tension that will help as well let me no if ur interested Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
Thanks for all the info everybody. I think we may have beat it before it got started too bad. We made a few adjustments to her form and changed her sights to something she likes better. We did some blank bale shooting yesterday and it had an immediate effect on her. She got lucky that it wasn't as bad as I used to have it. I'm hoping to get to video her shooting something this evening.
I would say, make sure she has a well balanced stance possibly even slightly weight on rear foot. Make sure she is pushing and pulling holding pressure on the backwall. And if her release is adjustable, change a full knuckle place on her trigger finger. All with holding and not shooting also.
