A random thought on shooting troubles and the panic

[RedShaft]

I have noticed over the years myself included. Those that seem to have allot more trouble short drawing or target panic and some ofther issues. Including ones that are very difficult to break or almost never go away. Those shooter have sort of anxiety problem. Not only just archery but it life. That carries over and gets amplified in archery. Any thoughts?

[Bow Bum]

I would tend to agree to some extent. I'm a bit "edgy" at times, and struggle lot when deer are in front of me, and sometimes will start short drawing, and lose control of my shot at the first sign of being tired when practicing.

I also see this trait in others who are even more wound up so to speak.

B

[NBK]

Gonna have to disagree.
I think that's painting with too broad a stroke.  Like all facets of life there are some that fit the mold and plenty of others that don't.  I think TP is multifactorial in that there is no one cause, cure, or predisposition.

[Green]

I know my bout with it came as a result of completely rebuilding my form.  Changed shot routine, and that changed my physical tempo because there was so much mental thought now to each shot.  Not to mention all that improvement increased my own expecations for accuracy.  Put somebody else's tempo in your own head, and then enter a stress situation and it can cause problems.  

That being said, I do not regret getting TP.  The  form I learned is greatly improving my shooting, and having fought through TP has taught me to be a stronger archer mentally.

[Flingblade]

I disagree.  Target panic is not a result of anxiety but anxiety is almost always a result of target panic.  The root cause of tp is the sub-concious mind running the shot process.  Although it can affect anyone at any experience level those that are athletically talented in other areas like basketball, baseball, golf, etc., would be somewhat more prone to tp and those whose minds tend to follow a very structured step by step process for the task at hand; like an electrician, seem to be more immune to tp as they are able to delegate and keep the subconcious contained to the aiming process only.

[McDave]

Target panic can have different causes and therefore can have different cures.

For example, thinking in words during the shot (cognitive thinking) can introduce doubt, which in turn can introduce target panic.  Joel Turner works on this cause of target panic extensively, and famously asks the question, "what were you thinking about during the shot?"  He recommends that people use a mantra to replace destructive thoughts, and focus their attention on execution of the shot (a physical awareness which is not expressed in words) starting with the most important aspect of the shot: keep pulling until the trigger happens.

This is all fine and a good program if the cause of target panic is destructive thoughts.  However, what if someone starts to feel anxiety as they near full draw? Anxiety is not a thought; it is a physical feeling similar to a headache.  Anxiety can result in a feeling of loss of control of one's body, freezing muscles, lost concentration, and of course a blown shot.  Learning to shoot with anxiety would be more similar to learning to shoot with a headache than learning to control doubt brought on by destructive thoughts.

I believe that the first step in solving a problem is identifying it.  Is it doubt that is causing the problem, physical anxiety, or something else?  Once the problem has been identified, then proposed solutions can be evaluated based on whether they are aimed at the real problem, or aimed at something else.

[KSdan]

Sports Psychology would suggest research DOES show parallels to personality, stress issues, etc.  Always exceptions of course. . .

[Flingblade]

I just re-read the original post and I would have to agree.  IMO, anxiety or stress will cause shooting problems whether a person has tp or not and will exacerbate the symptoms in a shooter with tp.  There are two main types of tp that I have heard of; short draw, not reaching anchor and freezing off target.  I don't know anything about the latter but have personal experience with the short draw type.  It has taken me long enough to understand what is going on in my own head and I wouldn't pretend to know what is going on in someone else's.  For me the doubt, destructive thoughts and anxiety didn't come until my concious mind realized it couldn't control the timing of the release.  I shot with tp for a couple years before that realization happened.  This was before internet so information on shooting was more limited.  The sub-concious mind doesn't like tension on the body.  The challenge with archery vs. other sports is there is pre-loaded muscle tension prior to the shot so the sub-concious wants to dump that tension and says release when it sees anything about the sight picture that looks right even though you may be 3 inches from full draw.  Anxiety, destructive thoughts and doubt all play into it but IMO they are symptoms; the cause is the sub-concious mind being allowed to give the release command.  I have heard that target panic causes more people to quit archery than any other factor so it is a worthy discussion.  For anyone with tp I highly recommend Joel Turner's dvd "Target Panic and Shot Control" and Jay Kidwell's book "Instinctive Archery Insights".  They helped me stay in the game.