Trying to cure my target panic

[Red Tailed Hawk]

Well ive been having a bad case of snap shooting lately, as soon as i get that arrow back it's on the way out. Ive tried different things to help and the only thing that has been working is if i pretend that I am aiming at something that i would never intentionally  want to shoot. When I do this I am able to come to full draw and hold back and then give myself the green light to shoot. Anybody else have snap shooting issues and what has worked for you??

[Bjorn]

I aimed at anything that was off limits.........wife's car door, windows, brick walls.............stuff like that. Works pretty good for a while but not a 'cure'. I have to do it regularly to keep the Monster at bay. Pretty much anyone you care to mention that has an intense involvement with archery or making bows and arrows etc has had it or has it.

[McDave]

My experience is the same as Bjorn's.  Unattended, my hold time diminishes until there is none at all.  Finally, I have to say, "enough is enough" and force myself to hold to a slow count of 3 (two full seconds since the "1" count happens as soon as I reach full draw).  The way I can accomplish this is to make it the most important thing I do during the shot sequence.  In other words, the shot doesn't go off until the "3" count, whether I'm aiming at the sky or my foot.  Whether I hit anything I'm shooting at is inconsequential.  Inevitably, when I do this, my shooting improves, even though my nerves are telling me otherwise.

Sound like you don't have a snapshooting problem, but rather target panic .  I should know.  :^(

My advice would be to get a light bow, and a copy of Masters of the Barebow III.  Follow Rod Jenkins shot sequence segment to the letter.

It's simply going to take time with bale and bridge work.  A clicker may help you function in the short term.

[S.C. Hunter]

I got into that rut also. I always will be a quick shooter. It's my natural tempo, I shoot my pistols quick and I am the same way in golf. I walk up look at the green look at the yardage pull the club and hit. I have also done the count thing and then release. I can stand aiming at the closet mirror at full draw for 10-15 seconds no problem. Go out back aim at my yellow jacket or 3-D buck and the urge to release once I am at full draw is very difficult to resist. I have been shooting only about 20-30 arrows on odd days and holding at least 2-3 seconds. Trust me for me that is forever. The other days if I start to get sloppy I stop for the day. I was shooting well over 100 arrows a day and now I trying to shoot less but with more focus. I think we all fight this from time to time.

[mb bowman]

I agree with some earlier posts. Make sure you count to 3 and then release. Good luck!

[cbCrow]

When that monster rears its head I use this method to stop. I aim at a tree that is about 6' to the right of my target,slowly swing to the target and pick my spot and release. I do this from about 10-15 yards and it worked. It accomplishes several things, makes you slow down, makes you twist to your left like you are following an animal, makes you concentration level work hard, increases you focus, plus other things I can't think of. I include this in my shooting evry day and it has helped me greatly.

[JrsyBowHunter]

try getting a deeper hook on the string i found my self shooting too quick and with the deeper hook it stopped me from doing so

[Terry Green]

Yep....that's target panic....not snap shooting.

[bowbenderman]

Yeppers, agree , not snap shooting, its the ugly, beast, called TARGET PANIC.  I know the beast well, even Rod Jenkins said, sometimes it raises its ugly head, even on him.  Kinda like a cancer, no cure, but you can learn to overcome the beast.  I find that counting on me, only makes it worse, 123 shoot!!!!  I am tryin now to draw, anchor, then really pull through the shot. I have a stan release, no trigger only back pressure makes it go off.  I am usin it now on my longbow, the release really tells if you are pullin backpressure.  The other thing is called a Form Master, it will tell you as well if you are pullin back pressure. Hope this helps, if you find a better pill to take to cure Target Panic , plz let me know!!!!!!!!

[Red Tailed Hawk]

Thanks for the advice, I guess it is target panic(never thought it was before). I will try and work on it, might be hard because it is all mental. Thanks for the advice and tips.

[59Alaskan]

Try shooting eyes closed in to a bag that is chest height at about 5ft out (or just beyond the length of the arrow).  Eyes closed concentrating soley on form, and sequence (including hold).  

I will go back to that often for reasons other than panic, but I have heard it works for target panic also.

If you can bear it do it enough times to rebuild the habit of holding (sometimes hundreds of times is required).

[free2bow]

I struggled a year and a half ago.  To help I started purposely holding on draw for longer than normal by aiming at things I had no intention of loosing an arrow on. Then I started having elbow problems.  Has has been said, decreasing frequency of shooting sessions and number of arrows shot helped most.  Part of the recovery then came from my muscles and tendons regaining their strength. Decreasing in bow weight obviously helped too.

[Cecil]

Close blank bale shooting will help. just focus on your shot. the best thing that helped me was masters of the bare bow three.

[Flingblade]

I have had TP for many years.  I had tried everything.  At times it was so bad I could not even get 3/4 draw.  Funny how I would draw and when my fingers got about two inches from my face I would freeze and could not finish the draw even with a very light bow.  I thought I had read everything on the subject and then I bought Dr. Jay Kidwell's book "Instinctive Archery Insights".  It has a section on TP and drills to use to control it.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.  It has put all the fun back in archery for me.  I can now come to full draw and hold at any distance.  My shooting has greatly improved.  I continue to do the drills he describes every time I shoot.  Good Luck!!

[kenn1320]

I have/had what your dealing with. As others have said, it doesnt really go away, you just learn to control it for awhile. It is all mental as you said. I think its the excitement of wanting to see the arrow in the target. I got a tip from one of the masters of the barebow, think volume 3. It is designed to build strength, but it has helped with my snap shooting type TP. I googled and found a on line timer. I set it for 8 seconds. It counts down, 3,2,1, go. I start my draw and am at anchor when it says go. I focus on the target while I keep a solid anchor. Then you hear, 3,2,1,stop. I then loose the arrow. This is teaching me that its good to hold, cause I can tell you I shoot awesome doing this. I get weak fairly soon, so I shoot 2 arrows, retrieve, repeat. The first shot is awesome, second one Im shaking like a leaf, yet 50% of those second shots are right on the money. Im over bowed, hence the reason I tried this technique for building strength. It works well for keeping snap shooting TP at bay. Give it a try, nothing to loose.
Ken

[EHK]

been there too.  I took a 2 step approach to eliminating it.  1)  made a longbow out of a 6 ft length of PVC.  Put down the bow for a week and practiced drawing that over and over - aiming at things and not releasing.  2)When I went back to my regular bow, I went to the blind bale as others have mentioned.  You basically need to retrain your brain that you don't have to release as soon as you get on your target.  It can be overcome.  You just have to commit to forgetting about hitting a spot for while and re-program your shot sequence.  Good luck.

[Nathan Killen]

I use to have the same problem. The way I got over it (which was very quickly) was I would look at what I wanted to hit but my arrow would be actually pointing about a foot over what I was looking at, come to full draw, hit anchor then lower your bow line up and let her go ! Works for me anyway ! Good luck !

[NBK]

Had this issue a year ago and am on the road to recovery.  Here's what worked for me.
1. A solid week of every night in the garage drawing back on my new Silverado, (No kidding.  It's pathetic I know.) for about 5-10 seconds each.
2. Over a month of just blind bale shooting in the basement at 3 feet.  I would vary it though in that some times I wouldn't shoot, but I'd let down, (that was my key for regaining control).
3. Took the shooting outside at a target, but if I caught myself pre-releasing (can't hardly talk about this with a straight face!) I'd stop and finish the session at the blind bale.
4. I groove it in on the bale regularly.  Before and after I shoot I'm usually on the bale.
5. You must have confidence in your shooting.  I mentally remind myself that for the love of God it's just shooting a bow and arrow and I'm pretty sure that I'm capable of that.  When I get out of my head about it, I have fun and shoot better... not great, just better.

[Red Tailed Hawk]

Really appreciate all comments and tips, ive been drawing the bow with my eyes closed. When I do this I come to full draw and when i open my eyes at full draw i am right where i want to be "everything lines up". This is not going to be an easy road. I am determined to beat this. Ive also been drawing with my eyes open and not aiming at my desired target and once at full draw move my attention to the target. This works but i really need to get this mental block out of my head.