Target Panic....Aha moment

[LongStick64]

Like many that suffer endlessly through this malady, I've tried everything....everything. I read a thousand posts, watched videos, read books, everything. Sometimes I would see progress, only to relapse. Part of my issue was my form, but a major part was my brain of course. It was easy to fix my form issues and if I showed you videos of me shooting I bet you'd say I was a pretty good shot. But the inside the noodle problem would always resurface.
I did get a chance to speak with Joel Turner last summer, he gave me the tools but to be fair I wasn't using them correctly. I was too wrapped up in what would be the mantra, what trigger to use that I wasn't getting better. And even though Joel spelled it out to me clear as day, I was too dumb to get IT. Folks it's not about the mantra, the trigger. It's real simple, when you  use Joel's system you need to do one thing perfectly, when you get to anchor and set your sight picture, you need to focus 100% on the MOVEMENT that gets you to the trigger. Not the trigger, not the anxiety of the buildup to the trigger, not the mantra going through your head, not the arrow in front of you. Focus on the movement and the system works like a charm.
Thanks again to Joel Turner for taking the patience to speak with me. Hope I'm not misinterpreting your method, but if I have it right it sure has improved my shooting.

[McDave]

If I might generalize on what you said, "focus 100% on the movement that gets you to the trigger," is almost the same thing as saying increase your awareness of what your body is doing during the shot.  Awareness is an immediate physical focus, which includes being aware of the movement that gets you to trigger, as opposed to a cognitive focus, which is an abstract thought about what you're doing, or what the result might be.  Physical focus cannot be expressed in words, whereas cognitive thoughts are usually in words, emotions, or visions of something imagined.

This is why Joel asks people what they were thinking about during the shot. ANY (cognitive) thinking is the wrong answer, because all focus should be on increasing awareness of the mechanics of the shot, which is non-verbal.  The problem is, as human beings, all of our recent accomplishments, from the invention of agriculture 15,000 years ago to landing on the moon have been based on our success at cognitive thinking.  Cognitive thinking is so ingrained in us that it can be really hard to answer Joel's question, because we have a hard time separating our cognitive thoughts from reality.   But thinking ABOUT something is different from doing it and experiencing it.  Thinking about things in the abstract has enabled humans to imagine better ways of doing things, but it doesn't help us to actually do them; for that we need awareness.

The point in trying to generalize on your statement is that you don't need to focus solely on the movement that gets you to the trigger, although that is a lot better than THINKING about the movement that gets you to the trigger. Any way that you can expand your awareness of what your body is doing during the shot, whether it is a movement of your head, the position of your elbow, or the physical anxiety you feel as you build tension, will improve your shooting, as long as it is a physical awareness and not an abstract cognitive thought.

[dragonheart]

The psycho-trigger has to remain unanticipated, and reaching it on every stinking arrow I fire is imperative!  I am getting there more and more.  One of the most difficult things is to make a total commitment to shoot "good" and "right" shots with "good" and "right" technique.  That includes proper thinking!  

There are times I shoot a great shot with excellent form, and an unanticipated trigger, that do not hit where I am looking.  I am working to reinforce with my thoughts that shot sequence in my mind.  Then, there are those times that the shot just goes off prior to reaching my psycho-trigger and I "nail" the spot I am looking at.  Those shots I disregard any mental reinforcement and work to ignore.  That is the "Hell" of TP.  The little "Gremlin" gets lucky sometimes and messes with your head.  

Relaxed subconscious aiming, find a mental mantra that works for you and stick with it, redefine full draw as going thru the shot all the way to follow thru, and make the commitment to shooting only arrows that reach full draw and that activate the psychotrigger.  

"I don't often shoot perfect shots from my bow, but when I do I use an unanticipated psycho-trigger"

Shoot the middle     :cool:

[LongStick64]

McDave

What I am trying to wrap around is, I believe that many are paying attention to Joel's system and the hard part I believe is to be aware as you say of the movement, especially if you are actually pulling. You can see this when people use clickers and are fighting it, there is increased tension, with hope that the clicker goes off. When I'm shooting I can focus in and feel the movement to my trigger, I don't know when I'll get to my trigger but I am completely aware of it.

[McDave]

Originally posted by LongStick64:
You can see this when people use clickers and are fighting it, there is increased tension, with hope that the clicker goes off.  

The "increased tension" is a physical sensation to be aware of, and while it would be nice if it weren't there, it's a part of life and not really a problem as long as you are just aware of it (without thinking about it) and accept it as such.  The "hope" is a cognitive thought, and is an example of what Joel means when he asks, "what were you thinking about?"  Your answer would be, "I was hoping that the clicker would go off," which is a thought that should be eliminated by focusing on the physical act of pulling (or, by extension, focusing on any other physical thing that is occurring during your shot sequence).  You don't have to accept my extension of Joel's method, but I have found it useful to focus my attention more broadly than on just the movement of pulling to the psychotrigger to help eliminate extraneous thoughts, like "hoping."