Got target panic real bad!

[geoffretired]

I have had the same symptoms as yours. No real panic , as it seemed to happen without any real pattern, so never knew when to expect it next. This is not the same as the real panic I mentioned in other posts. I believe the problem you describe to be the result of the back muscles relaxing at the wrong time.Before you release the string instead of after.
I would encourage you to keep working till you can say you, "Know how to prevent it from happening." At present, you can't say that.
Telling yourself not to let it happen is not the best method, in my opinion.
I would say, learn a new way to execute the later stages of the shot.
At present you are at full draw, on your face references as normal, relaxed and off it goes at some point, yes? That "relaxed" bit, can go too far and a reflex kicks in just as you want to complete the aim.
A new routine for that stage could be, reach references, get the sight on aim and..........ease the draw elbow further round. You might find that the reflex kicks in before you get the sight on aim properly. That would seem to lead you no where, yes?
However, with some serious work,probably at close range to start with, you will find it possible to get some shots away with the sight on the gold. It is at that stage that you need to reinforce to yourself, that the new feature is helping you get on aim and release without a reflex kicking in.The extra movement of the elbow takes enough time to get the sight on aim. It also gives you something different to do with the draw elbow. Something "new" to learn. Learn that new feature with care and you will have a new way to complete the shot, a good way; with the sight on the gold.
" When I get to references; and get on aim; and move the elbow further round, I get a proper shot away without the reflex kicking in." That elbow movement starts slowly and speeds up seamlessly into your follow through. Your draw elbow moves round along a curve; at different speeds but always in the same direction.

[archer_thom]

Having struggled for many years with both target panic and a heap of well-intentioned advice which just didn't seem to work, I would like to propose an alternative view of target panic based on my personal experiences. [Many thanks also to those of you who replied to my thread on extreme competition panic, that advice has let me start resolving the problem and it's linked with what I'm writing here.]

For me the fear of targets came from a fear of failure coupled to a belief that I should be shooting much better than I was. This meant that I was over-aiming and naturally my shot execution was getting worse. The advice given was to shoot without a target, so that I could focus on shot execution, and then use a "bridge" of doing both so that this stuck. It worked to an extent. Without the target I quickly proved that I was able to shoot arrows well, and this developed a 'muscle memory' which kept good shots happening for a while on targets. The downside was that this had not dealt with the actual cause of the target panic, so everytime I entered a situation where I believed that I should do better than I was (bear in mind the unrealistic expectations) or where any supposed failure would be very public, the target panic came back worse than before.

I managed to get around this by forcing myself to shoot constantly on targets so that I learned shot execution while dealing with the target (unconventional I know, but it did work) and after a while the purely 'target' panic did disappear. Now that I have been able to identify why I get so worked up about competitions generally I should be able to take that further and do things like write down scores in practice (which I have always found too stressful).

My advice in the situation described would therefore be:
- identify what is stressful about targets
- shoot regularly at them while relaxing and accepting where the arrows go
- use this experience to identify realistic expectations which do not create any anxiety.

I'm sure there'll be some comments or questions about this method, please try to keep them civil as the method is the result of 5 years of ever-renewing despair. However I do believe that it is working so I will try to respond to any comments, questions or criticisms.

[andrew.paterson]

Originally Posted by archer_thom

The advice given was to shoot without a target, so that I could focus on shot execution, and then use a "bridge" of doing both so that this stuck. It worked to an extent. Without the target I quickly proved that I was able to shoot arrows well, and this developed a 'muscle memory' which kept good shots happening for a while on targets. The downside was that this had not dealt with the actual cause of the target panic, so everytime I entered a situation where I believed that I should do better than I was (bear in mind the unrealistic expectations) or where any supposed failure would be very public, the target panic came back worse than before.

I would just possibly add a slight modification to what you have said. Spend a session or two just shooting at blank targets, just to get the proper feel back into the shot. Because if you have been shooting several weeks/months all tense your archery form has almost certainly suffered.

I do agree though that it is almost ceratinly unrealistic expectations that are causing the panic to set it. Maybe a better phrase is "Target Frustration". We have all done it, shot a couple fo ends of 40+ back to back at 100 yards, and then expect to get them every time, when really a good score is probably closer to 30+.

I did this myself two weekends ago. After the first 2 dozen I was on over 150 (well above the normal 120-140 I would be delighted with). Then next end I got a 23, and it all went downhill from there. Ended up on a little more than 300, and in my mind I was still thinking I should have had 450.

[geoffretired]

Archer_thom,
From my experience of target panic and related problems, I agree with you that one way to get beyond it is to shoot properly at a target. Make the shooting easy(short range perhaps) make the target easy and the sighting: so there is no over aiming to the detriment of the form.
Sometimes , when people say they have found a way ROUND it, it seems they are saying they haven't really addressed the real problem.
I think the archer who is suffering has to find a way to break out of the "shell" that seems to lock him/her into repeating the habit.
I reached the stage where every shot was released before I could get the sight into the gold. I seemed locked into doing this and whatever I tried ended up failing as every shot gave the same result; a release when only reaching red.
I was shown a way to break out of that, while still shooting at a target with a sight. Once I realised it was possible, it was just a matter of applying myself to the task of using that newer style so it became my chosen method of shooting.
I still choose that way although the old style is still available to me if I dig it out of its resting state. In a way I have learnt to avoid using it. That could be described as a work around. However, I believe my new form to be sound. Unrefined at present, but sound.

[Bleach]

I'm having a problem with aiming. I can not hold the at full draw for long, for some reason I just let go automatically after like two seconds, Been shooting today and for most of my shots my sight is not even on the gold. It just feels like I can't commit to the shot and think that red will do and sometimes I just see my sight on the gold and quickly release having only come to full draw for a second.

I have been trying to take my time with the shot and aim more carefully but there seems to be a time limit which I can't go over and I will just release without meaning to. Do you think getting a clicker will help because then I won't be able to release straight away and I will have to aim for longer.

[geoffretired]

I think you need to have something more to do at that stage of the shot so you aim well in the time it takes to do the "something more". If that is drawing slowly through a clicker, it will help. If that extra part is moving the elbow round more into line while you settle properly into the aim, that could help too. You will have to work on learning this extra feature so you end up with a good form.It would be a shame to use the extra feature to cure a problem then find you end up getting a new problem and still not having a better form than you have at present.

[archer_thom]

While I am a big fan of clickers, even I would admit that's not what they're for. A clicker is only there to regulate your draw length and (more importantly) provide a subconscious trigger to release. On the other hand your problem is very straightforward - you have a quick shot sequence! This is no bad thing, Natalia Valeeva for one has been winning stuff for yonks with a very fast shot.

You can make this work better for you in several ways. If you position your sight maybe just above the target so that it is in the target by the time you are at full draw, you won't need to aim, as it will already be there. If you're wobbling a lot then ensure that a) your bow is of comfortable mass and draw weight, b) your bow shoulder is set in place early in the shot, and c) maybe add stabilisation.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Bleach

I'm having a problem with aiming. I can not hold the at full draw for long, for some reason I just let go automatically after like two seconds, Been shooting today and for most of my shots my sight is not even on the gold. It just feels like I can't commit to the shot and think that red will do and sometimes I just see my sight on the gold and quickly release having only come to full draw for a second.

I have been trying to take my time with the shot and aim more carefully but there seems to be a time limit which I can't go over and I will just release without meaning to. Do you think getting a clicker will help because then I won't be able to release straight away and I will have to aim for longer.

[namrehtaew]

Hi all,

After two months of battling with with my target panic troubles and trying just about every suggestion others have made both on this forum and at club meets where I have had good coaching tips, all I have to show for it is target panic which is far worse now than when it started!
I am no longer enjoying my shooting because the frustration levels are simply too high and I feel I am on a downward spiral that I don't know how to escape from. I am not normally a quitter, but my head has bashed against this brick wall so many times now it is beginning to get very sore! Solution: stop bashing!

So I have some more to read around the subject and unless that throws up some new ideas to try, I will be quiting the sport very soon. Sad really because before the TP set in I was enjoying archery more than any other sport I've tried.

Thanks all for all the advice and support. ( The friendliness and helpfulness of fellow archers is a very good memory I will take away after I finish. )

[geoffretired]

PM sent. Cheers
Geoff

[Flying Whale]

I hope you can avoid giving up. I am sure it looks bleak at present, but I really hope you can keep at it.

I have not had it personally, but my son did, which I think was worse for me. To see someone descend from shooting fine to totally falling apart over the course of about 4-dozen arrows at a junior county championships was awful. The way it manifested itself then, and over the next few months, as we tried to work through it was to be honest gut-wrenching at times.

After trying many things, he took a break, and then we started him on a clicker. He is now shooting happily, and was the only archer I know of to beat his handicap on a recent shoot on a very windy day. I am not saying that a clicker is the only way to beat TP. I do think however that it has put a real break in the destructive conditioned shot sequence he had before that was difficult to do any other way.

Best of luck.