I can't take the time to aim.

[Pinewood]

I cannot relax myself enough when shooting to actually aim. I alway bring my pin down to my target point and snap it off as soon as it gets close. It's driving me nuts. I know what to do, I've even tried aiming and then not releasing and just letting down the bow but I can't help letting the arrow loose. I don't want to buy any more shit or do anything other than just practice but it'sannoying because I know it's all in my head and I can't get past it. WTF?

 

[BBob]

I have a friend that's the same way. After many many years fighting he gave up and just rips it but he still kills a lot of stuff and always has. WTF???

I’ll add he tried the Shot IQ thing too. Didn’t help.

 

[HighUintas]

John Dudley mentioned this in an interview.

Hold back and just aim. Do not put your finger on the trigger. I do this and it works pretty well.

Shoot at a blank block. No target. Nothing to aim at. Work on just holding and slowly increasing pressure til it releases. Do it a LOT

 

[ShakeDown]

Classic target panic! Blank bale shooting as mentioned above can help.

 

[Pinewood]

John Dudley mentioned this in an interview.

Hold back and just aim. Do not put your finger on the trigger. I do this and it works pretty well.

Shoot at a blank block. No target. Nothing to aim at. Work on just holding and slowly increasing pressure til it releases. Do it a LOT

I like this idea. It's the target point that messes me up. I'm fine on holding all the way until it comes time to release. As a result, my release sucks balls. Good tip, thank you.

 

[Jason Snyder]

You are allowing your brain to tell you to fire as soon as you come on target. This is full on target panic. You need to rewire your brain such that you allow yourself to start your shot sequence after you have acquired your aim.

 

[Beendare]

Classic target panic! Blank bale shooting as mentioned above can help.

Yep, agreed.

its all about disconnecting your subconscious mind that is making the shot for you. If you shoot long enough, everyone gets it. Everyone I know has had it or has it.

When I feel TP creeping in, I do the draw aim, hold and then let down routine….. without releasing the shot. It typically takes me a minimum of three or four days of doing that to get away from target panic. I know a buddy who has walked in an entire range 4x per target without shooting ……. and done that multiple days in a row to beat TP.


Trigger finger releases are cases of TP waiting to happen.

 

[sndmn11]

Setup a breathing mechanism where an exhale is your cue to squeeze.

Inhale before/during/after the draw, whatever is most comfortable.
Hold the breath
Settle pin
Shift focus to the spot and ignore the pin
Exhalesqueeze
Follow through

 

[Beendare]

I forgot to say;

then there are the guys that I see punching their release that have target panic and they don’t even know it.

 

[Pinewood]

I forgot to say;

then there are the guys that I see punching their release that have target panic and they don’t even know it.

That is me. I feel like I shot better when I didn't know of it. Tonight shooting went better, much more relaxed. Slower.

 

[wintersoldia]

I think you need some competition
Like you said it’s all in your head, and you need to focus more so been competitive will help you do that.
Take some friend to the range and put up about $100 and see go you would miss at all

 

[fishsticks]

Problem - target panic. Solution - Joel Turner Shot IQ

It’s pretty common in archery, and while you might be the exception that can beat it yourself by doing some of the things above the fast track is to invest some time and money with a good coach.

 

[BadTostada]

I developed some bad target panic for a while after coming back from a shoulder injury before fully healed. Blind bale shots helped the most. Also lowering the draw weight to something really easy to hold helped me take my time with the release process.

 

[Wrench]

Google "Joel Turner shot process"

Joel is a bit of a dork in his presentation.....but his material is bang on the money. He has a zillion vids and podcast appearances.

 

[Marbles]

If using an index release, hold the body of the release with your index finger wrapped around it behind the trigger, do not put your finger on the trigger until after the pin settles.

I had a brief period with target panic and punching the trigger, for me, I was able to consciously shift the goal to a controlled squeeze and convince myself that any uncontrol shot was a failure regardless of were it hit. Fixed the problem in about 50 shots. That certainly may not work for everyone, we are all unique turd piles, just like the other 8 billion people on earth.

 

[crich]

I struggled with the exact same shit. Dont think I ever fully cured it but blind bale and shooting eyes closed from 2 yards into my block sitting on my workbench helped. Like marbles said dont touch the trigger until your hovering over the target. I had to bring my index finger up and over the release body touching it first then slid my finger down to find the trigger just to avoid getting jumpy. Increasing the trigger weight way up and using back tension to set it off also helped I think.

 

[Bump79]

The easiest thing you can do is take off your sight. Or remove the pins. Get yourself at 10 yards and center the peep and force yourself through a shot process.

If using an index I highly recommend switching to a Scott Verge. It's a quasi index/hinge.

 

[kpk]

I struggled with this one year. I tried all sorts of stuff and couldn't break it. Ultimately, I hung the bow up for the summer and refused to touch it. By the time fall came and I picked it back up, I was gtg again.
It was incredibly frustrating.

 

[Billy Goat]

Get close to the target.

Get close enough that it's easy to hold the pin on target. Blind baling doesn't get your brain around the sight picture issue. What needs to happen is for you to get your brain comfortable with the float.


Shoot 3-5 yards, that's where you will build back your shot process. Use a regular target, not something down sized for close range. Slowly, like after a few thousand shots, you can start backing up again.


Stop looking at the pin, focus on what you want to hit. Pin will get drawn to where you are focusing.

 

[rclouse79]

I have been in a similar boat. I always keep my index finger behind the trigger when I draw. When I was working on not punching the trigger, I would keep my finger behind the trigger at full draw so shooting was not an option. I would focus on my target, not worrying about trying to force my pin to stay on target until I started to shake. Then I would let down and do it again in half an hour or so. I did that for over a week without ever releasing an arrow and it helped.
When I was ready to start shooting, I shortened my release so the trigger was away from my finger tip near the base of my finger. I tried to do the exact same exercise, but with my finger on the trigger. Most of the time I would let down with out shooting. I tried to gradually increase tension in my back and finger each time.
I have heard “surprise release” a lot. I never knew what it was until it actually happened and in scared the crap out of me. Most of my shots now are not a complete surprise, but are controlled.