Fighting Target Panic
Posted By
Bill Winke
at
7/30/2010 12:00:00 AM
If you command the trigger (make a conscious effort to shoot at a certain time - usually when the pin is on or approaching the spot you are trying to hit) you will fight target panic to some extent. You may not even know that you are fighting target panic. You may just realize that some days your nerves are better than others and thus you shoot better some days than others. That is probably target panic.
Here is how it works: you try for all you are worth to keep the pin buried on the spot so you can pull the trigger. However, just at the last possible second it drifts off the spot and you make a mediocre shot. Or maybe, you try really hard to get the pin onto the spot to begin with, but it always seems to lock up just below the spot, or just to the side, or just above. Ultimately, you have to flip the bow with your wrist at the instant you trgger the shot to hit near the spot. Some people even sight their bows in so that they shoot several inches high so that when they hang up under the spot, the arrow still hits where they want it.
You may also experience target panic through a twitching movement you have in your shot as you try to anticipate just when the pin will hit the spot.
I know all about these symptoms because I have had target panic myself. In fact, I had it for at least ten years before I really understood what it was and then learned how to beat it. As a result, I have become a better archer and definitely a more effective and more confident bowhunter.
The difference in my confidence when shooting at game is where the results have been most profound. I used to always feel a bit nervous - almost a sense of dread - when I thought about high pressure shots at big bucks. I was always afraid at the last second my nerves would flair up and ruin the shot.
After learning to defeat target panic, I no longer feel this way. Now, I know that if I can just force myself to execute a few steps, even if I don't feel confident, the shot will turn out well. Basically, I have taken the prospect for catestrophic meltdown out of the process of shooting game and replaced it with a few mechanical steps that I can discipline myself to do - usually. This is not to say I never make poor shots, there are still times when I am cold, excited or cramped and can't hold the bow as steady as I would like, but I feel like I now make the very best shot I can possibly make under the conditions I face. In other words, I don't feel like I am about to choke.
Rather than go into all the details of the solution, I am going to refer you to one of my latest articles on the site. It is called "How to Beat Target Panic".
As often as possible, I am going to attempt to produce these interactive articles. The article is a combination of print and video. The images are captioned just like normal images, but if you click on them they turn into short videos that demonstrate the key points I am trying to make in the article. I hope you like this delivery style. It definitely takes longer to produce than an article with only photos and words, but I feel like it does a better job of communicating the key points.
Keep checking back. We will keep adding new interactive articles regularly.
