From: dasaxe@milton.u.washington.edu (Daniel Perreault)
Newsgroups: alt.archery
Subject: Re: Target Panic
Date: 2 Oct 92 21:45:22 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

In article <1992Sep30.180459.13614@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov> tobridg@scivax.lerc.nasa.gov (Dr. James Bridges) writes:
>I came across the following paragraph in a recent post of Shawn Boyd's.

I deleted essentially the entire article because the line length was messing
with my editor. However, the poster was asking for insight about the problem
of target panic.

This is a topic I feel I could write volumes about. I shot barebow for        
about twelve years before I switched to shooting sights. I shoot a compound,
and rigged into a full freestyle setup, 4X scope for indoor with a peep,
and an Alfred mercury stabilizer on a Martin Pro-X10. Trying to keep a
scope on target while at full draw (I'm shooting 65# with about 29# holding)
is a senario made for target panic.

To quickly refresh any other readers, target panic occurs when the shooter
releases, either voluntarily or involuntarily the instant that the sight
is on the target. For example, a shooter's sight pin moves through the 10
ring and the shooter releases while the bow is still moving. Often this causes
bad releases and other problems.

Now, curing target panic is completely psychological, and has to do with
how you want to approach it. The problem of course is that everyone will
ideas good and bad. Here are several you might try, all of which I personally
have used.

1) Circling-Often times target panic comes from people not being able to stop
            the pin in the X on a target. If you think about it your body is
            in serious tension. The likelyhood that you are going to be able
            to completely stop your sight pin is virtually zero. So don't try.
            Relax your bow arm some, and instead of trying to stop the pin in
            the X, just try to get it to circle slightly in the ring, or even
            the next ring out. Don't try to be really anal about the circle
            itself, the important issue is to let your self accept a small     
            amount of motion and try to just control it gently.

2) Alternative targeting-Part of the problem is that you don't believe that
                         you can hold the sight in the right place, so don't
                         try. Let your bow arm get close to what you want to
                         aim at, then let yourself relax and let the bow pick
                         a point and see if you can hold it steady there.
                         Essentially if you can prove to yourself that you
                         hold the bow steady SOMEWHERE, eventually you can
                         hold the bow steady ANYWHERE by allowing the bow to
                         be steady and you just moving it around a bit.

3) Targeting Setup-Develop a routine by which you try and bring the sight to
                   the desired point. Come down or across or whatever on the
                   target. If you can't get the shot to settle, come off the
                   target and let the shot down. Relax as if you had shot it
                   and try again. Try to avoid sitting on the target for 
                   extended periods of time, because the shot will never come
                   in. Essentially, by letting down and refocusing your mind
                   on the shot, you can force your brain to give you the      
                   control you need. If you refuse  to let yourself shoot a
                   bad shot, sooner or later you will get a good one. For this
                   to work, you must have a concious release. You must decide
                   when you will release and how long you will hold.

4) Edge shooting-Take your target and fold it in half. Then shoot at the edge.
                 Let your bow arm move along the edge as much as it wants,
                 but concentrate on hitting the edge of the paper. Don't be
                 satisfied until your arrows are within an arrow width or so
                 of a straight line along the edge. When that happens, turn
                 the paper 90 degrees and do it again. After both of these
                 are accomplished then try going back to the regular target.

There are infinite variations of these, and several others I have not listed.
However, there is something I will warn you about. Some bowhunters use what is
called the ambush method of shooting. This constitutes drawing up below your
target and gradually moving the bow up at a controlled pace. When the sight
reaches the target you release the arrow and continue to move up after the
shot. This will only make your problem worse. However, it is a claimed "cure"
for target panic, because you get around the problem of settling on the
target. However, I have never met a successful target archer who used this
method. If you are moving through the target as you shoot you will not get
your best possible groups. Moving in the right region is not the same, and
can lead to good groups.

Good Luck,
Dan Perreault
Newsgroups: alt.archery