# Bad case of target panic.



## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

hi there sharpshooter, my phone rings 3 times a week with people having the same problem. shooting a blank bale alone will not cure T.P. spend a few bucks and get some pro. help fast....99out of one hundred will fail without some pro. help it takes a min. of 21 days for your mind to except the changes i always say 30, and another 30 on my bridge program ,for the cure. good luck . mike


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## sharpshooter359 (Jan 6, 2007)

Thanks for the input. Fortunatly for me my dad is an instructor and I don't need to pay for the help. I also went to the club today and shot about 30 arrows without a target going through my shot sequence and then started back on the targets and everything was back to normal. I really don't know what happened but hopefully it doesn't happen again on a league score. I was able to shoot all 5's for about 6 rounds with 20 x's so I think everything should be back to normal.


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## 187 BOWHUNTER (Feb 13, 2011)

my buddy at work came down with it too, hope its not contagious!


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

sharpshooter359 said:


> Thanks for the input. Fortunatly for me my dad is an instructor and I don't need to pay for the help. I also went to the club today and shot about 30 arrows without a target going through my shot sequence and then started back on the targets and everything was back to normal. I really don't know what happened but hopefully it doesn't happen again on a league score. I was able to shoot all 5's for about 6 rounds with 20 x's so I think everything should be back to normal.


Shooting good in a low pressure practice situation doesn't mean that you are cured. When you focus on the score rather than the process, it will come back. In practice, we are shooting our shot and letting the process run. We've done it thousands of times and it's smooth and consistent. Then we get into a situation where the score matters and we "try harder". Trying harder take us away from the shot that we spent many hours learning in practice. Is it any wonder that things go wrong?

This is where the top pro's excel. Not only can they shoot X's, but they can shoot the same shot under pressure as they do in practice. I've had the good fortune to watch a former Vegas Pro winner in practice and in competition. He shot every arrow with the same level of concentration and effort. It didn't matter if money was on the line or not. Every arrow got the same high level of effort. His focus was on running the same shot every time. He knew that if he executed his shot, it would be an X.

Mike is right. Get coaching. Your dad may or may not be the best choice for you. When a parent teaches their own child, they are sometimes too close and too emotionally involved. A coach should be objective about your archery and nothing else. Whether you took out the garbage when you were supposed to or your last report card wasn't too good shouldn't enter into the relationship. As a parent, I can tell you that it's very difficult to separate archery from the rest of the parent child relationship.

Mike is also right about how long it takes to control TP.

Good luck,
Allen


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## Rugby (Feb 13, 2003)

I am interested in the 21 days time frame. From my experience you never ever rid someone of target panic once they have it you simply give them the skills to by-pass it.

If the cause of the TP which is using the pin as the trigger to shoot, which sounds like sharpshooter had started to do on the small dime sized targets, then isn't all you need to do is change the focus from the pin to the process to shoot the bow correctly?

Why I ask about the 21 days is I have found with the majority of shooters with TP caused by using the sight as a trigger can be fixed in one coaching session.

What happens in the 21days, how much shooting should be done, how many arrows a day?


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## AngelRa (Nov 15, 2010)

Statistically, 39X will rarelly yield a 300. 49X to 52X is the start of the 299-300 with high probability. 53X or more is almost sure a 300.

For me Target panic comes from sight image moving too much, check your DL because is the primary factor in bow stability.


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## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

thanks aread for the kind words, and once again very nice post .....good sharp shooter im glad all is well. its only a game !!!


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## sharpshooter359 (Jan 6, 2007)

Your right Mike that is what I had to get through to myself is that it's only a game and even at your best we are only human and will have a bad shot and it's not worth thinking too hard about. 

And to Aread I agree that it's not best to have a parent teach their child if they are dealing with a child but I am an adult and have 4 kids of my own so I do understand that bond that makes it not work and have gone through that with my dad teaching me when I was younger. Now I am 31 and am mature enough to take the advice he gives and use it to help. And he doesn't get himself wrapped up on me being a good shot. He already knows I am a good shot and thats that. I'm not a pro by any means but my main focus isn't in shooting spots and becoming a pro. I only shoot spots to make myself more confident in the woods when in a hunting situation. Even though I do enjoy shooting league and local/state level indoor tournys it's not my main focus and to me score means nothing. Score is just a # given to the spot you are aiming at either you hit that spot or it's a miss. for my goals I consider hitting the 5 ring and doing it with accurate form good, if I miss the 5 ring with accurate form to me is like a 0 but still good I just wasn't aiming in the right spot and I missed. If I hit the 5 ring in bad form it could just as well be a 0 cause outside that is exactly what it would end up being is a miss. But thanks for you input.


To Rugby yes your are correct. When I was having my problems I was concetrating on seeing the pin on the spot and not looking through the pin and on the spot. Today I went and shot a 326 on a 360 round and it was a 294 on a 300 which isn't where I was but it's alot better than the other day.


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## sharpshooter359 (Jan 6, 2007)

AngelRa said:


> Statistically, 39X will rarelly yield a 300. 49X to 52X is the start of the 299-300 with high probability. 53X or more is almost sure a 300.
> 
> For me Target panic comes from sight image moving too much, check your DL because is the primary factor in bow stability.



So where did your guidelines for how many X's constitutes a 300/299 come from? My average score was a 298/299 with 35-47x's. I know alot of shooters in this area that don't have a high X count but can still shoot 299/300's on a daily basis. And I just had my DL adjusted about a month ago because it felt a little long. But the DL I was at is the length I've been shooting for 10 yrs or more. And now it just didn't feel comfortable this isn't what caused the onset of target panic. My sight image is still dead steady, just couldn't bring myself to aim at the target and I was hurrying my shot and punching the release. Now that I'm talking myself through each shot again it's much better.


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

sharpshooter359 said:


> ....And to Aread I agree that it's not best to have a parent teach their child if they are dealing with a child but I am an adult and have 4 kids of my own so I do understand that bond that makes it not work and have gone through that with my dad teaching me when I was younger. Now I am 31 and am mature enough to take the advice he gives and use it to help....


My mistake. I made the erroneous assumption that you were younger. Should have checked your profile. 

You are lucky to have your dad. Wish I could say the same.

Allen


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## AJ the TP Guru (Jul 29, 2011)

TP can be totally and permanently defeated, but first the harmony between your two minds - conscious and subconscious must be restored. There is not just one way to do this, but I never did put much faith in blank baling as being one of them. Lots of guys (and gals) have had success with my Solution (link below).


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