I turn my block around or put a bag over it and just shoot the blank bale until the panic is done and if I feel it creeping back in I just imagine the target is just a blank target bale again. That's the trick I use.
Unknown member
Oct 15, 2023
Replying to
I've actually gotten very close to the bale and shot with my eyes closed, because even when the bale has no target, I find myself picking out spots to hit or avoid hitting.
During the shot, the action of "releasing" is a subconscious action. That means, it is triggered by a subconscious process. 'Target Panic', is a manifestation of this subconscious trigger that is based on the incorrect stimulus, and it can manifest in many different ways...For example, instead of the subconscious trigger being 'the archer comes into full draw, completes their expansion and activates the clicker', the trigger could be to release as soon as the sight pin touches the yellow. It is also commonly: - as soon as the hand touches the face (common) - as soon as the clicker goes off, ready or not (also called clicker panic) - as soon as the thumb touches the trigger - etc. etc. etc. There are many methods out there which profess to address target panic, and most of them have some merit, however, usually, they only address one of the above 'flavours' of target panic. That means that if you have a different subconscious trigger, you can follow every method out there, and still potentially be left frustrated. The process to cure target panic must follow the following formula:Step 1. Identify YOUR subconscious triggerStep 2. UNTRAIN that incorrect subconscious trigger Step 3. RETRAIN the correct subconscious triggerMost people try to do step 3 without step 1 or 2, or they don't spend enough time on step 2 before moving on to step 3.Now, using this method, you can usually address target panic very quickly. It's not necessarily going to take 6-months of blank butt. However, the longer you've been reinforceing the incorrect subconscious trigger, the longer it takes to kill that bad habit - particularly if you breathe life back into it periodically by being impatient with the process.
Think of it like quitting smoking. The longer you've been a smoker, the longer it may take you to quit, and if you have the odd cigarette from time to time, then your bad habit will never go away. So here is my main advice. Kill it in the cradle. Now you know how to cure target panic and how to quit smoking.
Thanks so much for the thoughtful and detailed response.
Unknown member
Oct 15, 2023
Replying to
I've found that my number 1 has been impatience, and I think some of that is culturally induced with the whole instant gratification thing and constant scroll culture. So, once I identified that, I had to try to figure out how to undo it.
Just NOT doing it, didn't really seem to be a viable option. Not to insult anyone's archery preferences, but I have only shot for scores with a compound bow, so one of the things I did was buy a fairly inexpensive recurve barebow setup. Reason being, when the urge to just fling arrows hits me, rather than backslide in my compound release progress, I pull out that recurve barebow and just fling till my heart's content and it has no negative effect on my shooting with my compound bow, because it's so very different. Then, I've found that I can return to my "normal" shooting without that impulsive impatience that was making me pop the release the moment yellow appeared behind my pin. This allows me to focus on the form to initiate relase.
I turn my block around or put a bag over it and just shoot the blank bale until the panic is done and if I feel it creeping back in I just imagine the target is just a blank target bale again. That's the trick I use.
During the shot, the action of "releasing" is a subconscious action. That means, it is triggered by a subconscious process. 'Target Panic', is a manifestation of this subconscious trigger that is based on the incorrect stimulus, and it can manifest in many different ways... For example, instead of the subconscious trigger being 'the archer comes into full draw, completes their expansion and activates the clicker', the trigger could be to release as soon as the sight pin touches the yellow. It is also commonly: - as soon as the hand touches the face (common) - as soon as the clicker goes off, ready or not (also called clicker panic) - as soon as the thumb touches the trigger - etc. etc. etc. There are many methods out there which profess to address target panic, and most of them have some merit, however, usually, they only address one of the above 'flavours' of target panic. That means that if you have a different subconscious trigger, you can follow every method out there, and still potentially be left frustrated. The process to cure target panic must follow the following formula: Step 1. Identify YOUR subconscious trigger Step 2. UNTRAIN that incorrect subconscious trigger Step 3. RETRAIN the correct subconscious trigger Most people try to do step 3 without step 1 or 2, or they don't spend enough time on step 2 before moving on to step 3. Now, using this method, you can usually address target panic very quickly. It's not necessarily going to take 6-months of blank butt. However, the longer you've been reinforceing the incorrect subconscious trigger, the longer it takes to kill that bad habit - particularly if you breathe life back into it periodically by being impatient with the process.
Think of it like quitting smoking. The longer you've been a smoker, the longer it may take you to quit, and if you have the odd cigarette from time to time, then your bad habit will never go away. So here is my main advice. Kill it in the cradle. Now you know how to cure target panic and how to quit smoking.