TboneD":2xtd4jgr said:
TNDeerGuy said:
I will also add, that it is different for everyone. One person can shoot dots all day long, and another can't—that is why archery is such a personal and individualized sport. However, you touched on something in that latest post that got me and very well maybe the root of the entire problem, "I've had varying degrees of target panic for years now." It touched me because I've been there multiple times with TP. You may want to incorporate aiming exercises into your practice regiment, regardless of if you are shooting at blank 3D targets, dots, squares or unicorns. If your brain controls the shot, because you have lost the ability to focus on what you are aiming to hit because internally you are scared to miss that mark, then you are gonna hit just off of what you are aiming at in the direction you came in from. When I go through a bout with it, I always hit just high of what I'm trying to aim at because I came down from the top—it was always the same 2" high regardless of yardage of anything past 25yds.....that was my mental tripping point.
Yeah, TP is a pain, and I think it just about always makes me shoot high as well. Anyhow, you bring up something I read about in an interview in F&S with Levi (?), a 3D shooter. He said aiming practice was the best cure for TP, so thanks a bunch for the reminder. Much appreciated, Dave
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I firmly believe it is. A top level Olympic Coach told me how to do it and it cured mine and keeps me in check. Start at 5yds draw, put pressure on your trigger, put the pin in the dot and count to 5 and let down. If you cannot get to 5, pick a number that is easily obtainable like 2 or 3. After you can do it at 5yds, take a couple of steps back and repeat—keep doing it until there is no anxiety in doing the exercise and never fire the arrow. At some point, 25yds, was mine—you will feel a ton of anxiety and you just have to push through it. If you can't do it without prematurely firing the arrow, take some steps forward. The idea is to re-train your brain that you can hold/float the pin on what you want to hit. What happens is you get near what you want to hit, your brain takes over and makes you fire the shot because it is afraid of missing....that is what you have to get out of it—that you can.
Archery is one of, if not the biggest, mentally controlled sports—95% mental IMO. A monkey can easily be taught how to shoot a bow, but to do it with precision takes all kinds of mental preparation and control.
If you need help, I'm here in Mt. Juliet.
